Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Antarctica is not shrinking (Forwarded)
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European Space Agency
Press Release No 36-98
Paris, France 15 October 1998
ANTARCTICA IS NOT SHRINKING
EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY SATELLITES PROVIDE NEW INSIGHT INTO RISING SEA
LEVELS
Antarctica is not shrinking, the European Space Agency ESA reveals
today. This result of the ERS (European Remote Sensing) satellites is
reported 16 October 1998 by an international team of scientists in the
leading American magazine, SCIENCE (See note). But the same
investigation provides evidence that one part of West Antarctica may be
rapidly losing its ice to the ocean.
The team of British, Dutch and American scientists, led by Professor
Duncan Wingham at University College London, based their findings on ERS
data collected over five years.
The data reveal that most of the ice stored in Antarctica is very
stable. The icy continent now looks an unlikely source of rising global
sea level this century, making thermal expansion of the ocean due to
global warming, and the shrinking of mountain glaciers, more likely
causes.
Prof. Wingham's team used ERS's radar altimeter instruments to determine
if the thickness of the Antarctic Ice Sheet changed over the five-year
period from 1992 to 1996. Transmitting over 4,000,000 radar pulses to
the surface of the ice, and measuring the time taken for the echoes to
return to the satellite, the average change of the height of 63 of the
Ice Sheet was measured with an accuracy of 0.5 cm per year. The ice
sheet has changed on average by less than 1 cm per year. Using previous
measurements of changes in snowfall over the ice sheet, the team
concluded that the interior of the Antarctic Ice Sheet had contributed
only 1.7 cm to sea level rise this century.
Sea level has risen 18 cm over the past 100 years. Previously the
accuracy of data could have meant that Antarctica were responsible for a
raise or lowering of global sea level by 14 cm in either direction.
Speaking today on the importance of the research Professor Duncan
Wingham said: "Scientists have never really understood the role that
Antarctica has played in this century's rising sea level. Our research
makes it likely that the answer is very little."
The result supports the view that global warming, leading to a thermal
expansion of the ocean and the melting of mountain glaciers, is
responsible for rising sea level. Professor Wingham continued, "As a
consequence of our research we should be able to produce more accurate
predictions of future sea level rises. Indeed it is possible that the
consequences of global warming on sea level rise has been
underestimated."
Professor Wingham and his team also discovered a rapid reduction in
thickness in one of West Antarctica's least known drainage basins. The
Thwaites Glacier basin was shrinking rapidly at 12 cm per year. The
result provides evidence that one of the most hostile regions of
Antarctica may be undergoing rapid change.
Commenting on the wider importance of the research, ESA's Earth
Observation Mission Manager Guy Duchossois said: "Knowledge about sea
level rise matters for many million people in coastal areas whose lives
depend on dykes that can withstand the forces of nature. ESA will
continue to fly satellites that provide the data for a better
understanding of our environment. Global warming may have daunting
consequences that satellites in space can help to manage."
Further information:
Franco Bonacina
Media Relations, European Space Agency
00 33 1 5369 7713
Patrick Edwards
Head of Media Relations
0171 391 1621
Linda Capper
British Antarctic Survey
01223 221 448
NOTES TO EDITORS.
(i) Antarctic Elevation Change 1992 - 1996, D.J.Wingham et al. Appears
in the 16 October 1998 edition of SCIENCE
Andrew Yee
ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca
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=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Boeing Changes Delta III Control Software (Forwarded)
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The Boeing Company
Contact:
Walt Rice (714) 896-5171
Communications (714) 896-1301
Delta Launch Hotline: (714) 896-4770
98-076
Boeing Changes Delta III Control Software
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., Oct. 15, 1998 -- The Delta III investigation team
here completed the cause and corrective action investigation into the Aug.
26 failure of the Boeing Delta III launch vehicle.
"The roll instability which led to the Delta III failure can be corrected
by a change to our control software," said Clarence Quan, Boeing [NYSE:
BA] Delta III investigation chairman. The Delta III control system consists
of an onboard computer system which controls the main engine, two vernier
engines and three solid-rocket motors (SRMs) with thrust-vector control
(TVC) assemblies.
When designing the roll aspects of the control system, 56 roll modes were
identified. A 4 hertz (cycles per second) roll mode caused the roll
instability seen in the Delta III launch. A mode is the characteristic
pattern of movement or shape an object takes as it vibrates. "Past flight
data with Delta II shows the most significant roll mode at liftoff remains
the dominant mode throughout the first phase of flight," Quan said. "This
data drove the design of the control system; because the 4 hertz roll mode
was not significant at liftoff it was not designed into the control system."
The 4 hertz roll mode was caused by the three airlit solid-rocket motors
rocking back and forth in unison. As the ground lit SRMs burned and lost
weight, the rocking air-lit solids had a greater influence on the
vehicle. The mode became significant 40 to 50 seconds into flight.
Once the control system recognized the mode, it attempted to correct the
roll oscillation. In doing so, the hydraulic fluid used to move the
nozzles on the solid-rocket motors with TVCs was depleted.
Without the solid-rocket-motor TVC system, the Delta III was unable to
maintain control. Approximately 72 seconds after liftoff, the vehicle
flew through a wind shear, yawed 25 - 35 degrees, started to breakup and
the rocket's automatic destruct system initiated.
At this time the investigation team is focusing on the return-to-flight
planning for the next Delta III launch, planned for the first quarter of
1999. Dan Collins is leading the Delta III return-to-flight and
revalidation team. Clarence Quan and Walt Wilson will continue to lead
the senior investigation board.
Other former and current senior members of the Delta team will join
representatives from NASA, U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Center,
Aerospace Corporation, Hughes Space and Communications, as well as a
retired vice president from General Dynamics on the senior investigation
board.
Andrew Yee
ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca
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=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: New iceberg breaks off Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica (Forwarded)
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NOAA 98-69
CONTACT: Patricia Viets, NOAA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 10/15/98
NEW ICEBERG BREAKS OFF RONNE ICE SHELF IN ANTARCTICA
An iceberg larger than the state of Delaware has broken off the Ronne Ice
Shelf in Antarctica, the National Ice Center reported today.
The iceberg, named A-38, is 92 x 29.9 miles and covers an area roughly
2750.8 square miles. It broke off the second largest ice shelf in
Antarctica, located in the southern Weddell Sea.
Mary Keller, a scientist at the National Ice Center in Suitland, Md.,
sighted the iceberg using satellite data. The data are from an instrument on
a satellite in the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program -- the
Operational Linescan System, which has a spatial resolution of .55 km (.34
miles). These satellites are operated by the Commerce Department's National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The National Ice Center is a tri-agency operational center represented by
the U.S. Navy (Department of Defense); the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (Department of Commerce); and the U.S. Coast Guard
(Department of Transportation). The National Ice Center's mission is to
provide world-wide operational ice analyses for the armed forces of the
United States and allied nations, U.S. government agencies, and the private
sector.
Ice shelves are massive, floating sheets of snow and frozen water that
encircle the Antarctic mainland. Scientists at University College London
believe that the breaking off, or calving, of icebergs is an important
mechanism in the disintegration of ice shelves, and a possible indicator of
global warming. Scientists there report that the mechanics of ice shelf
fracturing remain poorly understood. A research group at the college is
planning to study ice core samples from the Ronne Ice Shelf to learn more
about fracture and deformation properties.
The last known iceberg of this magnitude to calve off a Southern Hemisphere
Ice Shelf was B-9 in the Ross Sea in October 1987.
Iceberg names are derived from the Antarctic quadrant in which they were
originally sighted. The quadrants are divided counter-clockwise in the
following manner:
A = 0 to 90 degrees West longitude (Bellinghausen/Weddell Sea)
B = 90 West to 180 (Amundsen/Eastern Ross Sea)
C = 180 to 90 East (Western Ross Sea/Wildesland)
D = 90 East to 0 (Amery/Eastern Weddell Sea)
When an iceberg is first sighted, the National Ice Center documents its
point of origin. The letter of the quadrant, along with a sequential number,
is assigned to the iceberg. For example, A-38 is the 38th iceberg the ice
center has found in the Antarctica in Quadrant A.
###
Note to Editors: An image of A-38 is on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.natice.noaa.gov . Click on Icebergs; then click onto Southern
Hemisphere Icebergs. The GIF image of A-38 is located above the weekly
iceberg update table.
Andrew Yee
ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: WDC-A R&S Launch Announcement 12968: UHF F/O F9
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COSPAR/ISES
WORLD WARNING AGENCY FOR SATELLITES
WORLD DATA CENTER-A FOR R & S, NASA/GSFC
CODE 633, GREENBELT, MARYLAND, 20771. USA
SPACEWARN 12968
COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM NUMBER
SPACECRAFT INTERNATIONAL ID (CATALOG NUMBER) LAUNCH DATE,UT
UHF F/O F9 1998-058A 25501 20 OCTOBER 1988
DR. JOSEPH H. KING, DIRECTOR, WDC-A-R&S.
