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Jan. 22 2000
In this issue:
* Voclanic Eruption on Io
* Findings Boost Idea of Other-Worldly
Ocean
* Solar Cinema
* Next Shuttle Mission Press Kit Posted to
Internet
* Planetary Dust Disk
* Lone Black Holes Discovered Adrift in
Space
* TRMM Data Improves Rainfall
Forecasting
* Robotics Competition Inspires Tomorrow's
Engineers
* Star Formation Bubbles-Up in Nearby
Galaxy
* 'Spy In Sky' And Speeders
* First Shuttle Mission of the New
Millennium
* A Mars Flag and Base
* Chinese SETI: Interest in the Search for
Extraterrestrial
From NASA
Caught in the Act: Two months ago, astronomers photographed a large volcanic eruption on Io just as Galileo was flying by Jupiter's fiery satellite. The data offer scientists the best chance ever to pin down the temperature of lava erupting from the Solar System's most active volcanoes. FULL STORY AT
http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast17jan_1.htm
For more information about Galileo and Io, please visit http://www.IoFlyby.com
* Findings Boost Idea of Other-Worldly Ocean
When NASA's Galileo spacecraft swooped past Jupiter's moon Europa a week ago, it picked up powerful new evidence that a liquid ocean lies beneath Europa's icy crust. As the spacecraft flew 218 miles (351 kilometers) above the icy moon on January 3, its magnetometer instrument studied changes in the direction of Europa's magnetic field. Galileo's magnetometer observed directional changes consistent with the type that would occur if Europa contained a shell of electrically conducting material, such as a salty, liquid ocean.
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory captured images of a dramatic solar prominence on January 18, 2000. As the solar maximum approaches, such events will become more and more frequent. FULL STORY AT
http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast20jan_1.htm
* Next Shuttle Mission Press Kit Posted to Internet
The STS-99 mission, scheduled for launch no earlier than Jan. 31, will carry a radar-mapping instrument that scientists will use to create one of the most detailed and accurate maps of the Earth ever assembled. The data will also be put to a variety of uses in Earth Science disciplines.
The planetary dust disk around the star Beta Pictoris is dynamically "ringing like a bell," according to astronomers investigating NASA Hubble Space Telescope images. The "clapper" is the gravitational wallop of a star that passed near Beta Pictoris some 100,000 years ago. The surprising findings, presented at the 195th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, show that a close encounter with a neighboring star can severely disrupt the evolution and appearance of thin disks, which are the nurseries of planetary systems. Similar fly-bys of our solar system long ago may have reshuffled the comets that now populate our Oort cloud and Kuiper belt.
* Lone Black Holes Discovered Adrift in Space
Two international teams of astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based telescopes in Australia and Chile have discovered the first examples of isolated stellar-mass black holes adrift among the stars in our galaxy. All previously known stellar black holes have been found in orbit around normal stars, with their presence determined by their effect on the companion star. The two isolated black holes were detected indirectly by the way their extreme gravity bends the light from a more distant star behind them.
* TRMM Data Improves Rainfall Forecasting
New research shows that adding rainfall data from NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite and other meteorological satellites to forecast models can more than triple the accuracy of short-term rainfall forecasts. The data also may be useful for increasingly accurate predictions of hurricane ground tracks.
* Robotics Competition Inspires Tomorrow's Engineers
America's future engineers -- now high school students -- will pit their robots against one another's in a high-tech sporting event, the annual NASA/FIRST robotics kickoff, beginning at 9:30 a.m. EST on Saturday. You can watch this fun event live on NASA television and via webcast. NASA and FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a non-profit corporation, sponsor the nationwide annual competition.
* Star Formation Bubbles-Up in Nearby Galaxy
Newly released images obtained with NASA'S Hubble Space Telescope show clusters of newly forming stars in various stages of evolution. The images, taken in July 1997 with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, capture the "nearby" galaxy NGC 4214--only 13 million light-years from Earth. As hot, young stars develop, they blow bubbles in the stellar gas, such as the bluish heart-shaped bubble in the center of this image. Hundreds of massive blue stars, each more than 10,000 times brighter than the Sun, inflated by stellar winds and radiation pressure, expand the bubble as the most massive stars in the center reach the ends of their lives and explode as supernovae.
