NEWSALERT: Friday, January 26, 2001 @ 0257 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now Sponsored by European AstroFest 2001 http://www.astronomynow.com/astrofest WORLD'S LARGEST HUMAN GATHERING SEEN FROM SPACE ----------------------------------------------- Space Imaging's Ikonos satellite has taken a detailed color photograph of the largest human gathering in the history of the world, the Maha Kumbh Mela, a spiritual event held every 144 years in Northern India. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/26ikonos/ NASA SETTLES ON NEW SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH SCHEDULE ------------------------------------------------- As expected, NASA managers Thursday agreed on a revised near-term shuttle launch schedule, delaying the next flight one day to February 7 and the flight after that from March 1 to March 8. Other downstream flights face delays of several weeks and two space station crew rotation missions are under review. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010125sked/ See our updated master timeline of Atlantis' flight: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/fdf/98plan.html OLD CARGO SHIP LEAVES MIR TO MAKE WAY FOR NEW ONE ------------------------------------------------- The Progress M43 cargo ship departed the Mir space station Thursday. The craft, which joined Mir last October, left from the Kvant-1 module to free up the docking port for arrival of Mir's deorbiting tug launched Wednesday. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010125progm43/ NASA CRAFT REVEALS EARTH'S INVISIBLE MAGNETIC TAIL -------------------------------------------------- The first large-scale pictures of the hidden machinations of the Earth's magnetic force-field are now available, including confirmation of a suspected but previously invisible "tail" of electrified gas. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/26image/ EUROPE'S SATELLITES TRACK CLIMATE CHANGES ----------------------------------------- In July an Ariane 5 launcher will send into orbit Europe's big new environmental satellite, Envisat. Scientists will expect fresh insights into how the world is changing from the 8-tonne spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/26esaearth/ SCIENTISTS RUSH TO PROPOSE PLUTO MISSION ---------------------------------------- On December 20, NASA announced that it would be soliciting proposals for a mission to the Pluto-Charon system and the Kuiper Belt beyond to arrive at Pluto by 2015. The formal announcement of opportunity was released January 19. Proposals are due on March 21. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/26plutorush/

Earth's Invisible Magnetic Tail NASA Science News for January 25, 2001 The first global views of our planet's magnetosphere, captured by NASA's IMAGE spacecraft, reveal a curious plasma tail that stretches toward the Sun. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast25jan_1.htm?list89800

Greening of the Red Planet A hardy microbe from Earth might one day transform the barren ground of Mars into arable soil. Scientists discussed the possibility at a recent NASA-sponsored conference FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast26jan_1.htm?list89800

NEWSALERT: Saturday, January 27, 2001 @ 0610 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now Sponsored by European AstroFest 2001 http://www.astronomynow.com/astrofest DEORBITING TUG ARRIVES AT SPACE STATION MIR ------------------------------------------- After a three-day chase, an unmanned cargo ship successfully reached Russia's space station Mir today, becoming most likely the last arrival from Earth to the outpost. The Progress M1-5 spacecraft, carrying propellant for Mir's deorbiting, docked to the station at 0534 GMT (12:34 a.m. EST). http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010127dock/ TECHNICAL SNAG HITS NASA'S MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR ----------------------------------------------- One of the orientation-controlling reaction wheels has failed aboard NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft in orbit around the Red Planet, the space agency says. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/27mgswheel/ ATLANTIS RETURNS TO PAD AFTER BOOSTER CHECKS -------------------------------------------- Space shuttle Atlantis is back on its seaside launch pad for the first human spaceflight of 2001. The shuttle was rolled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building on Friday after precautionary cable inspections on the spaceship's twin solid rocket boosters. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html BOEING'S DELTA 2 ROCKET TO FLY TUESDAY -------------------------------------- The first Delta rocket launch of 2001 is scheduled for early Tuesday from Cape Canaveral with a replacement Global Positioning System military navigation satellite onboard. http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d283/status.html AOL USERS --------- The links below should make it easier for AOL users to reach our stories. DEORBITING TUG ARRIVES AT SPACE STATION MIR TECHNICAL SNAG HITS NASA'S MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR ATLANTIS RETURNS TO PAD AFTER BOOSTER CHECKS BOEING'S DELTA 2 ROCKET TO FLY TUESDAY

