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ByFrankJordans TheAssociatedPress DARMSTADT, GERMANY Hundreds of millions of miles from Earth, a Euro- pean spacecraft made his- tory Wednesday by suc- cessfully landing on the icy, dusty surface of a speeding comet — an audacious cos- mic first designed to answer big questions about the ori- gin of the universe. Paolo Ferri, head of mis- sion operations for the Eu- ropean Space Agency, said the landing on the comet named 67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko appeared to have been almost perfectly on target. "Everyone cried," he said. The European Space Agency celebrated the cos- mic achievement after sweating through a tense seven-hour countdown that began when the Phi- lae lander dropped from the agency's Rosetta space probe as both it and the comet hurtled through space at 41,000 mph. ESA controllers clapped and embraced at mission control in Darmstadt as they got confirmation that the unmanned Rosetta had successfully released the 220-pound, wash- ing machine-sized Philae lander. During the descent, sci- entists were powerless to do anything but watch, be- cause the vast distance to Earth — 500 million kilo- meters (311 million miles) — made it impossible to send instructions in real time. Finally, at 1603 GMT (11:03 a.m. EST), the agency received a signal from Phi- lae after it touched down on the comet's icy surface. "We definitely confirm that the lander is on the surface," said flight direc- tor Andrea Accomazzo. While further checks are needed to ascertain the state of the lander, the fact that it is resting on the sur- face of the comet is already a huge success, the high- light of a decade-long mis- sion to study comets and learn more about the ori- gins of these celestial bod- ies. Scientists have likened the trillion or so comets in our solar system to time capsules that are virtually unchanged since the ear- liest moments of the uni- verse. "By studying one in enor- mous detail, we can hope to unlock the puzzle of all of the others," said Mark Mc- Caughrean, a senior scien- tific adviser to the mission. Philae was supposed to have drifted down to the comet and latched on using harpoons and ice screws. Ferri said thrusters meant to push the lander down failed to deploy, and there appeared to have been a problem with the harpoons as well that is now being in- vestigated. But he added that Philae seemed to be stable on the surface of the comet. Scientists also noted a problem with the signal from the lander, which they are now trying to fix. In the meantime, all the data that Philae collects is safely be- ing stored for later trans- mission, Ferri said. The head of the Euro- pean Space Agency under- lined Europe's pride in hav- ing achieved a unique first ahead of its U.S. counter- part NASA. "We are the first to have done that, and that will stay forever," said ESA director- general Jean-Jacques Dor- dain. Rosetta and Philae now plan to accompany the comet as it races past the sun and becomes increas- ingly active in the rising temperatures. ROSETTA SPACE PROBE Europeanspacecra landsoncomet MICHAELPROBST—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Celebrating scientists in the main control room appear on a video screen at the European Space Agency a er the first unmanned spacecra Philae landed on a comet called 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko, in Darmstadt, Germany on Wednesday. By Josef Federman The Associated Press JERUSALEM Israeli au- thorities gave preliminary approval Wednesday to build 200 homes in a Jew- ish area of east Jerusalem, a move that threatened to push Israelis and Palestin- ians deeper into conflict af- ter weeks of unrest over the city's holiest sites. The announcement came hours before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was scheduled to arrive in neighboring Jor- dan on a mission aimed in part at restoring calm. A State Department spokes- woman said Washington was "deeply concerned" by the decision. Much of the recent vio- lence has stemmed from tensions surrounding Je- rusalem's hilltop complex that is revered by Muslims and Jews. The collapse of U.S.-brokered peace talks, Israel's war last summer in the Gaza Strip against the Islamic militant group Hamas, and continued Is- raeli settlement construc- tion in east Jerusalem have added to the distrust. Brachie Sprung, a spokeswoman in the may- or's office, said city officials approved 200 homes in the Ramot area. Sprung said it was just a preliminary stage of the planning pro- cess — meaning construc- tion would be years away. She also said city offi- cials approved an addi- tional 174 homes for con- struction in an Arab neigh- borhood. ToIsraelis,theannounce- ment was relatively harm- less. Ramot is a sprawling development already home to about 70,000 people, and most Israelis assume the area will remain part of Is- rael under any future peace agreement. In the current tense cli- mate, however, any Israeli construction for Jewish ar- eas of east Jerusalem is po- tentially explosive. Israel captured east Je- rusalem in 1967 and an- nexed the area in a move that is not recognized in- ternationally. