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    Архив RU.SPACE.NEWS за 15 июля 1998

    Дата: 15 июля 1998 (1998-07-15) От: Radik Serazetdinov Тема: <none> Hello All. === Cut === Противоракетной обороны больше нет Российская противоракетная оборона дала трещину Запущенный 29 апреля 1998 года российский военный спутник "Космос-2350", предназначенный для непрерывного наблюдения за районами базирования стратегических ядерных ракет в центральной части США, перестал подавать признаки жизни. Это означает, что один из главных элементов поддержания обороноспособности страны -- система предупреждения о ракетном нападении -- перестала выполнять свои функции. Связь с "Космосом-2350" прервалась 6 июля. Министерство обороны сразу же создало межведомственную комиссию, которой предстояло разобраться в причинах аварии. Как стало известно Ъ, спустя неделю специалисты пришли к неутешительному выводу: спутник разгерметизировался, надежды на его дальнейшее использование нет. Так погиб последний из двух необходимых для надежной работы системы предупреждения о ракетном нападении (СПРH) спутников, расположенных на геостационарной орбите. До этого в конце прошлого года пришел в негодность запущенный в августе 1997 года "Космос-2345". Система предупреждения о ракетном нападении состоит из двух основных компонентов: наземного (девять радиолокационных станций) и космического (два эшелона спутников на геостационарной и высокоэллиптических орбитах). Геостационарные спутники, неподвижно висящие над определенными точками Атлантического океана, должны обеспечивать непрерывное круглосуточное наблюдение за районами в центральной части США, где размещены базы межконтинентальных ядерных баллистических ракет. Правда, у российских военных пока еще есть возможность хоть как-то обнаружить ракетное нападение. Ее обеспечивают девять радиолокационных станций (РЛС), расположенных в Печоре, Оленегорске и Ангарске (Россия), Скрунде (Латвия), Барановичах (Белоруссия), Мукачево и Севастополе (Украина), Габале (Азербайджан), Сары-Шагане (Казахстан), и летающие вокруг Земли высокоэллиптические спутники "Око". Однако большинство РЛС находится за пределами России и со временем наверняка перестанут существовать, а спутников сегодня на орбите лишь пять из девяти необходимых. Кроме того, РЛС могут обнаружить ракеты только на подлете, а высокоэллиптические спутники наблюдают за территорией потенциального противника не постоянно, а только когда находятся непосредственно над его территорией. Именно поэтому еще в середине 80-х годов было решено сделать ставку на геостационарные аппараты: предполагалось, что семь таких спутников будут круглосуточно контролировать всю поверхность Земли. Однако осуществиться этим планам, видимо, не суждено никогда. Два геостационарных спутника -- все, что из-за проблем с бюджетом могла себе позволить Москва. Теперь же она лишилась и этого. Причем даже если средства на СПРH когда-нибудь будут выделены, неизвестно, сможет ли российская армия восстановить работоспособность системы. Связано это с тем, что геостационарные спутники для СПРH делают на химкинском HПО имени Лавочкина, которое в последнее время выпускает продукцию не лучшего качества. Из восьми запущенных за последние 20 месяцев спутников, построенных на этом предприятии, пять потерпели аварию. Кроме двух "Космосов", это межпланетная станция "Марс-8", спутник "Купон" для создаваемой Центробанком системы связи "Банкир" и аппарат оптико-электронной разведки 11Ф664 Главного разведуправления Генштаба. HПО им.Лавочкина было включено в перечень предприятий, которым гарантирован оборонный заказ на 1999 год, однако вряд ли это изменит ситуацию к лучшему. Руководство HПО в последнее время озабочено не повышением качества своей военной продукции, а поисками альтернативных источников финансирования. Предприятие, например, занимается созданием лунохода для японских заказчиков и разрабатывает проект "Будда". Последний предусматривает отправку на Луну двух аппаратов: один доставит туда метровое изваяние Будды, а другой -- телеаппаратуру, которая будет передавать на Землю его изображение. ВАЛЕРИЙ Ъ-БОГАТЫРЕВ Коммерсант-Daily 15.07.98 === Cut === Radik