NEWSALERT: Monday, January 29, 2001 @ 0226 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now Sponsored by European AstroFest 2001 http://www.astronomynow.com/astrofest DELTA 2 ROCKET POISED TO CARRY GPS SATELLITE -------------------------------------------- A Boeing Delta 2 rocket stands ready for an overnight liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Tuesday with a replacement NAVSTAR Global Positioning System military navigation spacecraft. We will have live coverage! http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d283/status.html Watch our live streaming Webcast: http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d283/live_qt.html 15 YEARS AFTER CHALLENGER ------------------------- On a bitterly cold January morning 15 years ago Sunday, space shuttle Challenger and her seven-member crew made a fateful voyage into history. Spaceflight Now marked the anniversary with a comprehensive timeline of the events of that day. (Includes video and audio clips) http://spaceflightnow.com/challenger/timeline/ ULYSSES SOLAR EXPLORER DETECTS MAGNETIC SHIFT --------------------------------------------- An intriguing change in the Sun's magnetic field has been spotted by the solar probe Ulysses. Although the shift had been previously known by scientists, this is the first time the event has been detected by a spacecraft out of the elliptic plane of the solar system, where all planets but Pluto orbit. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/28ulysses/ VIRTUAL RAINS HERALD DAWN OF NEW CLIMATE UNDERSTANDING ------------------------------------------------------ Weather prediction is hard enough. But what are the possibilities for predicting events related to weather? With new tools being developed at Goddard Space Flight Center, and NASA's ever increasing suite of Earth observations, scientists just might be on the road to estimating future weather-related incidents. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/29virtualrain/ COMPANIES JOIN FORCES TO CREATE 2ND GENERATION RLV -------------------------------------------------- Kelly Space and Vought Aircraft Industries jointly announced last week that the two companies had signed a teaming agreement and submitted proposals to develop, in cooperation with NASA, a 2nd Generation Reusable Space Launch Vehicle. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/28sli/ NEXT ARIANE 4 ROCKET IS ON THE LAUNCH PAD ------------------------------------------ A pair of European military communications satellites are almost ready to take to the skies aboard an Ariane 4 launch vehicle that is currently undergoing final tests at its South American launch pad. http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v139/status.html 'PSEUDOGYRO' CAN SAVE SATELLITES FROM FAILURE --------------------------------------------- Software developed by The Aerospace Corporation can save satellites from failure, extend the on-orbit life of satellites with ailing hardware gyros, and save large sums of money in insurance costs, among other benefits. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/29pseudogyro/

Wow, a new shuttle (rlv? is that like an suv?) wonder what it will look like?

From the drawings I have seen, it looks very much like the current one but more swept-back angle to the tail. High-latitude Aurora Warning Space Weather News for January 30, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com A coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on Sunday could buffet Earth's magnetosphere late Tuesday or perhaps Wednesday. Sky watchers at higher latitudes (including places like Canada, Alaska, and the northern tier of US states) should be alert for auroras after local nightfall for the next two days. For more information please visit http://www.spaceweather.com

NEWSALERT: Wednesday, January 31, 2001 @ 0647 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now Sponsored by European AstroFest 2001 http://www.astronomynow.com/astrofest PIN-POINTING BLACK HOLES IN DISTANT GALAXIES -------------------------------------------- The most detailed images ever made of faint, distant radio galaxies, located billions of light years from Earth, reveal that many of them harbor central massive black holes. It adds further support to the belief that super-massive black holes are inextricably linked with the way galaxies formed in the early universe. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/31pinpoint/ ASTRONOMERS TAKE THE PULSE OF A SUN-LIKE STAR --------------------------------------------- A team of astronomers has precisely measured the 'throbbing' of a Sun-like star that lies 24 light-years away. The slow 'pulse rate' of the star confirms ideas of what the Sun will be like a few billion years from now. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/31pulsating/ CASSINI UNCOVERS JUPITER'S MAGNETIC BUBBLE ------------------------------------------ NASA's Cassini space probe had made the huge magnetosphere surrounding Jupiter visible in a way no previous spacecraft has been able to do. The magnetosphere is a bubble of charged particles trapped within the magnetic environment of the planet. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/31jupmag/ X-RAY VIEW INTO A STARBURST --------------------------- Luminous starburst galaxies are where a lot of young stars are currently forming. They come in different varieties including those where creation is concentrated at its nucleus and activity at the center is so intense that fantastic 'bubbles' are created giving rise to streams of hot gas, or 'superwinds'. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/31starburst/ THE FIRST 'RINGED MOLECULE' FOUND AROUND STARS ---------------------------------------------- Life as we know it is based on the ability of the carbon atom to form ring-shaped molecules. But rings of carbon are not exclusive to Earth, as experts in space chemistry now know. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/31ringed/