[PH: (301) 286 7355.
E-MAIL: KING@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV
20 OCTOBER 1998, 14:00 UT]
Further details will be in a forthcoming 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/
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=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: MGS Aerobraking Update - October 18, 1998
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Mars Global Surveyor Aerobraking Status Report
Sunday, October 18 (DOY 286/19:00:00 to DOY 291/19:00:00 UTC)
Last Orbit Covered by this Report = 631
Total Phase I Aerobraking orbits accomplished = 180
Total Phase II Aerobraking orbits accomplished = 58
Total Science Phasing orbits accomplished = 290
Apoapsis altitude = 14074 km
Apoapsis altitude decrease since start of aerobraking = 39952 km
Periapsis altitude = 113.9 km
Current Orbit Period = 09:02:37
Orbit Period decrease since start of aerobraking = 35:56:56
Starting Phase II orbit period = 11:38:02
RECENT EVENTS:
The spacecraft health continues to be excellent as the 9 hour orbit period
is reached in Phase 2 aerobraking. The orbit period has been reduced by 36
minutes over the past 13 drag passes during this reporting period. A
periapsis lowering maneuver was executed on the apoapsis portion of orbit
622 to increase the drag pressure by about 10 percent. The 4-orbit running
mean has been modified to use the last 5 orbits in the calculation. The
current 5-orbit running mean is now 0.276 N/m2. The mean ran slightly over
the 0.28 N/m2 upper corridor limit following orbit 628 registering 0.292
N/m2. The peak dynamic pressure on this orbit was recorded as 0.34 N/m2,
just under the first alarm limit of 0.35 N/m2. Per Wednesday's reset meeting
decision, the flight operations manager exercised discretion and did not
order a periapsis raise maneuver based on reliable predictions that the
following drag passes would provide less drag force. Navigation predictions
are now based on the Wave-3 model which indicates relatively higher
atmospheric densities at drag altitudes occurring over 110°, 230° and 350°
East longitudes.
Sequence P632 will be built today to replace the current P630 sequence that
was loaded yesterday. On Friday it was noticed that orbit 625 was executed
by the P622 sequence and not the P624 sequence as planned. The planned
uplink of the P626 sequence was rejected by flight software due to the
target memory area being in use. An unplanned build of sequence P627 was
required to take over before the last command of the P622 sequence forced
contingency mode entry. An investigation found that the P624 sequence,
following successful uplink and initiation, encountered an error and aborted
its execution at the same time the P622 sequence should have been canceled.
The error was caused by a Send'Two' Word command that was being executed
during the same second as another flight software command. A FSW
idiosyncrasy does not process commands successfully when Send'XX'Word
commands are issued concurrently with other commands. A flight rule will be
implemented to prevent this from recurring and checks are being executed to
prevent this command configuration. The MAG/ER calibration executed on
Wednesday was cut short when an error in the Load and Go sequence caused
it's execution to cease. Analysis shows a back-to-back timing constraint
violation using PDS (Payload Data Subsystem) commands. This restriction,
implemented as a flight rule, was not checked by ground processes and was
left undetected. The remainder of the MAG/ER calibration will be performed
using NIPCs. A command sequence was generated and loaded to correct the
telemetry state left by the aborted calibration successfully. The two
incidents have been recorded in ISAs.
The -Y solar array yoke continues solid structural performance. Attitude
control continues excellent performance with no concerns with momentum
management or star processing. The power subsystem reports strong
performance with 10.7 % battery discharge depths each orbit. This deficit is
being easily replaced by the primary charger with 7 minutes of margin. The
minimum MOLA temperature continues to stay above 11.2°C using the shorter 70
minute warming maneuver. The telecommunications subsystem continues solid
performance.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Periapsis for Orbit 632 DOY292/00:57:45 UTC
Periapsis for Orbit 633 DOY292/09:57:32 UTC
Periapsis for Orbit 634 DOY292/18:54:35 UTC
Periapsis for Orbit 635 DOY293/03:38:39 UTC
Periapsis for Orbit 636 DOY293/12:39:13 UTC
Periapsis for Orbit 637 DOY293/21:25:28 UTC
(Note: MDT = UTC-6 hours DOY292=10/19)
SPACECRAFT COMMANDING:
There were 32 command files radiated to the S/C during this period. The
total files radiated since launch is now 2881. These commands were sent in
support of the following activities:
MAG/ER & TES NIPCs
Nominal drag pass sequences (P619, P622, P624, P626, P627, P630)
Nominal aerobraking maneuver sequences (A622)
Command Loss Timer resets
Express SSR 1A playback
Full SCP memory read-out
Contingency Mode script update
MAG/ER calibration
Recovery from aborted calibration test
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=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: New MGS Image: Cliff-Face In The North Polar Layered Deposits
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http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/msss/camera/images/10_19_98_polar_release/10_19_9
8_npld_rel/index.htm
Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) High Resolution Images:
Detailed View of Cliff-face in the North Polar Layered Deposits
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera Release: MOC2-70A, -70B
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera Image ID: 586335198.46103
P461-3
(A) [Image]
960 KByte GIF image --or-- 270 KByte GIF image
(A) Regional and local context of MOC image 46103. The small figure in the
upper right corner is a map of the north polar region, centered on the pole
with 0° longitude located in the lower middle of the frame. A small black
box within the polar map indicates the location of the Viking Orbiter 2
image used here for local context. The Viking image, 560b60, was taken in
March 1978, toward the end of Northern Spring. The thin strip superposed on
the Viking image is MOC image 46103, reduced in size to mark its placement
relative to the Viking context image. The black box on the MOC image shows
the location of the subframe highlighted in (B), below. Illumination is from
the left in the Viking image. The 10 kilometer scale bar also represents
approximately 6.2 miles.
(B) [Image]
625 KByte GIF image --or-- 160 KByte GIF image
(B) MOC image 46103 subframe centered on outcrop of layered deposits in the
north polar region of Mars. The picture was taken in July 1998, during early
Northern Spring. The dark bar represents 600 meters (656 yards or 1,968
feet). Illumination is from the right.
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 Earth, geologists use layers of rock to "read" the history of our planet.
Where rocks were initially formed as layers of sediment, the historic record
of Earth is deciphered by knowing that older layers are found beneath the
younger layers. Scientists investigating changes in Earth's climate over the
past few million years also use this principle to examine cores of ice from
Greenland and Antarctica. Layered rock and layered polar deposits on Mars
may also preserve a comparable record of that planet's geologic and
environmental history.
The martian north and south polar regions are covered by large areas of
layered deposits. Since their discovery in the early 1970's, these polar
layered deposits have been cited as the best evidence that the martian
climate experiences cyclic changes over time. It was proposed that detailed
investigation of the polar layers (e.g., by landers and/or human beings)
would reveal a climate record of Mars in much the same way that ice cores
from Antarctica are used to study past climates on Earth. On January 3,
1999, NASA's Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2 Penetrators will launch on a
journey to study the upper layers of these deposits in the martian southern
hemisphere.
Meanwhile, investigation of the north polar layered deposits has advanced
significantly this year with the acquisition of MGS data. The Mars Orbiter
Laser Altimeter acquired new topographic profiles over the north polar
deposits in June and early July, 1998, and dozens of new high resolution
images were taken by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera
(MOC) from mid-July to mid-September, 1998. When it was proposed to NASA in
1985, one of the original objectives of MOC was to determine whether the
polar layered deposits-- then thought to consist of 10 to 100 layers each
between 10 and 100 meters (33 to 330 feet) thick--have more and thinner
layers in them. The layers were proposed to have formed by slow accumulation
of dust and ice--perhaps only 100 micrometers (0.004 inches) per year. A
layer 10 meters (33 feet) thick would take 100,000 years to accumulate,
roughly equal to the timescale of climate changes predicted by computer
models.
The image shown here (B) was taken at 11:52 p.m. PDT on July 30, 1998, near
the start of the 461st orbit of Mars Global Surveyor. The picture shows a
slope along the edge of the permanent north polar cap of Mars that has
dozens of layers exposed in it. The image shows many more layers than were
visible to the Viking Orbiters in the 1970s (see (A) above). The layers
appear to have different thicknesses (some thinner than 10 meters (33 feet))
and different physical expressions. Some of the layers form steeper slopes
than others, suggesting that they are more resistant to erosion. The more
resistant layers might indicate that a cement (possibly ice) is present,
making those layers stronger. All of the layers appear to have a rough
texture that might be the result of erosion and/or redistribution of
sediment and polar ice on the slope surface.
