MANILA: The three Filipino astronaut candidates who have been selected to be the country’s representatives to the Axe Apollo Space Academy and take part on a 30-minute suborbital space flight next year, are now preparing for the final phase of their selection. Axe Philippines Brand Manager Gem Laforteza said astronaut candidates Evan Rey Datuin, 24, from Cavite; Ramil Santos, 29, an engineer based in South Korea; Daniel Angelo Roque, a 22-year old fitness coach are now pursuing rigorous physical preparations for their four days of testing and evaluation at the Axe Space Camp in Orlando, Florida in December. At the Axe Space Camp, Datuin, Santos and Roque will be made to undergo conditions that would simulate the zero-gravity of space and the extreme pressures brought by a spaceship’s take off and re-entry to Earth.
Taiwan to stop China spying
TAIPEI: Taiwan’s military will strengthen its efforts to stop spying by China despite eased tensions, a media report said yesterday. The armed forces are alarmed at China’s increased intelligence activities aimed at Taiwan despite fast improving cross-strait ties, the Liberty Times said. Military has agreed to reinstate an anti-espionage unit which was abolished 12 years ago.
New quake fault system
MANILA: State volcanologists who have been hunting for a hidden fault discovered a new fault system in Inabanga town that triggered the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that shook Bohol and killed hundreds. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology on Tuesday noticed ground rupture in Barangay Anunang, Inabanga in the devastated Bohol province that served as a surface representation of a fault underneath. Phivolcs’ started a survey last October 16, the day after the quake hit Central Visayas, to trace where it came from. Phivolcs research analyst Nolan Evangelista said in a state news report that the ground rupture occurs only once in 100 years.
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