The Solar Wind at Mars NASA Science News for January 31, 2001 Scientists think Mars once had a thicker atmosphere than it does today, perhaps even comparable to Earth's. But where did all that Martian air go? New evidence from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft supports a long-held suspicion that much of the Red Planet's atmosphere was simply blown away -- by the solar wind. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast31jan_1.htm?list89800

NEWSALERT: Tuesday, January 30, 2001 @ 1200 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now Sponsored by European AstroFest 2001 http://www.astronomynow.com/astrofest BOEING DELTA 2 ROCKET LOFTS ANOTHER GPS SATELLITE ------------------------------------------------- Exactly ten years after the U.S. military troops reaped the benefits from the Global Positioning System while fighting the Gulf War in featureless deserts, a new satellite was launched into orbit today to keep the constellation going. http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d283/ Also see our Mission Status Center: http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d283/status.html BUILDING BLOCKS FOR LIFE MAY HAVE COME FROM OUTER SPACE ------------------------------------------------------- The chemical building blocks necessary for the formation of life on Earth, as well as rudimentary structures that could have been the basis for the first cells, may have come from outer space, one group of scientists has concluded. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/30spacelife/ CHANDRA SEES MULTITUDE OF NEW STARS FORMING NEARBY -------------------------------------------------- NGC 3603 is a bustling region of star birth in the Carina spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy, about 20,000 light-years from Earth. For the first time, this Chandra image resolves the multitude of individual X-ray sources in this star-forming region. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/30chandra/ MIR IN STABLE MODE AS DISCARDED FREIGHTER REENTERS -------------------------------------------------- The Progress M43 cargo spacecraft, which undocked from Russia's space station Mir last week, reentered Earth's atmosphere Monday where it burned up. The supply ship was replaced with a fresh craft over the weekend that carries the fuel needed to deorbit Mir in March. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010129progm43/ GALILEO WRAPPING UP JOVIAN MAGNETOSPHERE STUDY ---------------------------------------------- This week, Galileo winds down on its 14-week-long successful collaboration with the Cassini spacecraft to study the influence of the solar wind on the Jovian magnetosphere. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/30galileothisweek/ NASA NAMES STS-108 SHUTTLE MISSION ASTRONAUTS --------------------------------------------- Astronauts have begun training for the STS-108/Utilization Flight-1 mission to rotate International Space Station crews and to deliver experiments and scientific racks for the station's U.S. Laboratory, Destiny. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/30sts108crew/

I was reading yesterday that a New York museum has de-classified Pluto, stripping it of planetary status. Apparently Pluto is twice as big as the next biggest asteroid in the Kuiper Belt (not sure of my terms here, memory plays trick), but only about an eighth as big as Uranus. So the museum's exhibit shows only 8 planets, and they reckon Pluto will be "happier as the king of the Kuiper Belt rather than the smallest, furthest planet". Who even knew that asteroids orbited the sun beyond the planets? Not me.

I was reading yesterday that a New York museum has de-classified Pluto, stripping it of planetary status. WOT? New Yorkers! They seem to think they are the center of the world. ;-) I don't think Astrologers will dare remove Pluto from natal charts.