The presence of many more layers than were seen by Viking is an important
and encouraging clue that suggests that future investigation of polar
layered deposits by landers and, perhaps some day, by human explorers, will
eventually lead to a better understanding of the of the polar regions and
the climate history recorded there. Our view of these deposits will be much
improved--starting in late March 1999--when the Mapping Phase of the MGS
mission begins, and MOC will be able to obtain images with resolutions of
1.5 meters (5 feet) per pixel.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
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=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: GIS system maps shuttle exhaust cloud (Forwarded)
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Purdue University
Sources:
Bernie Engel, (765) 494-1198; e-mail, engelb@ecn.purdue.edu
Ross Hinkle, (407) 867-4188
Writer: Rebecca J. Goetz, (765) 494-0461; e-mail, rjg@aes.purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@uns.purdue.edu
October 16, 1998
GIS system maps shuttle exhaust cloud
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- On Oct. 29 the shuttle Discovery will head into space
from Florida, but only after a computer-based geographic information system
(GIS) assures launch managers that shuttle exhaust won't harm the local
wildlife.
Bernie Engel, a Purdue University agricultural engineer, helped develop the
GIS system for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
"Right next to the launch area is Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge,
which is visited by more than a million people a year," Engel said. "NASA is
very careful about not messing up, not letting harmful deposits accumulate
there."
A few hours after a shuttle goes up, spent fuel from the solid rocket boosters
falls back down. Much of what falls is an acid cloud -- in concentrations low
enough that it won't hurt spectators, but high enough that repeated launches
could alter the local environment. NASA monitors the deposits and limits the
number of launches from each pad to prevent environmental damage.
For years NASA has used a computer model to figure out where deposits fall.
But three years ago, during a six-month sabbatical at the Kennedy Space
Center in Florida, Engel noticed that NASA engineers were using photocopied
maps to plot their estimates. Engel, one of the pioneers in GIS technology,
convinced them to move to a GIS computerized mapping system.
With GIS, researchers can pull together data on weather, land use, topography,
wildlife and more in one computer system. With all the data integrated,
launch personnel can easily estimate how a change in such things as wind
velocity or launch location affects where the acid cloud falls. Also, GIS
computer maps of data are more accurate than the paper ones NASA had been
using.
"Distance estimates made using the paper system could easily be off by
thousands of feet," Engel says. "GIS gives a better estimate of where the
hydrochloric acid cloud will fall and removes some of the chance for human
error."
Burton Summerfield, Pollution Control Officer for Kennedy Space Center, pushed
to make the change as soon as he saw the advantages of Engel's suggestions.
Engel helped set up the new system, which NASA has used for the last year and
a half.
"Bernie has taken our existing model and integrated it to allow for better
prediction of the environmental effects," says Ross Hinkle, chief scientists
for Dynamac International Inc., a company that contracts with NASA for
life science support. "We can get almost instant feedback on what the
environmental effects might be."
NASA still calls on Engel when it needs help tweaking the new system. In fact,
engineers for the space agency called him back two weeks ago as they prepared
to send Discovery into orbit.
"Just when I was teaching my Purdue GIS class about GIS programming," Engel
said, "they called and said they needed help with the same issues the class
was studying."
Andrew Yee
ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca
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=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Boeing Completes First Review of Solar Orbit Transfer Vehicle (Forward
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The Boeing Company
Contact:
Beverly Weiss (253) 773-0923
Erik Simonsen (562) 797-5473
98-160
Boeing Completes First Review of Solar Orbit Transfer Vehicle
SEATTLE, October 20, 1998 -- A Boeing-designed Solar Orbit Transfer Vehicle
(SOTV) recently passed the first of three U.S. Air Force Technical Reviews
-- the Systems Requirements Review.
Boeing Phantom Works is developing the energy-efficient space vehicle
under a $48 million contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory,
Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.
"This is a significant milestone," said Ed Cady, Boeing Phantom Works SOTV
program manager. "To pass the review, we had to produce a product
development plan, define operational and space experiment requirements,
and define the technology development plan."
Boeing is developing the low-power, environmentally friendly vehicle for
both military and commercial applications. Unlike other space vehicles
that use propellant combustion, the SOTV uses solar energy to generate
both thrust and electric power.
The solar-powered vehicle operates by use of a single propellant fed
passively at low pressure into a receiver engine, heated by concentrated
solar energy to 2,500 degrees Kelvin. The heated propellant is exhausted
through a nozzle to produce low thrust (50 lb.) at high specific impulse
(800 sec).
The simple design, use of solar power and the vehicle's revolutionary
on-orbit maneuverability enables the SOTV to move payloads from Low Earth
Orbit to Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO) at a fraction of the cost of current
systems.
"This revolutionary SOTV technology has the potential for reducing total
payload delivery cost to GEO by as much as 35 percent," Cady said.
"Additionally, an operational vehicle will provide significantly increased
payload capability for NASA planetary probes and human exploration
missions to the moon, Mars and beyond."
Boeing engineers plan to demonstrate a complete, subscale, autonomous
on-orbit Space Experiment in late 2001 or early 2002.
# # #
(New artwork of the Solar Orbit Transfer Vehicle is available at
www.boeingmedia.com or by contacting the above.)
Andrew Yee
ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca
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=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: `John Glenn, American Hero,' A One-Hour Special Will Air On PBS Oct. ,
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NOTE: The following news release is mostly relevant to TV viewers in U.S.
and Canada.
*****
The Boeing Company
KCET/Hollywood
`John Glenn, American Hero,' A One-Hour Special About The 77-Year-Old
Astronaut, Will Air On PBS Oct. 28, The Eve Of His Upcoming History-Making
Voyage Into Space
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 11, 1998 -- The life and career of astronaut and
U.S. Senator John Glenn will be explored in the upcoming PBS documentary,
``JOHN GLENN, AMERICAN HERO,'' a one-hour special made possible by The
Boeing Company and public television stations. It will be broadcast on PBS
on the eve of the scheduled launch of Glenn's voyage into space aboard the
Space Shuttle Discovery, Wednesday, October 28, 1998 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET).
(Check local listings.) The documentary is a co-production of KCET/Hollywood
and Newsweek Productions Inc.
Glenn made history 36 years ago when he became the first American to orbit
the Earth. In making three orbits, he gave hope and pride to a nation
desperate to catch up in the ``race for space.'' In the process, he became
the most revered American explorer since Lindbergh. Now, the 77-year-old
Ohio Senator will once again make history, this time as the oldest person
ever to travel in space.
Through interviews and rare historical footage, the one-hour documentary
will trace Glenn's life from his boyhood in Ohio, his combat experience in
World War II and Korea, his 1957 transcontinental speed record, years of
public service in the United States Senate, and his longstanding desire to
return to space. Glenn says his eye is set on the future. The documentary
also will look ahead to consider America's space activities in the 21st
century, including NASA's International Space Station.
``We are pleased to sponsor this documentary,'' said Alan Mulally, president
of Boeing Information, Space & Defense Systems. ``John Glenn is the
embodiment of the American space program, and our Boeing Company history
parallels his career. From the Mercury capsule and rocket engines that
carried him on his first mission, to the Space Shuttle that will enable the
Senator to conduct research benefiting long-term spaceflight on the upcoming
International Space Station, Boeing is proud to support our space pioneers
every step of the way.''
Leading the project for KCET is internationally renowned documentarian
Blaine Baggett, vice president of program development for KCET and the
producer of award-winning PBS documentary series, including Spaceflight, The
Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century and The Astronomers. Baggett
was also one of NASA's 40 finalists for the first journalist in space
program, a competition put on indefinite hold after the Challenger accident.
``I'm very thankful for the opportunity The Boeing Company has given public
television to examine in a serious way the life and accomplishments of one
of the most remarkable figures of our century,'' said Baggett.
Patrick Butler, president of Newsweek Productions, said: ``The story of John
Glenn encompasses virtually the entire history of the American space program
and his return to space presages an exciting new chapter in space
exploration. Newsweek Productions is proud to be associated with KCET in
telling this story and we are very grateful to The Boeing Company and
America's public television stations for making this production possible.''
Blaine Baggett is the executive producer and writer of ``JOHN GLENN,
AMERICAN HERO''; Isaac Mizrahi is the producer and James Cox is the co-
producer. John Mora is the associate producer and Mary Danley, the editor.
The executive in charge for Newsweek Productions Inc. is Patrick Butler.
The Boeing Company is the world's largest manufacturer of commercial and
military aircraft and a leader in manufacturing commercial and military
space systems, including the Space Shuttle and Delta launch vehicles. Boeing
is NASA's prime contractor for the International Space Station. The company
has more than 237,000 employees in 27 states and has customers in more than
145 countries.