    Дата: 15 июля 1998 (1998-07-15) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: WDC-A R&S Launch Announcement 12953: FASAT-B, TIMSAT, TECHSAT, WESTPAC Subject: WDC-A R&S Launch Announcement 12953: FASAT-B, TIMSAT, TECHSAT, WESTPAC Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... COSPAR/ISES WORLD WARNING AGENCY FOR SATELLITES WORLD DATA CENTER-A FOR R & S, NASA/GSFC CODE 633, GREENBELT, MARYLAND, 20771. USA SPACEWARN 12953 COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM NUMBER SPACECRAFT INTERNATIONAL ID (CATALOG NUMBER) LAUNCH DATE,UT FASAT-B 1998-043B 25395 10 JULY 1998 TIMSAT 1998-043C 25396 " TECHSAT 1998-043D 25397 " WESTPAC 1998-043E 25398 " SAFIR 2 1998-043F 25399 ' [THESE ARE MICROSATELLITES, LAUNCHED ALONG WITH RESURS-O.] DR. JOSEPH H. KING, DIRECTOR, WDC-A-R&S. [PH: (301) 286 7355. E-MAIL: KING@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV 13 JULY 1998, 12:45 UT] Further details will be in the next SPACEWARN Bulletin Dr. Edwin V. Bell, II _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ Mail Code 633 _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ NASA Goddard Space _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ Flight Center _/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ Greenbelt, MD 20771 _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ +1-301-286-1187 ed.bell@gsfc.nasa.gov SPACEWARN home page: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/ Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=
    Дата: 15 июля 1998 (1998-07-15) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: WDC-A R&S Launch Announcement 12952: RESURS-O Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... COSPAR/ISES WORLD WARNING AGENCY FOR SATELLITES WORLD DATA CENTER-A FOR R & S, NASA/GSFC CODE 633, GREENBELT, MARYLAND, 20771. USA SPACEWARN 12952 COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM NUMBER SPACECRAFT INTERNATIONAL ID (CATALOG NUMBER) LAUNCH DATE,UT RESURS-O 1998-043A 25394 10 JULY 1998 DR. JOSEPH H. KING, DIRECTOR, WDC-A-R&S. [PH: (301) 286 7355. E-MAIL: KING@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV 10 JULY 1998, 17:30 UT] Further details will be in the next SPACEWARN Bulletin Dr. Edwin V. Bell, II _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ Mail Code 633 _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ NASA Goddard Space _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ Flight Center _/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ Greenbelt, MD 20771 _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ +1-301-286-1187 ed.bell@gsfc.nasa.gov SPACEWARN home page: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/ Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=
    Дата: 15 июля 1998 (1998-07-15) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: WDC-A R&S Launch Announcement 12951: TUBSAT-N and TUBSAT-N1 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... COSPAR/ISES WORLD WARNING AGENCY FOR SATELLITES WORLD DATA CENTER-A FOR R & S, NASA/GSFC CODE 633, GREENBELT, MARYLAND, 20771. USA SPACEWARN 12951 COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM NUMBER SPACECRAFT INTERNATIONAL ID (CATALOG NUMBER) LAUNCH DATE,UT TUBSAT-N 1998-042A 25389 07 JULY 1998 TUBSAT-N1 1998-042B 25390 07 JULY 1998 [THE POST-LAUNCH NAME OF 1998-041A (PLANET-B) IS NOZOMI.] DR. JOSEPH H. KING, DIRECTOR, WDC-A-R&S. [PH: (301) 286 7355. E-MAIL: KING@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV 07 JULY 1998, 18:15 UT] Further details will be in the next SPACEWARN Bulletin Dr. Edwin V. Bell, II _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ Mail Code 633 _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ NASA Goddard Space _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ Flight Center _/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ Greenbelt, MD 20771 _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ +1-301-286-1187 ed.bell@gsfc.nasa.gov SPACEWARN home page: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/ Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=
    Дата: 15 июля 1998 (1998-07-15) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: WDC-A R&S Launch Announcement 12950: Nozomi (aka Hope, aka Planet-B) Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... COSPAR/ISES WORLD WARNING AGENCY FOR SATELLITES WORLD DATA CENTER-A FOR R & S, NASA/GSFC CODE 633, GREENBELT, MARYLAND, 20771. USA SPACEWARN 12950 COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM NUMBER SPACECRAFT INTERNATIONAL ID (CATALOG NUMBER) LAUNCH DATE,UT PLANET-B 1998-041A 25383 03 JULY 1998 [THE NAME OF THE SPACECRAFT 1998-040A HAS NOW BEEN ASCERTAINED:MOLNIYA 3-49.] R. PARTHASARATHY FOR DR. JOSEPH H. KING, DIRECTOR, WDC-A-R&S. [PH: (301) 286 7355. E-MAIL: KING@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV 06 JULY 1998, 12:45 UT] Further details will be in the next SPACEWARN Bulletin Dr. Edwin V. Bell, II _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ Mail Code 633 _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ NASA Goddard Space _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ Flight Center _/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ Greenbelt, MD 20771 _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ +1-301-286-1187 ed.bell@gsfc.nasa.gov SPACEWARN home page: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/ Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=