Astronomers have considered Pluto an escaped Uranian moon for years... Astrologers are in an entirely different universe from astronomers...are they not??? Hubble gives preview to death of our Sun NEWSALERT: Thursday, February 1, 2001 @ 0602 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now Sponsored by European AstroFest 2001 http://www.astronomynow.com/astrofest ANT-LIKE SPACE STRUCTURE PREVIEWS DEATH OF OUR SUN -------------------------------------------------- This dramatic Hubble Space Telescope image, showing 10 times more detail than ground-based views, reveals the "ant nebula" -- a dying, Sun-like star. Hubble directly challenges old ideas about the last stages in the lives of stars. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/01hubble/ JUPITERS MAY BE CRITICAL IN FORMING HABITABLE WORLDS ---------------------------------------------------- If you're looking for solar systems with Earth-like planets that could harbor life, one scientist believes you should first look for planets with the mass and orbit of Jupiter that could nurture smaller worlds. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/01habitable/ MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR COMPLETES PRIME MISSION -------------------------------------------- NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, which has collected more information about the red planet than all previous missions combined, completed its primary science mission Wednesday and now begins a new era of continued exploration. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/01mgs/ SOLID ROCKET BOOSTER MAKERS MERGE AS ALLIANT BUYS THIOKOL --------------------------------------------------------- Rocket motor maker Alliant Techsystems announced Wednesday it had reached an agreement to purchase Thiokol Propulsion for $685 million in cash. Alliant builds the solid-fueled boosters for Delta, Titan 4B, Pegasus and Taurus rockets; Thiokol manufactures the space shuttle solid rocket boosters. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/01alliant/ JET PROPULSION LABORATORY GETS NEW LEADER ----------------------------------------- Dr. Charles Elachi has been named the new director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, replacing Dr. Edward C. Stone effective May 1. Elachi has served in a variety of research and management positions at JPL since 1971. Most recently, he has been director for space and Earth science programs. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/01jplchief/

NEWSALERT: Saturday, February 3, 2001 @ 1844 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now TAKE A PEEK AT THE RED PLANET'S FRETTED TERRAIN ----------------------------------------------- Martian "fretted terrain" occurs in regions of buttes and mesas that stand at the erosional margin where northern low-lying plains meet the higher-standing cratered uplands. Found mostly in the mid-northern latitudes, some of the best examples of fretted terrain occur in Deuteronilus Mensae, as seen here. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/03mgslyot/ SPACESUIT CONCERN ARISES AS ATLANTIS NEARS LAUNCH ------------------------------------------------- Two EVA spacesuits packed aboard space shuttle Atlantis will have to be replaced before launch next week after concerns were raised about their integrity. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html COMET COLLISIONS: ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVED? ------------------------------------------- Recurring collisions between comets during the solar system's formation may have ground smaller comets to bits, leaving only big comets larger than 20 kilometers (12 miles) to survive. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/03oort/ CLUSTER 2 CLEARED FOR SCIENTIFIC WORK -------------------------------------- Cluster's unique mission formally got under way this week when the European Space Agency Commissioning Review Board gave unanimous approval for the start of scientific operations. Cluster's mission is to explore the magnetosphere - the region of space dominated by Earth's magnetic field. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/03cluster/

I heard on NPRs Earth and Sky this morning that the red dwarf stars, which are 80% of the stars in the Universe, are extrememly low energy. This is why we can't see even the closest one, Proxima Centauri. But they've revised the view that they could have planets with life, now they believe it's possible for life supporting planets to revolve around the red dwarfs. It was in interesting commentary.