KCET/Hollywood is the West Coast flagship station of the Public Broadcasting
Service and a major producer of national public television programs. In the
course of its 30-year history, KCET has received virtually every significant
award for excellence in television, including more than 100 local and
national Emmys, and the prestigious Peabody and duPont-Columbia Awards.
Newsweek Productions Inc. is a subsidiary of Newsweek magazine, established
to produce news, public affairs and informational television programming.
Newsweek Productions currently produces HealthWeek on PBS, a weekly
half-hour television newsmagazine that offers news and practical advice on
health, nutrition, fitness and environmental issues.
*****
Also on PBS, on October 27:
NOVA: Terror in Space
This episode surveys the harrowing and life-threatening problems aboard
the aging Mir space station through the eyes of the Russian cosmonauts
and American astronauts who lived through them: the heat from the fire
that erupted on board; the collision between Mir and another spacecraft;
the power outages and computer failures that have jeopardized lives. The
program also presents the debate about whether NASA should continue to
imperil its astronauts by sending them to Mir in preparation for the launch
later this year of the most ambitious space project yet -- the International
Space Station.
TV Listings -- Check Local Listings
10/27/1998 -- 8:00 pm
Andrew Yee
ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca
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=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: U.Arizona scientists are first to discover debris disk around star orb
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News Services
University of Arizona
Contact(s):
David E. Trilling, 520-621-1611, trilling@lpl.arizona.edu
Robert H. Brown, 520-626-9045, rhb@lpl.arizona.edu
October 21, 1998
UA scientists are first to discover debris disk around star orbited by planet
Planetary scientists have discovered the first circumstellar disk ever seen
around a star like our sun, a star known to be orbited by a planet. The
system is more like our solar system than any yet found.
The disk of material is around 55 Cancri, a sun-like star, barely visible to
the human eye, about 40 light years away in the constellation Cancer. The
disk of material around the star looks similar in many ways to our solar
system's Kuiper belt, a ring of comets and dusty debris left over from the
formation of the planets, the scientists say.
"And, for all we know, there could be other similarities in this system
yet to be discovered," said David E. Trilling of the Lunar and Planetary
Laboratory at The University of Arizona in Tucson. Trilling and UA planetary
sciences Professor Robert H. Brown report on their discovery in the current
(Oct. 22) issue of the journal Nature.
San Francisco State University astronomers two years ago discovered a planet
orbiting 55 Cancri. They used the radial velocity technique for their
observations, a technique that detects gravity-induced wobble in the movement
of stars. The technique does not show how the orbital plane of the system is
inclined to the Earth, so the astronomers could only calculate a minimum mass
for the stellar companion. The mass of the companion object, "55 Cancri b,"
was determined to be from about the mass of Jupiter to 100 or more Jupiter
masses -- in which case the object would be a star, not a planet.
55 Cancri b is ten times closer to its star than the Earth is to the sun.
Direct imaging of a planet so close to a star is not yet possible.
Trilling and Brown used NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna
Kea, Hawaii, with "Co Co," or the Cold Coronagraph, an instrument that Brown
designed, developed and built for this specific telescope. A coronagraph
blocks light from the central star so observers can image the region near
the star at high sensitivity. Co Co is superb at masking starlight.
The Arizona scientists viewed 55 Cancri at infrared wavelengths -- 1.5
microns to 2.4 microns -- and discovered the circumstellar disk. The inner
edge of the disk is probably closer than 27 astronomical units (AU) from
the star -- at which point the coronagraph mask cut off their view -- and
probably extends farther than 44 AU, Trilling said.
(One astronomical unit is the distance from Earth to the sun. Jupiter is five
AU from the sun; Pluto is 40 AU from the sun. Scientists usually consider the
inner edge of the Kuiper belt to begin at about 50 AU. How far it extends is
unknown. Estimates are that the outer edge of the Kuiper belt extends from
between 100 AU to l,000 AU.)
"The disk we have found is similar in extent to our solar system's Kuiper
belt, and has a spectral signature similar to some Kuiper Belt Objects,
suggesting similar compositions," Trilling said. He and Brown compared
spectra from the 55 Cancri disk to spectra from Pluto, the largest and
closest of the 60 known Kuiper Belt Objects. Their data are consistent with
the presence of methane ice, a hydrocarbon found on Pluto and in the icy,
organic-rich Kuiper belt, Trilling said.
"Further, by directly imaging this dust disk, we have determined the
inclination of the 55 Cancri system relative to observers on Earth. Given
this inclination, we constrain the mass of the planet to be around 1.9 times
the mass of Jupiter.
"By determining that the companion is a planet and not a star, we have
extended the idea that the 55 Cancri system is, in many ways, a near analog
for our solar system. This detection is the first time that a circumstellar
disk has been found around a star with a known planetary companion; both are
expected to be present in mature planet-bearing solar systems."
Trilling, a planetary sciences graduate student, won the 1998 Kuiper Award
for his work on the formation and evolution of planetary systems. Brown's
theoretical and observational research recently has focused on searches for
and studies of planets orbiting nearby stars, as well as the icy surfaces in
the outer solar system, particularly Triton, Pluto and the Kuiper belt.
The researchers were not surprised that 55 Cancri b -- a planet about twice
the size of Jupiter -- is so close to its star. The planet is about 50 times
closer than Jupiter is to the sun.
Their search for dust disks around solar-type stars orbited by planets has
been guided by a powerful UA theory group studying ideas of extra-solar
planet formation. The group includes Trilling, Jonathan Lunine and William
Hubbard of the UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL); Adam Burrows of the
UA Steward Observatory; Tristan Guillot and Didier Saumon, formerly post-
doctoral researchers at the LPL; and Willy Benz, formerly of the UA Steward
Observatory, now with the University of Bern, Switzerland.
The theory explains why planets migrate inward toward their central stars
after they form, and it predicts that the migration process creates a
circumstellar disk that should be relatively bright and massive enough to
detect.
The discovery of a Kuiper belt-like disk around 55 Cancri and its known
planet strengthens the idea that our galaxy holds many other solar systems
like our own, Trilling said.
"To know that there is this analog for our solar system of course implies
that there are others, that this isn't the only one," he said.
"The more analogs we find, the more data we can interpret for better theories
and then the more we can observe and figure out how planets and solar systems
form.
"Can we learn what governs planet formation, including the question of how
did Earth form? That's the question," Trilling said.
***
NOTE TO EDITORS: The color image released today can be viewed on the World
Wide Web at: http://science.opi.arizona.edu . Trilling returns to the UA
campus Thursday, Oct. 22, and can be contacted for a higher resolution file
of this image.
CAPTION:
This is an infrared image of the circumstellar disk around 55 Cancri, a star
known to be orbited by a planet. The disk is similar in extent and implied
composition to our solar system's Kuiper belt. The round, red circle in the
middle of this image is the mask of the coronagraph, used to block out light
from the star. The horizontal and vertical lines crossing the frame are
artifacts introduced by the telescope's superstructure.
The disk extends from the central star to the northeast (upper left) and
southwest (lower right). The detectable extent of the disk is approximately
27 AU to 45 AU. This image represents several hours of telescope time, and
the observations were made in the near infrared at around 1.6 microns. The
observations were carried out with CoCo, the Cold Coronagraph, mounted on
NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, in February
1998.
CREDIT: David E. Trilling and Robert H. Brown, The University of Arizona.
Andrew Yee
ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca
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=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: U.Colorado to fly hardware, experiments on Oct. 29 Shuttle mission , (
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Office of Public Relations
University of Colorado
354 Willard Administrative Center
Campus Box 9
Boulder, Colorado 80309-0009
(303) 492-6431
Contact:
David Klaus, 303-492-3525
Jim Scott, 303-492-3114
Oct. 21, 1998
CU-BOULDER CENTER TO FLY HARDWARE, EXPERIMENTS ON OCT. 29 SHUTTLE MISSION
A University of Colorado at Boulder-based space center will fly eight
experiments on the Oct. 29 mission of NASA's space shuttle Discovery, which
marks the return to space of former Mercury astronaut John Glenn.
BioServe Space Technologies, a joint venture between NASA, CU-Boulder and
Kansas State University, will undertake a variety of industry-driven,
life-science experiments on the 10-day spaceflight of Columbia, said David
Klaus of aerospace engineering sciences, BioServe's mission manager for the
flight.
The experiments will take place inside the Commercial Generic Bioprocessing
Apparatus, or CGBA, a suitcase-sized device designed and built at CU-Boulder
that has flown on 11 space shuttle missions, including two four-month stints
on Russia's Mir Space Station. The CGBA contains hundreds of syringe-like
devices for mixing fluids in space, as well as other project-specific
devices.
One of the most intriguing experiments by the CGBA will be the production of
microbial antibiotics, said Klaus. The antibiotics experiment is being flown
for the third time on the shuttle in collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb
in an attempt to learn why antibiotic production increases in the
low-gravity environment provided in space.