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as their capital. They consider all Israeli construction there to be illegal settlement ac- tivity — a position that is backed by the international community. About 200,000 Jewish Israelis live in de- velopments like Ramot that ring east Jerusalem to help cement Israeli control. The Israeli announce- ment came before Kerry's scheduled meeting in Jor- dan with King Abdullah II and Palestinian Presi- dent Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the situation in Je- rusalem. There was no im- mediate plan for Kerry to travel to Israel. "We are deeply con- cerned by this decision, particularly given the tense situation in Jerusalem, as well as the unequivocal and unanimous position of the United States and others in the international community opposing such construction in east Jeru- salem," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in Washington. "These decisions to ex- pand construction have the potential to exacerbate this difficult situation on the ground, and they will not contribute to efforts to reduce the tension," she added. Under a longstand- ing arrangement, Jordan holds custodial rights over Muslim holy sites in Jeru- salem, including the com- pound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanc- tuary. It is the third-holiest site in Islam and the most sacred place in Judaism. Jews are permitted to visit, but prayer by non-Muslims is banned. Increased visits by Jew- ish worshippers to the site, which also includes the Al- Aqsa Mosque, have raised concerns among Muslims that Israel is secretly try- ing to take it over. The ten- sions have boiled over into violent demonstrations and deadly Palestinian attacks that have killed six people in recent weeks. The fa- tal shooting by police last weekend of an Israeli Arab protester in northern Is- rael as he appeared to be walking away from the of- ficer has worsened the at- mosphere. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israel has no plans to change the ar- rangements at the holy site, but his pledges have done little to bring calm. Abbas accused Netan- yahu this week of lead- ing the region into a "reli- gious war." Netanyahu re- sponded by calling Abbas a liar and accusing him of incitement. The harsh rhetoric re- flects more than personal animosity between the two leaders. Both appear to be pandering to their political bases of support at a sensi- tive time. Abbas, after nearly a decade in office and sev- eral failed rounds of peace talks, has little to show for his efforts. He also is facing a challenge from Hamas. TENSE CLIMATE Israeli move in east Jerusalem worries US MAJDI MOHAMMED — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Palestinians inspect damage to a mosque Wednesday a er an attack in the West Bank village of Mughayer. The village's mayor blamed Jewish settlers for the attack. By Lauran Neergaard The Associated Press WASHINGTON The Obama administration told Con- gress Wednesday that a $6.2 billion emergency aid request to fight Ebola is crucial to tackling the ep- idemic in West Africa and preventing it at home, to continue the training of 250,000 U.S. nurses and other health workers in how to safely handle any infected patients who ar- rive in this country. "These resources are es- sential to stop the outbreak in Africa, and protect us," said Dr. Tom Frieden, direc- tor of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Senate Appro- priations Committee on Wednesday began evaluat- ing the request, which in- cludes $4.64 billion in im- mediate spending to fight the outbreak abroad, shore up U.S. preparedness, and speed the development and testing of Ebola vaccines and treatments. More than $1.5 billion would be for a contingency fund to deal with any unex- pected developments, such as if Ebola begins spreading in another country neigh- boring the hardest-hit Li- beria, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who chairs the commit- tee, said Congress passed similar amounts of emer- gency funding when bird flu emerged as a possible health threat, and for the 2009 flu pandemic. For Ebola, "we need to contain the disease and we need to eradicate it," she said. But Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., asked if the admin- istration has taken enough security measures against Ebola, and said such a large spending request "deserves our careful oversight and scrutiny." Shortly before the hear- ing started, Army Maj. Gen. Gary Voleski said the U.S. military's Ebola response in Liberia will top out at 3,000 troops, 1,000 fewer than had been planned. "There is a lot of capacity here that we didn't know about before," he said. While there currently are no reported Ebola cases in the U.S., Wednesday's hear- ing came amid some sober- ing news. The World Health Organization reported that more than 5,000 people had died in the Ebola out- break. And while the num- ber of infections is slowing in some parts of West Af- rica, WHO said cases still are surging in Sierra Leone. Worse, neighboring Mali on Wednesday reported three deaths linked to Ebola. "We're not yet at a point where we can have confi- dence that we're turning the corner, even in Liberia," said Andy Gleadle of the In- ternational Medical Corps, which is running a treat- ment center in Liberia and plans to open another in that country and two more in Sierra Leone. $6.2 BILLION Eb ol a wo rk er s as k Congress for help By Jonathan Fahey The Associated Press NEW YORK The average price of gasoline will be below $3 a gallon in 2015, the Energy Department predicted Wednesday. If the sharply lower estimate holds true, U.S. consumers will save $61 billion on gas compared with this year. Economists say lower gasoline prices act like a tax cut, leaving more money for consumers to spend on other things. Consumer spending is 70 percent of the U.S. economy. The department's En- ergy Information Adminis- tration predicted in its most recent short-term energy outlook that drivers will pay $2.94 per gallon on average in 2015, 45 cents lower than this year. Based on expected gaso- line consumption, that's a savings of $60.9 billion. Drivers are now paying $2.92 per gallon on aver- age across the nation, ac- cording to AAA. PREDICTION Ga s to a ve ra ge under $3 in 2015, go ve rn me nt s ay s RedBluffOutdoorPower 527-5741 490 Antelope Blvd, Red Bluff Mon.-Sat. 8am-5pm | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014 8 A