Fascinating! I think I posted something about it back a few or on Geo 24 NEWSALERT: Monday, February 5, 2001 @ 0601 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now STATION'S DESTINY RIDES ON LABORATORY ATTACHMENT ------------------------------------------------ The shuttle Atlantis is set for launch Wednesday on a critical mission to deliver the $1.38 billion U.S. laboratory module, Destiny, to the international space station, finally clearing the way for the start of orbital research later this year. Read our comprehensive six-part mission preview report: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010204preview/ ASTRONAUTS FLY TO FLORIDA, COUNTDOWN BEGINS ------------------------------------------- With the five-member crew of space shuttle Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center, the launch team inside Complex 39's Firing Room 3 started the countdown on schedule Sunday night leading to liftoff at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT) on Wednesday. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html See our countdown timeline chart: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/fdf/98countdown.html NASA OPENS SPACE STATION SCIENCE COMMAND POST --------------------------------------------- The command and control center for scientific research aboard the international space station is open for business. The science command post linking Earth-bound researchers with their experiments and astronauts in orbit was commissioned Friday during ceremonies at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/04isspoc/ SAND DUNES LOOK LIKE SHARKS' TEETH IN MARS CRATER ------------------------------------------------- Sometimes, pictures received from Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera are "just plain pretty." This image, taken in early September 2000, shows a group of sand dunes at the edge of a much larger field of dark-toned dunes in Proctor Crater. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/04mgsshark/ HUYGENS RELAY LINK MYSTERY FULLY UNRAVELLED ------------------------------------------- A special calibration test is being conducted with the Huygens receivers on board the Saturn-bound Cassini spacecraft. The test results will provide a solid engineering basis for the design of new mission scenarios which can recover the Huygens relay link performance following a problem uncovered previously. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/04huygens/

Carbonated Mars NASA Science News for February 5, 2001 Here on Earth the only way to make carbonate rocks is with the aid of liquid water. Finding such rocks on Mars might prove, once and for all, that the barren Red Planet was once warm and wet. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast04feb_1.htm?list89800

Aren't there supposed to be signs on Mars of terrain forms which could only have been created by water erosion.

NEWSALERT: Wednesday, February 7, 2001 @ 0538 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now LAUNCH DAY ARRIVES FOR ATLANTIS AND DESTINY LAB ----------------------------------------------- The trouble-free countdown continues at Kennedy Space Center as Atlantis nears its sunset launch today at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT), but weather at overseas emergency landing sites could be a stumbling block in getting the shuttle airborne with the Destiny laboratory module for the international space station. We will have extensive live coverage starting at 9:30 a.m. EST (1430 GMT) today! http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html Read our six-part mission preview report: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010204preview/ SPECTACULAR LAYERS OF MARS EXPOSED IN BECQUEREL CRATER ------------------------------------------------------ Toward the end of its primary mapping mission, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor acquired one of its most spectacular pictures of layered sedimentary rock exposed within the ancient crater Becquerel. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/07mgsbecquerel/ ARIANE 4 POISED FOR TONIGHT'S MILITARY MISSION ---------------------------------------------- Two European military communications satellites are stacked atop the most powerful version of Arianespace's Ariane 4 rocket for liftoff today from the jungle launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana. http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v139/status.html TITANIC COLLISION SEEN IN DISTANT UNIVERSE ------------------------------------------ A student astronomer in Australia has discovered the "wreckage" of a vast collision between two giant clusters of galaxies. The finding changes scientists' views of how clusters and individual galaxies evolve. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/07collide/ NASA PICKS BOEING DELTA 2 TO LAUNCH WEATHER SATELLITE ----------------------------------------------------- NASA has exercised a contract option to launch the NOAA-N polar-orbiting weather satellite aboard a Boeing Delta 2 rocket in January 2003 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/07noaan/

NEWSALERT: Thursday, February 8, 2001 @ 0740 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now LIFTOFF OF ATLANTIS! -------------------- Putting on a dramatic sunset sky show, the shuttle Atlantis blasted off and rocketed away after the international space station Wednesday, carrying a $1.4 billion module that will serve as the station's main laboratory and central control center. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010207launch/ Watch our Mission Status Center for live updates: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html EUROPE'S ARIANE 4 CARRIES OUT MILITARY MISSION ---------------------------------------------- Arianespace launched its first double military payload Wednesday, lofting a pair of communications relay satellites for the British and Italian defense ministries. http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v139/ U.S. COMMERCIAL SPACE INDUSTRY WORTH $61 BILLION ------------------------------------------------ The American commercial space industry generated $61.3 billion in direct and indirect economic effects in 1999, putting it on a par with many existing conventional industries, a new federal study concluded Wednesday. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/08faaforecast/ CONGRESS' SPACE POLICY: SUPPORTIVE BUT CAUTIOUS ----------------------------------------------- While the new Congress and the new President are both strong supporters of NASA and space exploration, don't except any major new initiatives from either in the immediate future, a key Congressman cautioned Tuesday. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/07congspace/ WHY DAZZLING STARS ARE GIVEN BORING BUT USEFUL NAMES ---------------------------------------------------- Of the 100 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy, only a handful have colorful names, while the rest are designated by letters and numbers that are the stellar equivalent of a Social Security card. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/08naming/

