Дата: 04 марта 1998 (1998-03-04)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Dust And Soil Experiment Chosen For Mars 2001 Mission
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MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
Contact: John G. Watson
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 27, 1998
DUST AND SOIL EXPERIMENT CHOSEN FOR MARS 2001 MISSION
Potential hazards that the soil and dust of Mars might pose
to human explorers will be studied by an instrument recently
selected by NASA to fly on the Mars Surveyor 2001 lander
spacecraft.
The Mars Environmental Compatibility Assessment (MECA) was
one of two experiments chosen by NASA this month from a field of
39 proposals for instruments to perform studies that will benefit
eventual human exploration of the red planet.
MECA will analyze the dust and soil of Mars to investigate
potential hazards to human explorers. The instrument will examine
dust and soil using an optical microscope provided by the Max
Planck Institute for Aeronomy in Germany and the University of
Arizona.
In the experiment, soil will be mixed with water carried
aboard the spacecraft to investigate such topics as the acidity
or alkalinity of the soil; potential for oxidation; electrical
conductivity; and the presence of potentially toxic dissolved
ions on Mars. The experiment will also monitor the charge buildup
on the instrument's digging arm to learn about electrostatic
buildup.
The 2001 Mars missions represent the first step in an agency
initiative to fly experiments supporting NASA's Human Exploration
and Development of Space program on robotic exploration missions
carried out by NASA's Office of Space Science. The 2001 lander
is scheduled to launch in April 2001, while its companion orbiter
spacecraft is set to launch approximately one month earlier.
NASA's Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and
Applications sponsors MECA. Dr. Michael Hecht of the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory is project manager, Dr. Thomas Meloy of
West Virginia University is principal investigator and John
Marshall of NASA's Ames Research Laboratory is deputy principal
investigator.
JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, CA.
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Дата: 04 марта 1998 (1998-03-04)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Lunar Prospector Initial Science Results Briefing On March 5
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Doug Isbell/Don Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC March 2, 1998
(Phone: 202/358-1547)
Elizabeth Carter
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
(Phone: 650/604-2742 )
NOTE TO EDITORS: N98-23
LUNAR PROSPECTOR INITIAL SCIENCE RESULTS BRIEFING ON MARCH 5
The initial scientific findings and status of NASA's Lunar
Prospector mission, now in orbit around the Moon, will be the
subject of a press briefing at 1 p.m. EST, Thursday, March 5, at
NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. Lunar Prospector,
the third mission in NASA's Discovery Program of lower-cost, highly
focused Solar System exploration missions, was launched Jan. 6,
1998, to provide the first global maps of the Moon's elemental
surface composition and gravitational and magnetic fields. The
briefing will be broadcast live on NASA Television with two-way
question-and-answer capability for reporters covering from
participating NASA Centers.
Participants in the press briefing are:
* Scott Hubbard, Lunar Prospector Mission Manager, Ames Research Center
* Dr. Alan Binder, Lunar Prospector Principal Investigator,
Lunar Research Institute, Gilroy, CA
* Dr. William Feldman, Co-Investigator for the Gamma Ray Spectrometer,
Neutron Spectrometer, and the Alpha Particle Spectrometer, Los
Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM
* Dr. Alex Konopliv, Co-Investigator for the Doppler Gravity
Experiment, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
NASA Television is available on GE-2, transponder 9C at 85
degrees West longitude, with vertical polarization. Frequency is
on 3880.0 megahertz, with audio on 6.8 megahertz. Information on
Lunar Prospector is available on the Internet at the following address:
http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov
-end-
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Дата: 04 марта 1998 (1998-03-04)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Cassini Update - March 3, 1998
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MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
Cassini Mission Status
March 3, 1998
The Cassini spacecraft successfully performed the second
scheduled trajectory adjustment of its mission last week, fine-
tuning its flight path in preparation for its flyby of Venus on
April 26. The trajectory adjustment needed was so minor that the
maneuver was performed using Cassini's small hydrazine thrusters
instead of the spacecraft's large main engine. Engineering data
recorded during the thruster firing confirmed that the maneuver
went as planned, with all spacecraft and ground components
performing perfectly. A final trajectory adjustment prior to the
Venus flyby is scheduled in early April.
Cassini remains in excellent health, flying at a speed
relative to the Sun of approximately 137,000 kilometers per hour
(about 85,000 miles per hour). It is slowly gaining speed as it
feels the tug of gravity from Venus. The spacecraft will gain a
significant boost in speed when it swings around Venus next
month. Cassini has traveled approximately 362 million kilometers
(about 224 million miles) since launch on October 15, 1997.
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Дата: 04 марта 1998 (1998-03-04)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: SJI's Sky and Space Update - March 1, 1998
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SAN JUAN INSTITUTE'S SKY AND SPACE UPDATE
Summary information about the night sky and recent findings and events
in solar system exploration and science. Updated every 2 weeks.
LAST UPDATED: SUN. MAR. 1, 1998
Prepared by: Dr. Bruce Betts and Andre Bormanis
OBJECTS TO LOOK FOR IN THE NIGHT SKY (MID-NORTHERN LATITUDES)
MERCURY climbs back into the western sky shortly after sunset, and
looks like a moderately bright star. By mid-month it will be at its highest
position in the evening sky, some 19 degrees from the Sun.
VENUS is visible in the low east-southeast in the pre-dawn sky, looking
like an extremely bright star.
MARS is very low in the southwest in the early evening. It looks like
a dim yellowish-orange star. On Mar. 10, Mars lies one degree to the left
of Mercury, which is about ten times brighter.