    Дата: 15 июля 1998 (1998-07-15) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: This Week On Galileo - July 13-19, 1998 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... THIS WEEK ON GALILEO July 13-19, 1998 Galileo spends this week preparing for its next encounter with Jupiter and its moons. The encounter features the fifth close flyby of Jupiter's icy moon Europa since the start of the Galileo Europa Mission. Encounter activities are scheduled to start late Sunday night, July 19 (Pacific Time). Before encounter begins, Galileo must complete the playback of data written to its tape recorder during the spacecraft's previous passage through the heart of the Jupiter system in early June. All of this data will be overwritten by new science observations during the upcoming encounter. Preparations for the next encounter include, regular maintenance on the spacecraft's onboard tape recorder and propulsion system, and the spacecraft's anomalous gyroscope is tested to keep track of how it is performing. Finally, the spacecraft executes any final flight path corrections required prior to the close Europa flyby. This week's playback activities are designed to fill gaps in previously returned data, select entirely new data, or re-process data with different parameters. Science data from Europa, Jupiter and Io are returned this week. Regional and global scale information on Europa is returned by the near infrared spectrometer, and a mosaic of unexplored terrain near Europa's terminator is returned by the spacecraft camera. Three other observations returned by the near infrared mapping spectrometer were taken 16, 20, and 22 hours after the closest approach to Europa in early June. The spectrometer's 16, 20, and 22 hour observations will provide high resolution spectra that is low in noise due to the fact that radiation noise decreases roughly in proportion to the spacecraft's distance from Jupiter. These spectra will be used to help identify non-ice components of the surface. The spacecraft camera returns two observations of Io taken while the moon was eclipsed from the sun by Jupiter. The third and fourth in a series, they are designed to allow scientists to study the changes in Io's surface temperature as the eclipse progresses. Toward the end of the week, the near infrared spectrometer returns portions of two observations of Io's surface. Included in these data is information that may lead to the discovery of a newly formed hot spot on Io. Finally, three observations of Jupiter, performed by the near infrared spectrometer, are returned this week. All three observations will provide information on the differences in temperature and composition that can be found across Jupiter's cloud belts and cloud zones. Don't forget about Galileo's next encounter, starting on Sunday night. In fact, come back on Sunday for the return of Today on Galileo!!!! For more information on the Galileo spacecraft and its mission to Jupiter, please visit the Galileo home page: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=
    Дата: 15 июля 1998 (1998-07-15) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Search For Life In Solar System Lecture On July 18 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... MWOA Mount Wilson Observatory Association P.O. Box 70076, Pasadena, CA 91117 For Immediate Release For more information contact: Bob Eklund, (310) 333-3478 Frank Carsey to Speak on Search for Life in Solar System at Free Public Lecture, July 18 at Mount Wilson Observatory In the first of a series of monthly public lectures at the Mount Wilson Observatory, Frank Carsey of JPL will speak Saturday July 18 on "Exploring Europa, Lake Vostok, and the Oceanic Geothermal Vents: A Research and Development Program in the Search for Life in the Solar System." The lecture will begin at 2:00 p.m. in the Observatory's Astronomical Museum, directly across the access road from the 150-foot solar tower telescope. Refreshments