[Cdnwolf]

SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - Isolated and impoverished North Korea launched its second long- range rocket of 2012 on Wednesday and may have finally succeeded in putting a satellite into space, the stated aim of what critics say is a disguised ballistic missile test.

The rocket was launched just before 10 a.m. Korean time (0100 GMT) and overflew the Japanese island of Okinawa.

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. —


For a time on Tuesday it appeared the X-37b Space Plane would remain on the ground at Cape Canaveral air Force Station. But, just before the launch window closed, the clouds parted for the military's mini-shuttle and its top secret mission.

The unmanned shuttle was carried into orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

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A newfound asteroid gave Earth a close shave early today, zipping between our planet and the moon just two days after astronomers first spotted it.

The near-Earth asteroid 2012 XE54, which was discovered Sunday, came within 140,000 miles (230,000 kilometers) of our planet at about 5 a.m. EST Tuesday, researchers said. For comparison, the moon orbits Earth at an average distance of 240,000 miles or so (386,000 km).