JUPITER is still too close to the Sun to be seen. By the end of the
month, it will reappear low in the east just before dawn.
SATURN is moderately low in the west shortly after sunset. It is the
brightest object in this part of the sky, looking like a yellowish star.
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE OBSERVERS: Planets located in the southern part of
the sky for northern hemisphere observers will appear higher in southern
hemisphere skies; those in the north will appear lower.
THE MOON
First Quarter Moon occurs Mar. 5 at 12:41 a.m. PST (UT - 8 hours).
Full Moon occurs Mar. 12 at 20:34 p.m. PST. This month's Full Moon is
also called the Sap Moon, Crow Moon, or Lenten Moon (the period of Lent
began on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 25, and ends on Easter Sunday, Apr. 12).
HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT UPDATE
STS-90: The next Space Shuttle mission, STS-90, is scheduled for launch
on Apr. 16, at 11:19 a.m. PST. The oldest Space Shuttle, Columbia, will
make its twenty-fifth flight into space on this mission.
Columbia will fly the Spacelab facility into space for the last time.
Spacelab is a research laboratory, designed and built by the European Space
Agency, that fits in the Shuttle's cargo bay. The 17 day STS-90 mission
will focus on how the space environment affects the human neurological
system, i.e., the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and sensory organs.
The kinds of experiments that have been conducted in the Spacelab facility
since the early 1980's will be carried out aboard the International Space
Station, which will be assembled in Earth orbit beginning this summer.
PLANETARY SPACEFLIGHT UPDATE
VOYAGER MILESTONE: The Voyager 1 spacecraft has become the most distant
man-made object in the solar system.
Launched Sep. 5, 1977, Voyager 1 is now some 10.4 billion kilometers
from Earth. In late February its distance exceeded that of Pioneer 10, the
previous most-distant spacecraft record holder.
Voyager 1 flew past Jupiter on Mar. 5, 1979, and Saturn on Nov. 12,
1980. Thanks to its radio-isotope powered electrical generators, mission
scientists expect both the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft to continue
transmitting data about the distant reaches of the solar system until at
least the year 2020.
GALILEO: The Galileo Extended Mission continues. On Feb. 10, Galileo
cruised above Jupiter's intriguing moon Europa at an altitude of 3552
kilometers. Because Jupiter was in conjunction with the Sun during most of
February, scientific data from the encounter is just now being transmitted
to Earth.
Galileo's next encounter with Europa will take place on Mar. 29.
Scientists hope to learn whether liquid water exists beneath Europa's frozen
crust. NASA is planning to build and launch a dedicated Europa orbiter
early in the next century.
CASSINI: The Cassini spacecraft, headed for Saturn, continues to
function as expected. The spacecraft has already traveled 271 million
kilometers since its Oct. 15 launch.
THESE WEEKS IN SPACE HISTORY
MAR. 1, 1966: The Soviet Union's Venera 1 probe became the first
spacecraft to land on the planet Venus. Due to a runaway greenhouse effect,
temperatures on the surface of Venus reach 900 degrees Fahrenheit.
MAR. 3, 1972: Pioneer 10, the first spacecraft to leave the solar
system, was launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida.
MAR. 10, 1977: Astronomers discovered a system of rings around the
planet Uranus.
RANDOM SPACE FACT
At Voyager 1's present distance, sunlight is only one five-thousandth
as intense as it is on Earth. Radio signals from Voyager 1, traveling at
the speed of light (300,000 kilometers per second) take 9 hours and 36
minutes to reach Earth.
**********************************************************************
The San Juan Institute (SJI) is a non-profit corporation headquartered
in San Juan Capistrano, CA with divisions there and in Tucson, AZ. SJI
carries out research and education in planetary and Earth sciences and
astronomy, with funding provided by government grants and private donations,
which are always needed. Partial funding for the SSU has been provided by
NASA's Solar System Exploration Division.
**********************************************************************
mailed 3/2/98 by Tobin Fricke, SJI.
San Juan Capistrano Research Institute Ph: 714-240-2010, Fax: 714-240-0482
31882 Camino Capistrano, Suite 107 Email: educate@sji.org
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675 Web site: http://www.sji.org
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Дата: 04 марта 1998 (1998-03-04)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: STARDUST Update - February 27, 1998
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STARDUST Status Report
February 27, 1998
Ken Atkins
STARDUST Project Manager
STARDUST Assembly, Test and Launch Operations (ATLO) made good progress this
week with telecom interface tests nearing completion today.
A solution was developed for the data transfer problems discovered in the
Cometary and Interstellar Dust Analyzer (CIDA) interface testing last month.
Plans show the upgraded electronic simulator box arriving from Germany next
week to support validating and testing the fix. New ATLO flow plans allowed
the CIDA team two weeks of schedule relief for their flight unit delivery.
The flight Sample Return Capsule (SRC) canister bake-out was completed to
provide the required clean environment for aerogel collector tray
installation. The SRC avionics completed 100 hours burn in and the
certification was completed to permit flight installation.
Fault Protection workshop #3 was held this week in order to concentrate on
Fault Protection test planning and execution. Results were very
good,indicating a thorough test program for the fault protection software.
The flight solar arrays completed functional lighting tests and acoustic
test.
The first chip containing public names, letters and pictures has been
installed on the SRC avionics deck.
For more information on the STARDUST mission - the first ever comet sample
return mission - please visit the STARDUST home page:
http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/
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