will be served beginning at 1:30. Designed for the general public, this program is presented free of charge by the Mount Wilson Observatory Association (MWOA) as a public service. The talk discusses Jupiter's ice-covered moon Europa as a possible habitat for marine life forms, with emphasis on similar habitats on the Earth - specifically a large lake beneath the Antarctic ice and geothermal vents on the sea floor. The currently available data strongly suggests that Europa has a very deep liquid ocean beneath an icy crust some 2-10 km thick. An old deep ocean covered with ice, on a planet suspected of volcanic activity, has striking similarities to sites on Earth -- specifically subglacial lakes such as Lake Vostok in Antarctica and deep ocean geothermal vents such as are found off Hawaii and the Pacific coast. Clearly, the ability to robotically explore subglacial lakes and geothermal vents is required before staging a mission to Europa, and this talk will discuss the science rationale and the engineering tasks of these three scientific explorations. Frank Carsey leads the science aspects of an in-situ instrument and systems development project at JPL studying planetary ices and water bodies, with emphasis on integrated studies of Europa, Lake Vostok, and undersea geothermal vents. Dr. Carsey received the Ph.D. in Physics from UCLA in 1971 for ultrasonic studies in transition metals. He then took a position at the NOAA Wave Propagation Laboratory, during which his involvement in Earth sciences began. Participation in the University of Washington Arctic Ice Dynamics Joint Experiment (AIDJEX) started him looking at polar science matters, and he has been active in air-sea-ice interactions since then. The Mount Wilson Observatory is about 20 miles (approximately 45 minutes driving time) from the Angeles Crest Highway exit from the 210 freeway in La Canada- Flintridge. Follow the Angeles Crest Highway (California route 2) for about 14 miles, then turn right at the "Mount Wilson" sign and follow the paved county road to the top of the mountain. Go through the gate marked "Mt. Wilson Skyline Park" and park in the large parking area, about 200 yards inside the gate. Walk in on the Observatory access road (on the far left side of the parking lot) about 1/4 mile to the museum. Note: The U.S. Forest Service is currently requiring motorists parking in the Mount Wilson area to display a "Forest Adventure Pass" on their cars. The cost is $5.00 for a one-day pass or $30.00 for a season pass. It can be purchased at major sporting goods outlets (such as Sports Chalet) or at any Forest Service facility. Passes are usually sold on weekends at the Clear Creek Ranger Station, about halfway to Mt. Wilson where the Palmdale road branches off from the Angeles Crest Highway, and at the Red Box Ranger Station (where the side road to Mt. Wilson meets the Angeles Crest Highway). WE ADVISE ATTENDEES TO DISPLAY THIS PASS INSIDE THEIR WINDSHIELD TO AVOID POSSIBLE TICKETING BY THE FOREST SERVICE. The Mount Wilson Observatory Association is a public-membership support group for the Mount Wilson Observatory, a major astronomical research facility. MWOA's purpose to help the public better understand the Observatory's rich history and ongoing scientific programs. MWOA volunteers serve as docents (tour guides) at Mount Wilson, and its members are offered special opportunities to visit and use the Observatory's astronomical facilities. For information about membership, call Don Nicholson, MWOA President, at (310) 476-4413. Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=
    Дата: 15 июля 1998 (1998-07-15) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: New NASA Facility Will Complete Worldwide Communications Coverage Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Jennifer McCarter Headquarters, Washington, DC July 13, 1998 (Phone: 202/358-1639) Susan Hendrix Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (Phone: 301/286-7745) RELEASE: 98-122 NEW NASA FACILITY WILL COMPLETE WORLDWIDE COMMUNICATIONS COVERAGE Guam Island will be the site for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 15, 1998, to officially open a new terminal that will effectively complete NASA's vital communications and data- gathering support for NASA Earth-orbiting missions. Providing global, full-time and real-time communications support for NASA's Space Network customers, including the Space Shuttle, International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope, the new ground terminal will be capable of communicating with geosynchronous tracking and data relay satellites stationed out of view of the existing Cacique and Danzante ground stations in White Sands, NM. