NASA to launch satellite for critical mapping mission

The Aquarius satellite will give researchers more data about climate change.NEW: Aquarius Sea Surface Salinity satellite launched FridayIt will generate maps of sea salt movements to aid the understanding of climate changeProject is a joint effort with the Argentine space agency

Washington (CNN) -- NASA launched a satellite Friday, starting a three-year mission to help better understand climate change.

NASA sent the Aquarius/SAC-D Sea Surface Salinity satellite into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

For the next three years, the Aquarius satellite will look back at Earth and generate monthly maps of sea salt movements, data that are crucial to the understanding of global climate change and ocean currents.

The project will give scientists the information they need to better predict El Nino and La Nina tropical climate patterns in the Pacific. Until now, such research has been limited to ship and buoy instrumentation.

The long-term project, which began in 2001, is the culmination of a joint effort between NASA and Argentina's National Space Activities Commission.

Program executive Eric Ianson said the launch "represents a great leap forward for the two agencies and (their) collaborations."

The Delta II rocket carried an Argentine-built satellite with American data-gathering instruments. The mission will also serve as an environmental data-gathering project for Brazil, France, Italy and Canada.

It was delayed once this week because of a guidance computer problem.

The $287 million satellite will provide insights into water circulation and changes around the globe by measuring the microwave energy emitted from the ocean during weekly scans.

The mission begins to fulfill part of President Barack Obama's 2010 pledge to focus NASA more on "science that will garner tangible benefits, helping us to protect our environment for future generations."

Aquarius is the 14th NASA Earth Science satellite in space.

CNN's Veronica Foreman contributed to this report.

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Kerry warns of 'critical moment' with Pakistan (AFP)

KABUL (AFP) – US Senator John Kerry said Sunday relations with key ally Pakistan were at a "critical moment" as he headed from Kabul to Islamabad as the first senior US visitor since the death of Osama bin Laden.

Kerry said he was ready to listen to Pakistan's leaders but the discovery of the Al-Qaeda chief living close to Islamabad meant that talks had to "resolve some very serious issues."

Pakistan's government, intelligence services and military have been widely accused of incompetence or complicity over the presence of bin Laden, who was killed by US commandos in a covert raid on May 2.

"We need to find a way to march forward if it is possible. If it is not possible, there are a set of downside consequences that can be profound," said Kerry, whose trip to the region has been endorsed by President Barack Obama.

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Kerry to ask Pakistan tough questions at critical time (Reuters)

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – U.S. Senator John Kerry will press Pakistani leaders for answers on Osama bin Laden in talks on Monday but he will be keen to ensure Pakistani anger over the raid does not subvert vital security cooperation.

U.S. special forces found and killed the al Qaeda leader in the garrison town of Abbottabad, 50 km (30 miles) north of Islamabad on May 2.

His discovery living comfortably in a high-walled compound virtually under the noses of military authorities has revived suspicion that Pakistani security agencies knew where he was.

Pakistan welcomed bin Laden's killing as a big step against militancy.

But the secret U.S. raid to get him has been condemned as a violation of sovereignty which embarrassed and outraged the military. Military officials say it has caused a breakdown in trust which has cast a shadow over security cooperation.

Pakistan might be a tricky ally but it is vital to U.S. efforts to combat Islamist militants and to efforts to stabilize Afghanistan, where U.S. forces depend on Pakistani supply lines for water, food, fuel and other essentials.

In a sign of Pakistani anger, the chairman of Pakistan's joint chiefs of staff committee, General Khalid Shameem Wynne, on Friday canceled a five-day visit to the United States that had been set to begin on May 22.

But officials in Pakistan's civilian government said security cooperation with the United States would go on.

"There is difference of opinion but we'll continue our cooperation with the world as well as the United States," said one senior government official who declined to be identified.

Kerry told reporters in Afghanistan on Sunday he would hold a series of "important discussions" in Islamabad on Monday.

"CRITICAL MOMENT"

Kerry has long been seen as a friend of Pakistan but told reporters in Kabul on Sunday the relationship between Washington and Islamabad had reached "a critical moment."

"It is fair to say that some of my colleagues in the House and Senate have deep reservations as to whether or not Pakistan is committed to the same goals or prepared to be a full partner in pursuing those goals," Kerry told reporters.

The U.S. administration has not accused Pakistan of complicity in hiding bin Laden but has said he must have had some sort of support network, which it wants to uncover.

U.S. legislators have questioned whether Pakistan is serious about fighting militants and some have called for a suspension of U.S. aid.

Kerry said if there is no "improvement in the current situation" it will become increasingly difficult to convince people at home of the need to give aid to Pakistan.

Pakistan's parliament condemned on Saturday the U.S. raid to find and kill bin Laden, and called for a review of U.S. ties, warning that Pakistan could cut U.S. supply lines to its forces in Afghanistan if there were more such attacks.

ARRESTS

The United States is likely to seek Pakistani help in an investigation into an imam of a Florida mosque and his two sons, arrested in the United States on Saturday on charges of financing the Pakistani Taliban.

Three others charged were living in Pakistan, U.S. officials said. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said had yet to get a request for help but was ready to assist.

"As far as countering terrorism is concerned, there has been constant cooperation with the United States and there is no suspension of it," said ministry spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua.

Kerry, speaking two days after two suicide bombers killed 80 people at a Pakistani paramilitary academy, said Pakistan was also a victim of "terrorism" and that the death of bin Laden provided a critical chance to move forward.

"This is not a moment for anything but very sober serious discussion with an understanding that there is a lot at stake. There is no other way to put it. I think they understand that, we understand that," he said.

Pakistan has rejected as absurd suggestions the killing showed incompetence or complicity in hiding the al Qaeda leader.

Kerry, a Democrat close to the Obama administration and who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said earlier it was "extraordinarily hard to believe" bin Laden could have been in Pakistan for so long without any knowledge.

Asked if the United States would conduct a similar raid inside Pakistan to kill Mullah Omar, the reclusive leader of the Afghan Taliban, Kerry said Washington would consider all options.

Pakistan has a long record of using Islamist militants as proxies, especially to counter the influence of nuclear-armed rival, India.

(Additional reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman in Kabul; Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Paul Tait)

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