From Space and Flight Weekly News
An anti-speeding device which uses space satellite signals and cuts the fuel supply to cars breaking speed limits could save thousands of lives on Britain's roads, scientists said on Tuesday. The gadget, called an "intelligent speed adapter,'' uses satellite technology to pinpoint the location of a vehicle and refers to a digital map inside the car to signal when the speed limit has been breached. The device could then cut fuel supply to the engine if the driver continued to break the speed limit. "What is most in its favor is the number of lives that would be saved with this system,'' said Dr Oliver Carsten of Leeds University, where research into the device is being conducted. He said that if the so-called "spy in the sky'' were introduced into Britain it could save up to 2,000 lives a year. A report on "sky spies'' is due to be handed to the government's department of transport soon but a spokesman for the department told Reuters that no decision had been made on whether it will be introduced. He said research into the satellite anti-speeding device, which would cost around 200 pounds ($327.3) to install in a car, was expected to go on throughout this year. But it is likely to be unpopular with motorists and a car industry which promotes freedom and individuality in its marketing. Edmund King, of the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) Foundation, said the scheme would be extremely expensive and sounded like something out of a George Orwell novel. "Do we really want Big Brother in the sky, the spy in the sky, to actually track all of our 32 million motorists?'' he said.
* First Shuttle Mission of the New Millennium
The next human expedition into outer space is tentatively scheduled to take off Jan. 31, but the pioneering astronauts won't be exploring the vast beyond on the flight. Instead, an international crew of U.S., European and Japanese astronauts will fly NASA's shuttle Endeavour on an ambitious mission to make the most detailed topographical map ever of planet Earth. Coming on the heels of NASA's highly successful Hubble Space Telescope repair flight and a short Y2K vacation, the agency began gearing up Tuesday for launch of its long-awaited Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. If all goes well, a crew of six astronauts will blast off from Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A about 1 p.m. EST Jan. 31 on an 11-day flight that would be capped with a landing back Endeavour's Florida homeport at 5 p.m. Feb. 11. "We're getting back into the swing of things," said KSC spokesman Joel Wells. Added Lisa Malone, chief of media services at KSC: "We still have a few more weeks of work to do to get ready for launch, but Jan. 31 is a date we think we can make based on the work schedule." Flying aboard Endeavour with Kregel will be copilot Dom Gorie and four mission specialists: Janet Kavandi and Janice Voss of NASA, Mamoru Mohri of the Japanese Space Agency and Gerhard Thiele of the European Space Agency. Once in orbit, the astronauts will deploy a 200-foot-long radar antenna that will be used to make a three-dimensional map of about 80 percent of the surface of Earth. Officials with NASA and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency - a mission cosponsor - say the map will be the most complete and accurate ever assembled. Originally scheduled for flight Sept. 16, the mission was put on hold after an electrical short circuit knocked out two crucial engine computers during the July 23 launch of Columbia. Triggered by a damaged wire within Columbia's fuselage, the short circuit left an astronaut crew one failure away from an emergency landing, prompting NASA to ground all shuttle flights. Fleetwide wiring inspections and repairs were ordered and NASA managers ultimately decided to fly the Hubble telescope repair mission before Endeavour's radar mapping flight. Endeavour's inspections and repairs largely are complete but the agency still faces at least one more major hurdle: Technicians still must inspect and make any necessary repairs within the shuttle's cramped rear engine compartment. Flawed wiring harnesses were uncovered during similar inspections as NASA readied Discovery for launch on the Hubble repair mission. The work within Endeavour's engine compartment is scheduled to begin Jan. 14 and will take about 10 days to complete. "We'll be going throughout the engine compartment, inspecting with a keen eye on wiring," said Wells. "There's a more meticulous approach to the closeout work now to make sure the vehicle is ready from a wiring standpoint." As it stands now, NASA will have opportunities to launch Endeavour on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 before running into scheduling problems on the Air Force's Eastern Range.
From SPACEVIEWS
It may still be many years before humans walk on Mars, but the Mars Society has already solved one problem for future Martian colonists. The society has designed a Martian flag, a red, green, and blue tricolor designed to represent the transformation of Mars from a lifeless planet to a hospitable world. That flag flew in space for the first time last month on the space shuttle, courtesy of astronaut John Grunsfeld. That flag could also fly again this summer outside a prototype of a future Mars habitat that will be built this year. The Mars Society signed a contract with Infrastructure Composites International to build a two-story structure that will contain living and working quarters for a six-person crew. The Mars Arctic Research Station (MARS) will be assembled on Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic, a region of our planet that most closely resembles Mars, to test the designs and technologies for future Martian habitats.
* Chinese SETI: Interest in the Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence (SETI) is growing in China, the Christian Science Monitor reported last week. The Chinese Academy of Sciences is drawing up a SETI research plan, including the construction of a "gigantic radio telescope that will search for signs of and signals from extraterrestrial intelligence," said astronomer Zhao Fuyuan. Some might argue, though, that the interest is coming from the "wrong" reasons: at the same time, there has been a spate of UFO sightings in China, publicized even in state-run media. Chinese scientists, though, seem willing to accept such coverage if it results in more money for scientific research. "The academy hopes that more media reports about and growing interest in extraterrestrial life will convince the government to invest more money in the overall space program," Zhao said.
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Submitted by
CMDR Constance Sanders
USS Yorktown
Chief, Space Activities Committee, SFC
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