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, manages the overall system. "NASA built the Guam ground station to significantly expand the quantity and quality of services we provide to all our customers," said Goddard's ground terminal project manager, Tom Gitlin. Cost of funding the Guam station will be provided by NASA's Space Network operations budget and mitigated in part by the deactivation of the Canberra station. The Guam Remote Ground Terminal was conceived after NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory suffered an onboard tape recorder failure in March 1992, and required full-time, real-time communications support. NASA established a limited capability ground terminal in Canberra, Australia, in late 1993 to provide continued support for the observatory's science mission. Goddard project officials quickly realized that an enhanced ground station was needed in the Pacific to better serve NASA's Space Network customers who traverse the Indian Ocean area. For more information, refer to NASA's Network Control Center homepage on the Internet at: http://ncc.gsfc.nasa.gov -end- Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=
    Дата: 15 июля 1998 (1998-07-15) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: New Mars Global Surveyor Image Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... NEW MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR IMAGE A new image of Elysium Mons Volcano taken by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft is now available on the MGS website: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/msss/camera/images/7_10_98_elysium_rel/index.html The image caption is below. Ron Baalke Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) High and Low Resolution Images SPO-2 Observations: Elysium Mons Volcano (A) [Image] 499 KByte JPG image (A) Elysium Volcanic Region as seen by MOC on July 2, 1998. Volcano near top center is Hecates Tholus--note bright clouds off its northeast flank. Volcano near center is Elysium Mons; volcano toward lower right is Albor Tholus. Red channel is MOC red wide angle image 40301, the blue channel is MOC blue wide angle image 40302, and the green channel is synthesized by averaging the red and blue bands. Image is an orthographic projection centered at 24.85°N, 213.25°W. The scale at the center of the projection is 4.65 kilometers (2.9 miles) per pixel. North is up, illumination is from the lower right. (B) [Image] 1 MByte GIF image (B) Mariner 9 view of Elysium Mons taken on October 16, 1972, at 11:37 a.m. PST. This is a mosaic of images 676B01 and 676B02 (where the numbers before the "B" refer to the Mariner 9 orbit on which the images were taken, the "B" refers to the Mariner 9 high resolution camera, and the last two digits indicate the image number on that orbit). North is up, illumination is from the right. Reproduced in a simple cylindrical projection at a scale of 75 m/pixel. (C) [Image] 736 KByte JPG image (C) Anaglyph stereo image of Elysium Mons (use red filter for left eye), constructed from Mariner 9 high resolution B-frame images. Two images were taken 9 months apart by Mariner 9 in 1972 to provide this high-resolution, stereoscopic view of the summit of Elysium Mons. The first image (134B31), acquired on January 19, 1972, at 4:12 p.m. PST, was taken at a viewing angle of 19° from vertical, while the second image (676B01) was acquired on October 16, 1972, at 11:37 a.m. PST. The image scale is roughly 80 m/pixel. (D) [Image] 1.2 MByte GIF image (D) Comparison of Elysium Mons summit and upper flanks with the summit and flanks of Emi Koussi volcano in Chad on the continent of Africa. The Elysium Mons picture is from Mariner 9, the Emi Koussi picture was taken by an astronaut on Apollo 7 (Frame # 5-1621) in 1968. The two volcanoes show many similarities. Both have an approximately circular caldera-- the central crater at the summit-- with evidence of two caldera collapse events. Both have deep channels incised into the caldera rim and upper flanks--the channels developed as a result of faulting followed by lava which poured through them. The two volcanoes are different in one important aspect, however--water runoff (e.g., from rain) has formed many channels on the lower flanks of Emi Koussi, but no such channels formed on Elysium Mons (i.e., it never rained on Elysium Mons). This figure and further details on the comparison of these two volcanoes were published by MOC Principal Investigator Michael C. Malin, "Comparison of volcanic features of Elysium (Mars) and Tibesti (Earth)," Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 88, p. 908-919, 1977. (E) [Image] 24 KByte GIF image (E) Elysium Mons summit region. White box shows location of MOC narrow angle image 40303 (below). Base map is U.S. Geological Survey Viking photomosaic at 1:256 scale. North is up, illumination is from the left. (F) [Image] 780 KByte GIF image (F) MOC image 40303, shown at 25% of its original size. North is approximately up, illumination is from the right. Resolution of picture shown here is 21 meters (69 feet) per pixel. Image was received with bright slopes saturated at DN=255. (G) [Image] 733 KByte GIF image (G) MOC image 40303, shown at 25% of its original size, same as above in (F), except shown here with a box that indicates the location of the full-resolution subframe shown below in (H). (H) [Image] 244 KByte GIF image (H) MOC image 40303 subframe of the Elysium Mons' southern caldera wall and floor shown at full resolution (5.24 meters (17.2 feet) per pixel). Illumination is from the right, north is approximately up. You may need to adjust the images for the gamma of your monitor to insure proper viewing. Note: This MOC image is made available in order to share with the public the excitement of new discoveries being made via the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. The image may be reproduced only if the image is credited to "Malin Space Science Systems/NASA". Release of this image does not constitute a release of scientific data. The image and its caption should not be referenced in the scientific literature. Full data releases to the scientific community are scheduled by the Mars Global Surveyor Project and NASA Planetary Data System. Typically, data will be released after a 6 month calibration and validation period. Click Here for more information on MGS data release and archiving plans. CAPTION On July 4, 1998---the first anniversary of the Mars Pathfinder landing--- Mars Global Surveyor's latest images were radioed to Earth with little fanfare. The images received on July 4, 1998, however, were very exciting because they included a rare crossing of the summit caldera of a major martian volcano. Elysium Mons is located at 25°N, 213°W, in the martian eastern hemisphere. As shown in Figure (A), above, Elysium Mons is one of three large volcanoes that occur on the Elysium Rise-- the others are Hecates Tholus (northeast of Elysium Mons) and Albor Tholus (southeast of Elysium Mons). The volcano rises about 12.5 kilometers (7.8 miles) above the surrounding plain, or about 16 kilometes (9.9 miles) above the martian datum-- the "zero" elevation defined by average martian atmospheric pressure and the planet's radius. Elysium Mons was discovered by Mariner 9 in 1972. It differs in a number of ways from the familiar Olympus Mons and other large volcanoes in the Tharsis region. In particular, there are no obvious lava flows visible on the volcano's flanks. The lack of lava flows was apparent from the Mariner 9 images, but the new MOC high resolution image--obtained at 5.24 meters (17.2 feet) per pixel--illustrates that this is true even when viewed at higher spatial resolution. Elysium Mons has many craters on its surface. Some of these probably formed by meteor impact, but many show no ejecta pattern characteristic of meteor impact. Some of the craters are aligned in linear patterns that are radial to the summit caldera--these most likely formed by collapse as lava was withdrawn from beneath the surface, rather than by meteor impact. Other craters may have formed by explosive volcanism. Evidence for explosive volcanism on Mars has been very difficult to identify from previous Mars spacecraft images. This and other MOC data are being examined closely to better understand the nature and origin of volcanic features on Mars. The three MOC images, 40301 (red wide angle), 40302 (blue wide angle), and 40303 (high resolution, narrow angle) were obtained on Mars Global Surveyor's 403rd orbit around the planet around 9:58 - 10:05 p.m. PDT on July 2, 1998. The images were received and processed at Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) around 4:00 p.m. PDT on July 4, 1998. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

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