"This is an exciting project," said Klaus. "Our past two shuttle experiments
with Bristol-Myers Squibb have shown that microorganisms produced greater
quantities of antibiotics in space. We want to learn how and why this growth
stimulation occurs in microgravity, then take that knowledge and apply it to
production facilities on Earth."
Although previous bacterial growth experiments by BioServe were carried out
in test tubes, CU faculty and students have modified the apparatus by adding
a new gas exchange fermentation device. "This should provide more optimal
growth conditions for microorganisms and provide additional insight into the
causes of increased antibiotic productivity," he said.
The CGBA also will be used for a wide variety of other biomedical,
agricultural and drug development investigations, including water
purification. Since bacterial growth is more difficult to control in space,
a BioServe experiment has been designed to test a new water purification
resin to combat microorganisms that have become resistant to iodine
disinfection.
Other experiments flying on the CGBA involve research designed to accurately
control the growth of protein crystals, as well as experiments on plant
fertilization with legumes in an attempt to increase crop yields on Earth.
BioServe researchers also will attempt to manipulate growth hormones in
plants through gene manipulation to increase the quality of vegetable crops
on Earth, and perform unique research on a magnetic species of bacteria that
has applications for immunology, Klaus said.
Ground-based technological upgrades include a control room in CU-Boulder's
aerospace engineering science department to send commands up and receive
data from the shuttle directly from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston,
he said. "We needed to develop this capability to support future payloads
now being designed by BioServe that are expected to be in operation onboard
the International Space Station in the year 2000."
Additional experiments being flown on the BioServe payload include
investigations of plant cell tissue cultures, said Klaus. "In microgravity,
plants may produce less lignin, which creates their structure in nature," he
said. "We want to see whether the available metabolic energy normally used
to make the lignin can be channeled into the increased production of
secondary compounds that have potential pharmaceutical applications."
The CGBA also will carry a number of fish eggs, including those of tilapia
-- also known as Nile River perch -- and killifish, said Klaus. "We flew a
payload with brine shrimp eggs on an earlier mission and saw accelerated
development from eggs to larvae," he said. "We are hoping to see the same
phenomenon with these fish eggs, then determine what causes it in order to
mimic these conditions on Earth and perhaps even stimulate increased growth
of commercially farmed fish."
While shuttle flights already have produced valuable data on the effects of
microgravity in life sciences, agriculture and medicine, "it will be a new
ball game when we have a permanent presence on the space station," said
Klaus.
Glenn, 77, made the first U.S. orbital flight of Earth in 1962.
Andrew Yee
ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca
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=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: NASA Space Shuttle to Carry Experiment by North Carolina State Botany
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North Carolina State University
Raleigh, North Carolina
Media Contacts:
Reathel Geary, 919/515-9570 or geary2@earthlink.net
Dr. Sarah Wyatt, 919/515-9570 or sarah_wyatt@ncsu.edu
Sara Frisch, News Services, 919/515-3470 or sara_frisch@ncsu.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 21, 1998
NASA Space Shuttle to Carry Experiment by NC State Botany Student
A North Carolina State University junior will send a science experiment into
space on NASA's shuttle Discovery, which is slated to lift off on Oct. 29
from Kennedy Space Center. Twenty-six-year-old Reathel Geary of Raleigh is
one of a handful of college students nationwide who will have an experiment
on the shuttle mission.
Geary hopes his experiment -- to see if fractured strands of plant DNA can
repair themselves in space -- will yield new clues about how weightlessness
and other forces encountered in space flight affect plant growth and health.
That's important, he says, because for long-distance space flights in the
future, NASA proposes growing plants on board for food, to purify water and
to help filter carbon dioxide out of the air.
Geary's project was selected for the mission through a national competition
sponsored by Instrumentation Technology Associates (ITA) of Exton, Pa., and
the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology. His experiment
will be contained in automated research hardware produced by ITA.
The opportunity highlights a personal turnaround and a science career in the
making for Geary, a former shoe salesman and part-time community college
student. Now, he has set his sights on graduate school, possibly for a
career in ecology or environmental law.
To add hands-on experience to his NC State training, Geary works in the lab
of Dr. Dominique Robertson, a member of the NASA Specialized Center of
Research and Training (NSCORT) team at NC State. The NSCORT group has a
five-year, $5 million grant to study gravitational biology, do secondary
school outreach and train all levels of university students.
It was in the NSCORT lab that Geary learned about the ITA competition for
space experiments. "It's the research opportunity through NSCORT that has
provided all the other opportunities," Geary says. "That was the single most
important thing that's happened to me so far in college."
Only in recent years has Geary become so focused on his goals. After
graduating from Atlanta's Henderson High School in 1990, he put off going to
college and went to work. He knew he had potential, he says, but he wasn't
confident yet about leaping into higher education. A few years later, when
he was living in Asheville and working in a shoe store, Geary and his wife,
Angie, decided to try their hand at college. Reathel kept his full-time job,
and the couple enrolled at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College.
"For me, the community college system was a really important step in my
progress," Geary says. "I had wonderful instructors there; they were very
encouraging. I'm a huge supporter now of the community college system. It
worked for me."
In January of 1998, Reathel and Angie Geary moved to Raleigh and transferred
to NC State -- he for botany and she for horticultural science. Soon after,
Reathel Geary landed a research job in Robertson's NSCORT laboratory.
Dr. Sarah Wyatt, a research associate in the lab, hired Geary and later
helped him prepare a proposal for the ITA student experiment competition.
"He asks good questions," Wyatt says about Geary's scientific skills. "It's
important for a researcher to ask good questions. If you don't ask good
questions, you'll never find the answer."
In the research lab and in his own space experiment, Geary has taken the
initiative to get things done, performing extensive background work and
seeing projects through from beginning to end, Wyatt says. Geary rose to the
challenge of meeting the strict technical parameters of the research
hardware and of the space flight environment, she says.
In space, microgravity -- or extremely low levels of gravity -- can affect
biological processes. Geary will send into space fractured molecules of DNA,
the basic genetic material of all organisms, along with an enzyme that
usually repairs, or ligates, DNA on earth. An automatic process is expected
to combine the materials in an attempt to ligate the DNA. Geary and some
NASA researchers will orchestrate a control experiment on the ground with
the same materials.
Back at NC State after the shuttle lands, Geary will transform both the
space-exposed and control DNA into bacteria, and will then reproduce it. The
bacteria should grow if the DNA was successfully ligated. Ligation is an
important function for long-term plant growth in space; Geary's hypothesis
is that it will be as successful in space as it is on earth.
The results could have implications for both plant and animal reproduction
in space, says Dr. Chris Brown, associate director of the NSCORT group at NC
State. Brown teaches a Space Biology course in which Geary works closely
with NASA researchers. With sponsorship from the NSCORT group, Geary will
travel to Florida to prepare his experiment and work in Brown's lab at
Kennedy Space Center.
Sending an experiment into space, working in a top-notch research facility,
and meeting NASA scientists will be great opportunities for Geary, Brown
says. "I hope Reathel will bring home the excitement of being involved in
the space program and communicate to other students that there are
opportunities for biological scientific research with the space program,"
he says.
ITA, an entrepreneurial firm that makes and leases space processing hardware
to perform microgravity experiments, has sponsored student experiments on
NASA shuttles and vehicles since 1991. The student space education program
gives young people a unique hands-on learning experience and communicates
the benefits of space research. On the current STS-95 shuttle mission, 16
different student experiments will be housed in ITA's automated laboratory.
-- frisch --
NOTE TO EDITORS: Reathel Geary will be in Raleigh and available for short
interviews through Oct. 27. For help reaching him before and after Oct. 27,
call Sara Frisch or Tim Lucas at NC State News Services at (919) 515-3470.
For more information about ITA, contact Nicole Adams or Valerie Cassanto at
(610) 363-8343.
Andrew Yee
ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca
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=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Callisto Makes A Big Splash
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Callisto makes a big splash
Marshal Space Flight Center Space Science News
http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast22oct98_2.htm
Scientists may have discovered a salty ocean and some ingredients for life
on Jupiter's moon
October 22, 1998: Until now most scientists thought Jupiter's moon Callisto
was a dead and boring moon, an unchanging piece of rock and ice. Data
reported in today's issue of Nature could change all that. It appears that
Callisto, like another of Jupiter's moons Europa, may have an underground
liquid ocean and at least some of the basic ingredients for life.
