Science News Summary: China Sees Asteroid Defense System, Comet Mission; Astronauts arrive at the space station aboard SpaceX Endeavor and more

Below is a summary of the latest scientific news.

China eyes asteroid defense system, comet mission

China will hold talks on building a defense system against near-Earth asteroids, a senior space agency said on Saturday as the country intensifies its longer-term space ambitions. Zhang Kejian, head of China’s National Space Administration, did not provide any further details in his opening speeches at a Chinese Space Day ceremony in the eastern city of Nanjing.

Astronauts arrive at the space station aboard the SpaceX Endeavor

A team of four astronauts arrived aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule Endeavor on Saturday at the International Space Station, NASA said after becoming the first crew to ever drop into the from a rocket booster recycled from a previous spaceflight Orbit was carried. The Endeavor capsule, which also made its second flight, was launched on Friday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX is Elon Musk’s commercial rocket company.

Costa Rica reveals radar tracking space objects from a farm

Surrounded by clear blue skies and sugarcane fields on the Pacific coast, a farm in northwest Costa Rica is now home to a giant radar that can track small objects in space that threaten the safety of astronauts and satellites. Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado, along with astronauts from the US and Costa Rica, unveiled the four large reflective panels that make up the commercial radar that connects to the servers of aerospace company LeoLabs in San Francisco on Thursday.

Vaccination in the third trimester seems safe. Pfizer / BioNtech vaccine effective in patients with chronic diseases

The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. Vaccination in the third trimester appears safe in early dates

(With contributions from agencies.)