God Bless America

Feb. 6 2000

Hello All,

CMDR Constance Sanders and I have decided to "split" the RSN. She will mostly be covering NASA and I will mostly cover ESA on an alternating weekly basis in this newsletter.

FROM ESA

** Beagle 2 

** XMM spacecraft

*The Beagle 2 team has selected two potential landing sites on Mars for further study.The prospective areas are within the Chryse and Tritonis Lacus regions.

More at:
 http://sci.esa.int/newsitem.cfm?TypeID=1&ContentID=9011&Storytype=22  

*The European Space Agency's X-ray space observatory has taken its very first pictures giving new views on the Universe. The commissioning images confirm that the XMM spacecraft, its X-ray telescopes and science instruments are functioning perfectly, to the great satisfaction of all involved.

More at: http://sci.esa.int/missions/newsitem.cfm?TypeID=20&ContentID=9031 

**There isn't a link for the below, so the whole story is there**

** China Launches Communications Satellite 
** Mars Society Project Gets Corporate Sponsor

*China Launches Communications Satellite

A Chinese Long March booster successfully launched a domestic communications satellite late Tuesday, Chinese officials reported.

The Long March 3A lifted off at 11:45 am EST Tuesday (1645 UT, 12:45 am Wednesday Beijing time) from the Xichang launch site in southwestern China. The booster successfully placed into a geosynchronous transfer orbit the Zhongxing-22 satellite, according to Chinese media reports.

The 2,300-kg (5,060-lb.) Zhongxing-22 will be used by the China Telecommunications and Broadcasting Satellite Corporation for "ground telecommunications" from its final position in geosynchronous orbit at 98 degrees east. The launch was not previously announced.

The launch was the first of the year for China and the 68th Long March dating back to 1970. The launch was the fourth for the Long March 3A model, a three-stage booster capable of placing 2,500 kg into geosynchronous transfer orbit. The booster placed a science and a communications satellite into orbit in two separate launches in 1994, and another communications satellite in 1997.

Few details are known about China's planned launches this year, although the "Go Taikonauts!" Web site, an independent Web site that reports on Chinese spec efforts, lists at four other launches scheduled for some time in 2000. China conducted four launches in 1999.

*Mars Society Project Gets Corporate Sponsor

The Mars Society announced Wednesday that an Internet company has agreed to sponsor its Arctic research base project in exchange for the naming rights to the facility.

Flashline.com agreed to donate $175,000 to the Mars Society to support the Mars Arctic Research Station (MARS), one of the society's major projects. In recognition of the donation, the society will rename MARS the Mars Society Flashline Arctic Research Station.

The sale of naming rights, or the naming of a facility after a major corporate or individual benefactor, is commonplace in areas ranging from athletic arenas and stadia to university buildings. However, the Mars Society said this agreement is the first of its kind in the aerospace industry.

"This agreement demonstrates Flashline.comís vision," said Mars Society president Robert Zubrin. "The securing of naming rights is just the first step for private companies as they see more opportunities in space exploration."

Cleveland-based Flashline.com bills itself as the premier software component marketplace. Flashline president and CEO Charles Stack is a member of the Mars Society and this agreement came around as the result of his involvement with the organization, a company spokesperson said.

"The computer industry and the space program have always been intertwined in a historic synergy that has fueled advancements in both earth-bound and space-related technology," said Stack. "My hope is that The Mars Societyís projects will re-energize public and private efforts to explore space. We are extremely honored to participate in this project."

The Arctic research base is a $1.3-million project by the Mars Society to build a prototype of a future Mars habitat on Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic, an area that "most closely resembles the surface of Mars", according to NASA engineer Pascal Lee.

Last month the society signed a contract with Infrastructure Composites International to build the habitat. The structure is scheduled for completion this spring and, after a short shakedown this summer on Devon Island, will begin full use in the summer of 2001.

Flashline.com's contribution joins previous $100,000 donations by the Steve and Michele Kirsch Foundation and the Foundation for the International Non-Governmental Development of Space (FINDS), as well as other donations by Bushnell Sports Optics and the members of the society.

Zubrin said that the society has enough money to build the structure as well as conduct the 2000 and 2001 field tests on Devon Island. "Funds for 2002 and beyond will be raised as we go along," he added.

LL&P, 
Lt. Steven Fredette 
C.O. USS DeGaulle NCC-6365 
Deputy Chief, Starfleet Command's Space Activities Committee

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