The most distant of Jupiter's Galilean Moons, Callisto shows the highest
density of impact craters in the Solar System, but harbors no volcanoes or
even any large mountains. It is thought that the surface is billions of
years old. The first hint that something interesting might be happening
beneath the surface came from Galileo's measurements of Callisto's magnetic
field. Dr. Krishan K. Khurana of UCLA and colleagues discovered that the
magnetic field fluctuated in time with Jupiter's rotation. The best
explanation was that Jupiter's powerful magnetic field was creating
electrical currents somewhere within Callisto, and those currents in turn
created a fluctuating magnetic field around Callisto.
This contrast-enhanced image of Jupiter's moon Callisto was captured earlier
this year by NASA's Galileo spacecraft. Callisto is approximately the size
of the planet Mercury, making it the third largest moon in the Solar System,
after Ganymede and Titan. Its icy surface is billions of years old, lacks
any sign of volcanic activity, and is densely covered with rifts and
craters. Scientists studying data gathered by the Galileo spacecraft now
believe that Callisto's heavily cratered surface may overlie a salty liquid
ocean.
But where could currents flow on Callisto? The icy surface is a poor
conductor and the atmosphere is negligible. Dr. Kivelson suggests that
"there very well could be a layer of melted ice underneath [the surface]. If
this liquid were salty like Earth's oceans, it could carry sufficient
electrical currents to produce the magnetic field."
Lending further credence to the premise of a subsurface ocean on Callisto,
Galileo data showed that electrical currents were flowing in opposite
directions at different times. "This is a key signature consistent with the
idea of a salty ocean," Khurana added, "because it shows that Callisto's
response, like Europa's, is synchronized with the effects of Jupiter's
rotation."
Life under the ice?
Callisto is the second moon of Jupiter thought to harbor a sub-surface
ocean. The other is Europa. As evidence mounts for at least one and possibly
two liquid oceans in the Jovian satellite system, scientists are
increasingly optimistic that some form of life may one day be found there.
In recent years researchers have discovered a new class of micro-organisms
here on Earth that can live or, at least remain viable, under very extreme
conditions -- from volcanic vents deep in ocean trenches, to ice more than
400,000 years old, to Siberian permafrost more than 5 million years old.
These microbes called archaeabacteria, or simply "archaea", constitute a
third branch of life on Earth, along with prokaryotes (normal bacteria) and
eukaryotes (plants and animals). Like prokaryotes, the genetic material of
archaeabacteria float freely throughout the cell -- they are not contained
within the cell nucleus like eukaryotic organisms. However, the DNA of
archaeabacteria more closely resemble that of plants and animals than normal
bacteria. They are truly in a class by themselves, and if life is discovered
elsewhere in the solar system it may be similar to the archaeabacteria of
Earth.
Europa may still be a better prospect for extraterrestrial life than
Callisto simply because it's warmer. "The basic ingredients for life -- what
we call 'pre-biotic chemistry' -- are abundant in many solar system objects,
such as comets, asteroids and icy moons," explains Galileo Project Scientist
Dr. Torrence Johnson. "Biologists believe liquid water and energy are then
needed to actually support life, so it's exciting to find another place
where we might have liquid water. But, energy is another matter, and
currently, Callisto's ocean is only being heated by radioactive elements,
whereas Europa has tidal energy as well," from its greater proximity to
Jupiter.
The strongest clues to life on Callisto and Europa may lie right here at
home. In 1996, radio sounding and altimetry measurements revealed the the
presence of an underground lake in Antarctica near the Russian Vostok
Station. Lake Vostok is overlaid by about 3,710 meters (12,169 ft) of ice
and may be 500,000 to 1 million years old. Since the discovery, drilling has
gone slowly while procedures are worked out to keep it pristine. No one has
seen or sampled the lake - the deepest ice sample is from 100 meters (328
feet) above the liquid surface - nor is anyone sure why it is liquid, hence
the scientific curiosity. Scientists are hopeful that Lake Vostok can one
day serve as a terrestrial laboratory to help us understand better the
oceans on the distant moons of Jupiter.
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=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: WDC-A R&S Launch Announcement 12969: Ariane 5 payload and SCD 2
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COSPAR/ISES
WORLD WARNING AGENCY FOR SATELLITES
WORLD DATA CENTER-A FOR R & S, NASA/GSFC
CODE 633, GREENBELT, MARYLAND, 20771. USA
SPACEWARN 12969
COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM NUMBER
SPACECRAFT INTERNATIONAL ID (CATALOG NUMBER) LAUNCH DATE,UT
UNK (DUMMY PAYLOAD) 1998-059A 25503 21 OCTOBER 1998
SCD 2 1998-060A 25504 23 OCTOBER 1998
[1998-059A IS A DUMMY TO TEST ARIANE 5 PERFORMANCE]
R. PARTHASARATHY
FOR
DR. JOSEPH H. KING, DIRECTOR, WDC-A-R&S.
[PH: (301) 286 7355.
E-MAIL: KING@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV
23 OCTOBER 1998, 12:45 UT]
Further details will be in a forthcoming 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/
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=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Asteroid Named For Journalist John Holliman
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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: Mary Hardin
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 22, 1998
ASTEROID NAMED FOR JOURNALIST JOHN HOLLIMAN
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has named an asteroid in
memory of CNN space correspondent John Holliman who was killed in
a car accident on September 12.
The asteroid, discovered by JPL astronomer Eleanor F. Helin
on April 30, 1989 at the Palomar Observatory, will now be called
6711 Holliman. It has a diameter of about 10 kilometers (6
miles). The asteroid's orbit is inclined 15 degrees to the
ecliptic plane - the plane on which the planets orbit the Sun -
and moves in an orbit between Mars and Jupiter.
Holliman reported extensively on the role JPL played in
space exploration. He was the network's lead anchor for the
Pathfinder mission to Mars in July 1997 reporting on the landing
and the subsequent mission as the spacecraft sent back video from
the planet's surface.
In the early 1970s, Helin initiated the Palomar Planet-
Crossing Asteroid Survey from Caltech's Palomar Observatory in
Southern California, resulting in the discovery of thousands of
asteroids of all types including 100 near-Earth asteroids and 20
comets. Currently, Helin is the principal investigator for the
NASA/JPL Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) program that detects
near Earth asteroids using a United States Air Force telescope at
Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii.
JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology.
#####
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Mars Global Surveyor Provides New Views Of Martian North Pole
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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
IMAGE ADVISORY October 22, 1998
GLOBAL SURVEYOR PROVIDES NEW VIEWS OF MARTIAN NORTH POLE
New images of the Martian north polar cap, taken by NASA's
Mars Global Surveyor on July 30, 1998, as the spacecraft swept
over this enigmatic region of the planet, reveal a slope along
the edge of the permanent north polar cap of Mars with dozens of
layers of Martian material, many more layers than were visible to
the Viking Orbiters in the mid-1970s.
The images were presented by the Mars Global Surveyor camera
team at this week's meeting of the First International Conference
on Mars Polar Science and Exploration in Houston, TX, and are
available on the Internet at:
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/
http://www.msss.com
Since discovery of this layered terrain in the early 1970s,
scientists have wanted to study the polar caps in greater detail
to understand cyclic changes in the Martian climate. Several
instruments onboard Mars Global Surveyor have returned enough
data now to allow them to begin profiling geologic processes that
may have sculpted these largely uncharted areas.
#####
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: NASA Helps "Hot" Cities Cool Down
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David E. Steitz
Headquarters, Washington, DC October 23, 1998
(Phone: 202/358-1730)
Tim Tyson
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL
(Phone: 256/544-0994)
RELEASE: 98-195
NASA HELPS "HOT" CITIES COOL DOWN
Environmental planning for the 2002 Olympic games, strategies
to reduce ozone levels, focused tree-planting programs and
identification of cool roofs are early spinoffs from a NASA urban
study just concluding in three U.S. cities.
Researchers from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center,
Huntsville, AL, flew a thermal camera mounted on a NASA aircraft
over Baton Rouge, LA; Sacramento, CA; and Salt Lake City, UT. The
thermal camera took each city's temperature and produced an image
that pinpoints the cities' "hot spots."
The researchers are using the images to study which city
surfaces contribute to bubble-like accumulations of hot air,
called urban heat islands. The bubbles of hot air develop over
cities as naturally vegetated surfaces are replaced with asphalt,
concrete, rooftops and other man-made materials.
"One thing's for sure, the three cities we've looked at were
hot," said the study's lead investigator, Dr. Jeff Luvall of
Marshall's Global Hydrology and Climate Center. "They can use a
lot of trees and reflective rooftops."
Salt Lake City is using the early results to help plan sites
for the 2002 Olympic Games and develop strategies to reduce
ground-level ozone concentrations in the Salt Lake City valley.
Though at high altitudes ozone protects the Earth from ultraviolet
rays, at ground level it is a powerful and dangerous respiratory
irritant found in cities during the summer's hottest months.
