4A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2007
WAR IN IRAQ
NFL star's death misconstrued
BY ERICA WERNER ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — An Army Ranger who was with Pat Tillman when the former football star was cut down by friendly fire in Afghanistan said Tuesday a commanding officer had ordered him to keep quiet about what happened.
The military at first portrayed Tillman's death as the result of heroic combat with the enemy, Army Spc. Bryan O'Neal told a congressional hearing that when he got the chance to talk to Tillman's brother, who had been in a nearby convoy on the fateful day, "I was ordered not to tell him what happened."
"You were ordered not to tell him?" repeated Rep. Henry
Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
"Roger that, Sir," replied O'Neal, dressed in his Army uniform.
The revelation came as committee members questioned whether, and when, top Defense officials and the White House knew that Tillman's death in eastern Afghanistan three years ago was actually a result of gunfire from fellow U.S. soldiers.
Tillman's death received worldwide attention because he had walked away from a huge contract with the NFL's Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the Army after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Tillman was awarded a Silver Star based on fabricated accounts — who fabricated them still isn't clear after several investigations.
Susan Walsh/Associated Press
"We don't know what the secretary of defense knew, we don't know what the White House knew," Waxman said. "What we do know is these were not a series of accidents, these stories. They were calculatedly put out for a public relations purpose. ... Even now there seems to be a cover-up."
Kevin Tillman, brother of NFL star-turned-Army Ranger Pat Tillman, who was killed by friendly-fire in Afghanistan, testifies Tuesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform hearing.
Kevin Tillman was in a convoy behind his older brother, a former NFL star, on April 22, 2004, when Pat Tillman was mistakenly shot by other Army Rangers who had just emerged from a canyon where they'd been fired upon. Kevin Tillman didn't see what happened. O'Neal said he was ordered not to tell him by then-Lt. Col. Jeff Bailey, the battalion commander who oversaw Tillman's platoon.
"He basically just said, Sir, that uh, 'Do not let Kevin know, he's probably in a bad place knowing that his brother's dead," "O'Neal testified. "He made it known that I would get in trouble, Sir, if I spoke with Kevin."
O'Neal said he was "quite appalled" by the order.
Bailey's superior officer, thenCol. James C. Nixon, has testified to the Defense Department's inspector general that he ordered that information on the facts of Tillman's death be shared with as few people as possible so that the Tillman family would not learn those facts through news media leaks. That, in turn, shaped Bailey's guidance to his troops.
The Army said initially that Tillman was killed by enemy gunfire while trying to help another group of ambushed soldiers. The family was not told what really happened until May 29, 2004, a delay the Army blamed on procedural mistakes.
Kevin Tillman and Tillman's mother, Mary Tillman, also testified Tuesday but were not in the room when O'Neal spoke.
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Planet 120 trillion miles away shares characteristics with Earth
BY SETH BORENSTEIN ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — For the first time astronomers have discovered a planet outside our solar system that is potentially habitable, with Earthlike temperatures, a find researchers described Tuesday as a big step in the search for "life in the universe."
Swiss astrophysicist and director of the Geneva Observatory, Michel Mayor, left, and Swiss astrophysicist Stephane Udry, right, hold an artist rendering on Tuesday showing the planetary system around the red dwarf Giese 581. Mayor and Udry have discovered a planet outside our solar system that is potentially as habitable as Earth, at left, with similar temperatures, they announced.
Habitable planet discovered
The planet is just the right size, might have water in liquid form, and in galactic terms is relatively nearby at 120 trillion miles away. But the star it closely orbits, known as a "red dwarf", is much smaller, dimmer and cooler than our sun.
There's still a lot that is unknown about the new planet, which could be deemed inhospitable to life once more is known about it. And it's worth noting that scientists' requirements for habitability count Mars in that category: a size relatively similar to Earth's with temperatures that would permit liquid water. However, this is the first outside our solar system that meets those standards.
"It's a significant step on the way to finding possible life in the universe," said University of Geneva astronomer Michel Mayor, one of 11 European scientists on the team that found the planet. "It's a nice discovery. We still have a lot of questions."
The results of the discovery have not been published but have been submitted to the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
》 OUTER SPACE
like Earth, which is what the prevailing theory proposes, it has a diameter about 1 1/2 tines bigger than our planet. If it is an iceball, as Mayor suggests, it would be even bigger.
785. 856.5848
Alan Boss, who works at the Carnegie Institution of Washington where a U.S. team of astronomers competed in the hunt for an Earthlike planet, called it "a major milestone in this business."
The planet was discovered by the European Southern Observatory's telescope in La Silla, Chile, which has a special instrument that splits light to find wobbles in different wave lengths. Those wobbles can reveal the existence of other worlds.
What they revealed is a planet circling the red dwarf star, Gliese 581. Red dwarfs are low-energy, tiny stars that give off dim red light and last longer than stars like our sun. Until a few years ago, astronomers didn't consider
Based on theory, 581 c should have an atmosphere, but what's in that atmosphere is still a mystery and if it's too thick that could make the planet's surface temperature too hot, Mayor said. However, the research team believes the average temperature to be somewhere between 32
"It's a significant step on the way to finding possible life in the universe. It's a nice discovery."
MICHEL MAYOR Astronomer, University of Geneva
these stars as possible hosts of planets that might sustain life.
The discovery of the new planet, named 581 c, is sure to fuel studies of planets circling similar dim stars. About 80 percent of the stars near Earth are red dwarfs.
and 104 degrees and that set off celebrations among astronomers.
The new planet is about five times heavier than Earth. Its discoverers aren't certain if it is rocky like Earth or if its a frozen ice ball with liquid water on the surface. If it is rocky
hot, too cold or just plain too big and gaseous, like uninhabitable Jupiter.
Until now,
all 220 planets
astronomers
have found out
side our solar
system have had
the "Goldilocks
problem."
They've been too
The new planet seems just right or at least that's what scientists think.
"This could be very important," said NASA astrobiology expert Chris McKay, who wasn't part of the discovery team. "It doesn't mean there is life, but it means it's an Earth-like planet in terms of potential habitability."
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