* Astronomy

Shareholders of Energia, the country's flagship space industry company, met on Tuesday to dismiss Nikolai Sevastyanov as president of the Korolev-based firm, and to replace him with the little-known director of a St. Petersburg research institute.
The appointment of Vitaly Lopota, who until recently headed the Central Scientific Research and Development Institute of Robotics and Technical Cybernetics, was supported by over 97 percent of shareholders present at the company's extraordinary general meeting.
The Federal Space Agency has been pushing for the removal of Sevastyanov for months over what insiders described as his extravagant promises, including sending manned missions to Mars and the moon.

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