In Sacramento and Baton Rouge, city planners and tree-
planting organizations are using the study to focus their tree-
planting programs. "We are helping the citiesincorporate the
study into their urban planning," said Maury Estes, an urban
planner on the science team at Marshall. "By choosing strategic
areas in which to plant trees and by encouraging the use of light-
colored, reflective building material, we think that the cities
can be cooled."
The science team will continue to analyze the thermal heat
information and work with the cities to incorporate future results
into the cities' plans. The team plans to disseminate its
findings nationally so other cities can incorporate what the team
has learned into their long-range growth plans.
This study is supported by NASA's Earth Science enterprise.
The enterprise is responsible for a long-term, coordinated
research effort to study the total Earth system and the effects of
natural and human-induced changes on the global environment. This
project also is aimed at the enterprise's efforts to make more
near-term economic and societal benefits of Earth science research
and data products available to the broader community of public and
private users.
Working on the study are researchers from Marshall; the
Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC; the Department of
Energy, Washington, DC; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,
Berkeley, CA; Baton Rouge Green, LA; the Sacramento Tree
Foundation, CA; Tree Utah, Salt Lake City; and the Utah State
Energy Services Department, Salt Lake City.
-end-
Note to Editors: Interviews with the NASA urban planner, heat
island researchers and program coordinators in Baton Rouge,
Sacramento and Salt Lake City are available via telephone, NASA TV
live satellite link or by e-mail. For additional information,
call Marshall's Media Relations Office at 256/544-0034. Images
related to the study can be found at:
http://www.nasa.gov/newsinfo/urban.html
More information on the study and research updates can be found on
the new Marshall Internet Web site at URL:
http://www.msfc.nasa.gov/news
* * *
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Sky & Telescope News Bulletin - October 23, 1998
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SKY & TELESCOPE'S NEWS BULLETIN
OCTOBER 23, 1998
HUBBLE'S HERITAGE
A new initiative at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is
publicizing the best images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and
soliciting advice on new observations of especially photogenic subjects.
The Hubble Heritage Project is the brainchild of STScI astronomers Keith
Noll, Anne Kinney, and Howard Bond and was approved by former institute
director Robert Williams. On October 21st four images from Hubble's
archives were released on the Internet (http://heritage.stsci.edu/):
Saturn, the Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635), the star clouds of Sagittarius, and
spiral galaxy NGC 7742. The project will release at least one new image
each month. Since its launch in 1990, Hubble has studied more than 10,000
objects, amassing a celestial photo album of more than 130,000 images of
planets, stars, nebulae, and galaxies.
The day after the Heritage images were released, another new view of a
unusually shaped planetary nebula was revealed. The appearance of NGC 6210
-- lying about 6,600 light-years away in Hercules -- has been likened to a
turtle swallowing a seashell. Among the fine features in the expanding
cloud of gas are at least four jets of material streaming away from the
central star.
NOVA IN SCORPIUS
There's a "new" star in Scorpius. According to IAU *Circular* 7034, William
Liller, of Vina del Mar, Chile, found a magnitude 6.9 star on photographs
taken on October 21st as part of the PROBLICOM survey. The position of the
star is at right ascension 17 hours 55 minutes 25 seconds, declination -31
degrees 01 minute 42 seconds (equinox 2000.0). Gordon Garradd in Australia
observed the star the following night and reported a magnitude of 7.4 and
Albert Jones in New Zealand estimated magnitude 8.4. No star has been seen
in the position prior to October 17th.
OCEAN FOR CALLISTO
Europa isn't the only moon of Jupiter showing signs of having a subsurface
ocean -- and thus, the possibility of life. While much attention has been
given to Europa, a report in the October 22nd *Nature* notes that
observations of Callisto's magnetic field by the Galileo spacecraft shows
the field's changes are correlated to Jupiter's rotation. According to a
researcher team led by Krishan K. Khurana (University of California, Los
Angeles), this suggests that Jupiter's magnetic field is generating
electric currents within the icy moon. The researchers explain that a
salty, subsurface ocean would be sufficient to support the magnetic field.
OLDEST ASTRONOMER IN SPACE
When the Space Shuttle *Discovery* (STS-95) lifts off from Cape Canaveral
-- scheduled for the afternoon of October 29th -- it will not only carry
seven astronauts, including pioneering spacefarer U.S. Senator John Glenn,
but also some astronomical instruments. The International Extreme
Ultraviolet Hitchhiker will investigate emission from the Sun, Earth,
planets, and stars at wavelengths between 250 and 1700 angstroms with seven
different detectors. Scientists hope the data will help their understanding
of the solar atmosphere and solar variability.
SOHO ON THE MEND
The last of the 12 instruments aboard the Solar and Heliospheric
Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft was scheduled to be turned on today and
inspected. To the delight of researchers, the other 11 instruments are
fully operational and show little signs of damage. A few will need fine
adjustments and some are actually working *better* than before SOHO fell
silent on June 24th.
COMET GIACOBINI-ZINNER IN AQUILA
Comet watchers report that Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner is about 9th
magnitude. It is predicted to brighten a bit more by the end of November.
This week, Giacobini-Zinner crosses the constellation Serpens -- and the
celestial equator -- and enters Aquila. It is about 35 to 40 degrees above
the southwest horizon at the end of evening twilight. The farther south you
are, the higher the comet will appear. For a finder chart, see page 107 of
the November *Sky & Telescope,* or visit
http://www.skypub.com/comets/comets.html. Here are positions for Comet
Giacobini-Zinner for 0 hours Universal Time (2000.0 coordinates) for the
coming week:
R.A. Dec.
October 24 18h 28m +00.2 deg.
October 26 18h 35m -00.8 deg.
October 28 18h 42m -01.7 deg.
HALLOWEEN OBSERVING
Saturday, October 31st, is Halloween, of course. With all the youngsters
and accompanying adults wandering around after dark, why not give the
ghosts and goblins an astronomical treat? Set up a telescope in the
driveway and give the trick-or-treaters a glimpse of the night sky. There's
plenty to look at in the early evening. The gibbous Moon will be well up
with Jupiter, the brightest "star" in the night sky, to its upper right.
And, Saturn -- which reached opposition on October 23rd -- should be high
enough over the eastern horizon for good views.
THIS WEEK'S "SKY AT A GLANCE"
Some daily events in the changing sky, from the editors of SKY &
TELESCOPE.
OCT. 25 -- SUNDAY
* Daylight saving time ends in the United States at 2 a.m.; clocks "fall
back" one hour.
* Jupiter's Great Red Spot should cross the planet's central meridian
(the imaginary line through the center of the planet's disk from pole to
pole) around 8:09 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Lately the spot has been very
pale with a dark outline and a small, reddish-brown patch in its south
side. For all predicted Red Spot transit times this observing season, see
http://www.skypub.com/whatsup/redspot.html.
OCT. 26 -- MONDAY
* Have you ever seen the zodiacal light? This is an excellent time of
year for viewing it before the first glimmer of dawn. Look east about two
hours before sunrise from a site with no artificial light pollution. The
zodiacal light is an enormous, tall, pearly pyramid standing above the
eastern horizon, tilted slightly to the right and aligned on the ecliptic.
What you are seeing is sunlight reflecting off dust particles in the inner
solar system. Seen at this hour it's sometimes called the "false dawn."
* Tonight and tomorrow night, telescope users can see Jupiter passing
just 3 arcminutes north of a 6.3-magnitude star -- an interloper in
Jupiter's array of four bright moons.
OCT. 27 -- TUESDAY
* Some doorstep astronomy: After about 8 or 9 p.m. this week, spot
Jupiter and Saturn high in the southeast. Draw an imaginary line from
Jupiter to Saturn and extend it the same distance onward. You'll hit the
orange star Aldebaran. Above Aldebaran or to its upper right is the little
Pleiades star cluster.
* Jupiter's Red Spot should transit around 9:47 p.m. EST.
OCT. 28 -- WEDNESDAY
* First-quarter Moon (exact at 6:46 a.m. EST).
* The shadow of Callisto crosses Jupiter's face from 9:44 to 11:08 p.m.
Eastern Standard Time.
OCT. 29 -- THURSDAY
* Saturn's collection of moons contains a bright intruder tonight, the
6.6-magnitude star PPM 145101. Saturn's 10th-magnitude moon Dione (visible
close to the planet in a 3- or 4-inch telescope) stands 46 arcseconds south
of the star around 10:14 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. But the big event
comes a little more than two hours later. Around 12:32 a.m. EST Saturn's
biggest and brightest moon, 8th-magnitude Titan, passes just 3 arcseconds
to the star's south. Use high power to resolve this strange "binary"! Watch
it change from minute to minute.
* Venus is in superior conjunction.
* Jupiter's Red Spot should transit around 11:26 p.m. EST.
