28/09/2012 Newsround

Hello, there. It is Friday. You have Ricky and Leah here taking you

into the weekend. Here is just a taste of what is coming up. We get

an exclusive peek at the alien stars of a new CBBC series. I test-

drive the fastest lifeboat in the country.

Woah! Thanks. First though, Megan Stammers, the

teenager who went missing with her teacher, has been found. No-one had

heard from 15-year-old Megan since she boarded a ferry to France with

her teacher eight days ago. A huge police search has been looking for

the two. This lunchtime they were discovered in the French city of

Bordeaux. Megan is being looked after by police, but her teacher

has been arrested. Next to Nepal in Asia where a plane

has crashed. Seven tourists from Britain are among the 19 who died.

I've been looking into what happened.

The crash happened minutes after take-off on the outskirts of the

capital. This picture taken in April shows the plane involved.

Investigators don't know why it crashed but it is thought it could

have been struck by birds. Vultures tend to congregate around Kathmandu

Airport. So it is a possibility. Of course, there are lots of other

possibilities, too. The people on board were hikers who were heading

to the world's tallest mountain, Mount Everest. Unlike the big

passenger planes, this plane was very small and because of the

mountainous terrain, the route it was taking was very dangerous.

Accidents aren't uncommon in the area. It is the sixth time someone

has died in a crash in the past two years. There is a question here,

there seems to be a theme that is building up in terms of the safety

of this particular aircraft type. The trekking season has just

started so it is a popular time of year to travel to the country.

Experts will be looking into what went wrong and why.

And remember plane crashes make the news because they are extremely

rare. Some of the rest of the day's news

now, and to Mars where scientists say the Curiosity rover has made an

important scientific breakthrough. These might just look like rocks

but they're the best evidence so far that water flowed on the red

planet. NASA researchers believe that the rover has landed in an

ancient riverbed. They say pebbles found by the robot look like they'd

been worn away by water. Earlier, I asked Professor Tim O'Brien how

important the discovery is. What Curiosity has managed to do is

drive around in the dry bed of a stream. We have been able to see

pebbles and rock that look like they have been carried along in the

water in an ancient river that used to exist. We have these lovely

rounded pebbles. What can that tell us? It is telling us that we are

sure now that water did flow on Mars, that there was a river there

back billions of years ago. Of course, the important thing about

that is that tells us that maybe life might have existed on Mars. We

would like to send people. But it will be 20 years or more before we

send people. If you love space, then you do not

want to miss Newsround's Space Week. It starts on Monday. Here's a taste

of what you can expect. It's 40 years since we last went

back and there are many mysteries to solve. What is it like up there?

It was amazing how beautiful the Earth looks. With every new mission

to Mars, we are finding more and more reasons to go back with bigger

and more advanced robots. Without it, we wouldn't be here. At the

moment, something is happening to our star. Satellites have

transformed our world, but getting them into space isn't easy. Here is

my satellite! Are we alone? If you find a little alien, imagine that.

Next, lifeboats like these have been used for generations to rescue

people stuck on the seas. This one was state-of-the-art back in the

1930s. But 80 years later the Royal National Lifeboat Institution have

revealed their brand-new model. It's the fastest lifeboat ever. And

our Joe couldn't wait to see it. For almost 200 years, a group of

volunteers called the RNLI have been taking the plunge into the

seas around the UK. From stranded sailing boats to drifting dinghies,

they have saved more than 130,000 lives. Now they have a new �1.5

million tool to tackle the toughest rescues. On board computer systems

and CCTV monitor everything. Its water jet engines make it 50%

faster than their fastest lifeboats. You can see from the wash just how

powerful it is! The lifeboat institution built the Shannon from

scratch and they have tefsed it for the worst case -- tested it for the

worst case scenarios. It is hoped it will save lives. The boat had to

be built to withstand the roughest conditions and keep the crew safe.

And bring them back safely. What is it like out there in the sea, when

it is quite rough? If you can imagine yourself sat inside a

washing machine, when you are enclosed in the cabin, strapped in

your seats and the boat is being tossed around in 30 or 40-foot seas,

it can get quite exciting. charity want to build 50 of these

boats which they say will rescue more than 50,000 people in their

lifespan. Let's see how fast this boat can go.

It will make life easier, even for the most rookie of rescuers. Woah!

Time now to get you up-to-date with a new CBBC series called Wizards v

Aliens. The show is all about a boy wizard that does battle with - you

guessed it - aliens. And we've got special permission to show you for

the first time what those aliens will look like. Are we going to

It does look good. We are joined by Scott and Percelle. You were

watching that clip, you were impressed? Yeah. Amazing. Loving

your own work! Listen, tell us what it is all about? The show is about

the unlikely friendship between Tom, who is a secret wizard, and Benny,

a science fanatic, who are forced together to fight an alien species

who have come to Earth to feed on magic. It looks impressive because

of all the graphics. What is it like working in a studio that is a

green screen and you don't get to see very much of the action?

Previous to this project, we hadn't had very much experience with a

green screen so it was challenging to start with. We got comfortable

with it and it was fun and the crew helped us a lot. They made it a lot

easier. It was quite a long process. The crew made it easier. Yeah.

cool thing is it was created by Russell T Davies, The Sarah Jane

Adventures. What was it like being part of something that could be

really good? It was like a privilege, really. Yeah. Amazing.

We said every day that we were so lucky to be there and to be part of

this project, you can't help but have that confidence. Did you get

to meet Russell T Davies? Not yet. I saw him in the coffee shop

earlier! You must be thrilled to be part of this and hopefully this is

going to be on air in October? that's correct. Awesome! Thank you

very much for coming in. Are you Doctor Who fans? Yes. It is the big