Due to the partial-success of the partly-powered-biofuel flight conducted by Virgin Atlantic Airways, Continental Airlines is planning to conduct a biofuel demonstration flight in the first half of 2009, to help find sustainable fuel solutions for the commercial aviation industry.

The biofuel flight will be operated by a Boeing Next-Generation 737 equipped with CFM International CFM56-7B engines. Continental is the first major US carrier to announce plans to flight-test sustainable biofuels that can help to reduce carbon emissions. As part of a broader industry effort, Boeing and other companies, including airlines and engine manufacturers, are helping to guide the aviation sector toward sustainable biofuels produced through advanced biomass-conversion technologies and processes that potentially could reduce greenhouse gases.

Production of sustainable biofuels for aviation will require second-generation techniques for fuel-source selection and processing that are uniquely suited for aerospace use. These biofuels will be blended with Jet-A kerosene jet fuel to reduce dependency on fossil fuels.

Continental says it will continue managing the environmental impact of its business through these initiatives and other projects. These include constructing airport facilities in an environmentally responsible manner, testing alternative fuels in ground service equipment, offering a credible carbon offsetting program based on the actual fuel burn of its fleet; and a large-scale recycling program.

An artificial intelligence expert lost the chance to be South Korea’s first citizen in space after reading and removing manuals from Russia’s cosmonaut training center without authorization, the government said Monday. Instead, a female bioengineer will conduct scientific experiments on a Russian voyage to the International Space Station next month, the South Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said.

Ko San — the original choice — repeatedly violated regulations at the training center was replaced by Yi So-yeon, a 29-year-old woman with a doctorate in bioengineering who had been South Korea’s second choice for the mission.

Russian authorities said Ko took his training manual out of the center without permission and sent it to his home in South Korea in September, Lee said. Ko later returned the manual, explaining he accidentally sent it home together with other personal belongings, Lee added.

In February, Ko again broke the rules by getting what was believed to be a manual used by space pilots from the center through a Russian colleague — material he was not supposed to read, Lee said. Ko had signed the center’s instructions on the rules.

Anatoly Perminov, chief of the space agency, said in a statement on its Website Monday that the change was because Ko “violated the code of conduct for cosmonauts,” adding that the substitution would cause no complications for the mission.

Yi is scheduled to work aboard the space station for about 10 days with five other cosmonauts, including an American woman, according to Lee’s ministry.

The Soyuz spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from a space center in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on April 8, the statement said. The mission will make South Korea the world’s 36th country to send an astronaut into space, said ministry official Kim Ki-seok.

After rolling out the China-built Cessna SkyCatcher and the first home-grown Xiang Feng regional jet, China is now planning to build jumbo jets. The success of these aircrafts was sought and China Aviation Industry Corps are planning to widen their range, making it less dependent on Boeing and Airbus.

The plan marks a step forward in China’s long term quest to design and build a large aircraft, referred to in Premier Wen Jiabao’s speech to the national legislature.

France-based airplane maker Airbus forecasts that China’s domestic market is expected to increase fivefold by 2026. Airbus and Chicago-based rival Boeing share a duopoly on the market for commercial airplanes carrying 100 passengers or more.