OCT. 30 -- FRIDAY
* Jupiter is the bright "star" shining to the left of the Moon this
evening.
* Jupiter's Red Spot should transit around 7:17 p.m. EST.
OCT. 31 -- SATURDAY
* Jupiter shines to the right of the waxing gibbous Moon for Halloween
night.
THIS WEEK'S PLANET ROUNDUP
MERCURY and VENUS are hidden in the glare of the Sun.
MARS shines in the east before and during dawn, well to the lower left of
Regulus.
JUPITER is the big, brilliant "star" in the southeast during early evening.
You can't miss it! It's high in the south by about 9 p.m. local standard
time and sets in the west during early morning hours.
SATURN is the bright "star" far to Jupiter's lower left in early evening,
and directly left of Jupiter later in the evening. The two planets appear
41 degrees apart (about 4 fist-widths at arm's length), on opposite ends of
Pisces.
URANUS and NEPTUNE, magnitudes 5.8 and 7.9 respectively, are in (or very
near) Capricornus in the south to southwest during early evening. See the
finder chart in the September Sky & Telescope, page 110, or at
http://www.skypub.com/whatsup/urnepl98.html.
PLUTO is disappearing into the sunset.
(All descriptions that relate to the horizon or zenith are written for the
world's midnorthern latitudes. Descriptions that also depend on longitude
are for North America. Eastern Daylight Time, EDT, equals Universal Time
minus 4 hours. Eastern Standard Time, EST, equals UT minus 5 hours.)
More details, sky maps, and news of other celestial events appear each
month in SKY & TELESCOPE, the essential magazine of astronomy. See our
enormous Web site at http://www.skypub.com/. Clear skies!
SKY & TELESCOPE, P.O. Box 9111, Belmont, MA 02478 * 617-864-7360 (voice)
Copyright 1998 Sky Publishing Corporation. S&T's Weekly News Bulletin and
Sky at a Glance stargazing calendar are provided as a service to the
astronomical community by the editors of SKY & TELESCOPE magazine.
Widespread electronic distribution is encouraged as long as these
paragraphs are included. But the text of the bulletin and calendar may not
be published in any other form without permission from Sky Publishing
(contact permissions@skypub.com or phone 617-864-7360). Illustrated
versions, including active links to related Internet resources, are
available via SKY Online on the World Wide Web at http://www.skypub.com/.
In response to numerous requests, and in cooperation with the Astronomical
League (http://www.mcs.net/~bstevens/al/) and the American Association of
Amateur Astronomers (http://www.corvus.com/), S&T's Weekly News Bulletin
and Sky at a Glance are available via electronic mailing list too. For a
free subscription, send e-mail to skyline@corvus.com and put the word
"join" on the first line of the body of the message. To unsubscribe, send
e-mail to skyline@corvus.com and put the word "unjoin" on the first line of
the body of the message.
SKY & TELESCOPE, the Essential Magazine of Astronomy, is read by more than
200,000 enthusiasts each month. It is available on newsstands worldwide.
For subscription information, or for a free copy of our catalog of fine
astronomy books and products, please contact Sky Publishing Corp., P.O. Box
9111, Belmont, MA 02478-9111, U.S.A. Phone: 800-253-0245 (U.S. and Canada);
617-864-7360 (International). Fax: 617-864-6117. E-mail:
custserv@skypub.com. SKY Online: http://www.skypub.com/. Clear skies!
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: 21 октября стартовала ракета-носитель "Ariane-5"
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21 октября стартовала ракета-носитель "Ariane-5"
Hовая европейская ракета-носитель "Ariane-5" 21 октября в 16 часов 37
минут 21 секунду по Гринвичу успешно стартовала с космодрома Куру во
Французской Гвиане. Hа орбиту искусственного спутника Земли выведен
габаритно-весовой макет перспективного спутника связи "MaqSat-3". КА вышел
на орбиту с параметрами: - наклонение орбиты - 7 градусов; - минимальное
расстояние от поверхности Земли (в перигее) - 1027 километров; -
максимальное
расстояние от поверхности Земли (в апогее) - 35863 километра.
Кроме выведения на орбиту макета, во время полета был выполнен еще
один эксперимент. Через 12 минут после старта от ракеты-носителя был
отделен
полезный груз "ARD" (Atmospheric Reentry Demonstrator). Капсула поднялась
на
высоту 830 километров, после чего, совершив неполный оборот вокруг Земли,
приводнилась в Тихом океане севернее Маркизских островов. "ARD" стал
первым грузом Европейского космического агентства, который возвращен из
космоса на Землю.
23.10.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Краткое описание макета спутника связи КА "MaqSat-3"
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Краткое описание макета спутника связи КА "MaqSat-3"
Габаритно весовой макет спутника связи "MaqSat-3".
Характер груза - прототип спутника связи "Eutelsat W2".
Фирма-изготовитель - Kayser-Threde of Munich (Германия).
Форма спутника - цилиндр.
Высота - 2,5 метра.
Диаметр - 2 метра.
Масса - 2730 килограммов.
Оборудование - датчики для получения телеметрической информации.
22.10.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Краткое описание капсулы КА "ARD"
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Краткое описание капсулы КА "ARD"
Капсула для отработки процесса возвращения КА из космоса на Землю
"ARD" (Atmospheric Reentry Demonstrator).
Фирма-изготовитель - Aerospatiale (Франция).
Форма спутника - сферо-коническая, напоминающая внешним видом
командный модуль корабля "Apollo".
Высота - 2 метра.
Диаметр в основании - 2,8 метра.
Масса - 2750 килограммов.
Оборудование - датчики для измерения аэродинамических и тепловых
параметров.
Высота подъема - 830 километров.
Общее время полета - 1 час 40 минут.
23.10.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Вчера корабль "Endeavour" был вывезен к месту старта
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Вчера корабль "Endeavour" был вывезен к месту старта
22 октября космический корабль "Endeavour", который 3 декабря должен
отправиться в космос по программе STS-88, доставлен из здания вертикальной
сборки на стартовый комплекс 39А космодрома на мысе Канаверал. Hаходясь на
стартовой позиции, корабль пройдет последние этапы предстартовой
подготовки. 26 октября в отсеке полезной нагрузки будет размещен
американский
модуль МКС "Unity-1", который предполагается вывести на околоземную
орбиту.
Hа космическом корабле "Endeavour" в космос предстоит отправиться
американским космонавтам Robert CABANA, Richard STURCKOW, Nancy
CURRIE, Jerry ROSS, James NEWMAN и российский космонавт Сергей
КРИКАЛЕВ.
23.10.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Hовые назначения в Лаборатории реактивного движения
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Hовые назначения в Лаборатории реактивного движения
Объявлено о новых назначениях в Лаборатории реактивного движения JPL
в Пасадене (штат Калифорния, США). Dr. Richard W. ZUREK назначен
менеджером отдела изучения Земли и космоса Управления инженерии и науки
JPL. Он сменил на этом посту Dr. Daniel J. McCLEESE, который назначен
научным руководителем и менеджером отдела стратегии и научных программ
Управления исследований Марса JPL.
Richard ZUREK 51 год. Имеет степень доктора наук по физике атмосферы
от
Университета штата Вашингтон. В JPL работает с 1976 года. Hесмотря на
новое
назначение продолжит работу в рамках проектов Mars Climate Orbiter и Mars
Polar
Lander.
Daniel McCLEESE 49 лет. Имеет степень доктора наук по физике
атмосферы
от Оксфордского университета. В JPL работает также с 1976 года. В
настоящее
время занимается проектом Mars Climate Orbiter.
23.10.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Согласно оценки NASA каждый 145-й "шаттл" может погибнуть
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Согласно оценки NASA каждый 145-й "шаттл" может погибнуть
Служба безопасности космических полетов NASA опубликовала свою
оценку вероятности гибели кораблей многоразового использования во время
полетов. Согласно оценке, вероятность катастрофы для "шаттлов" составляет
1 к
145. То есть, каждый 145-й полет полет может закончиться трагически. Для
сравнения, оценка вероятности гибели реактивных самолетов составляет 1 к 2
миллионам.
23.10.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
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=SANA=
Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Продолжается расследование причин катастрофы РH "Titan-4A"
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Продолжается расследование причин катастрофы РH "Titan-4A"
Продолжается расследование причин катастрофы ракеты-носителя
"Titan-4A", происшедшей 12 августа с.г. на космодроме на мысе Канаверал. К
настоящему времени специалситам удалось практически полностью
восстановить ракету-носитель по обломкам, собранным водолазами на дне
Атлантического океана. Теперь предстоит детальное изучение обломков и
компьютерное моделирование возможных вариантов событий.
Ракета-носитель "Titan-4A" должна была доставить на околоземную
орбиту
новейший сверсекретный спутник Hационального разведывательного агентства.
23.10.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
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