NEWSALERT: Friday, February 9, 2001 @ 0411 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ATLANTIS TO RENDEZVOUS WITH SPACE STATION TODAY ----------------------------------------------- Space shuttle Atlantis is nearing the completion of its two-day pursuit to catch the international space station with the orbital linkup scheduled for 1650 GMT (11:50 a.m. EST) today. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010209dock/ Live coverage of docking: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html OLD BROWN DWARF-LIKE STARS DISCOVERED ------------------------------------- Astronomers have discovered a kind of star never previously observed. These small, cool stars look superficially like brown dwarfs but are actually the remnants of ordinary stars that have been whittled down to cool Jupiter-sized bodies over billions of years by spilling material over to a white dwarf companion star. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/09dwarf/ X-33 ENGINES PASS TEST ---------------------- Qualification test firings of the unique engines designed to propel America's X-33 space plane into high-speed, suborbital flight in 2003 began Tuesday at NASA's Stennis Space Center. The ignition test went the full scheduled duration of 1.1 seconds with no observed anomalies. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/09aerospike/ SPACE VIEWS OF EL SALVADOR SAVE LIVES AFTER EARTHQUAKE ------------------------------------------------------ Digital damage maps derived from satellite images are helping the teams clearing up after the disastrous earthquake in El Salvador. For the second time in a few short weeks, the recently-signed 'Charter on Disaster Relief' has swung into action to bring the satellite resources of the European, French and Canadian space agencies. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/09spot/

What did you think about the red dwarf reassessment, Marci?

Not sure. It will be an interesting and lively intellectual discourse as they try to sort out the what-ifs and where-ases of the theory. Since our sun is headed in that direction in another few billion years, it may be of some relevance. Here is something I refuse to take the blame for: Global Warming on Mars NASA Science News for February 9, 2001 Artificial greenhouse gases that are bad news on Earth could provide the means to make Mars a more comfortable place for humans to live. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast09feb_1.htm?list89800

NEWSALERT: Tuesday, February 6, 2001 @ 0521 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SECRETS OF THE MARTIAN NOACHIAN HIGHLANDS ----------------------------------------- Among the most exciting places that the Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera has photographed during its three and a half years in orbit has been this crater in central Noachis Terra. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/06mgsnoachis/ ATLANTIS COUNTDOWN ROLLS ON --------------------------- The countdown ticked along smoothly at Kennedy Space Center on Monday as engineers focused on loading Atlantis' three power-generating fuel cells. With a favorable weather forecast, the shuttle remains set for blastoff at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT) on Wednesday. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html See our complete STS-98 mission coverage: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/ TITAN 4 ROCKET COULD LAUNCH NEXT TUESDAY AT EARLIEST ---------------------------------------------------- A puzzling problem with a guidance computer is keeping a U.S. Air Force Titan 4B rocket and its sophisticated communications satellite cargo grounded at Cape Canaveral, Florida. http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/b41/010205inu.html ATLAS 3B AND PROTON ROCKETS PICKED BY ECHOSTAR ---------------------------------------------- The rockets that will loft the next two EchoStar direct-to-home TV broadcasting satellites were picked Monday and the joint U.S.-Russian venture International Launch Services won both contracts. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/06echostar/ ARIANE 4 PREPPED FOR ALL-MILITARY LAUNCH ---------------------------------------- Arianespace officials have cleared Ariane 4 rocket with a pair of European military communications satellite for launch on Wednesday evening at 2228 GMT (5:28 p.m. EST), the opening of a one-hour window. Liftoff will take place from ELA-2 at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v139/status.html

The Atlantis launch was really spectacular Wednesday. The con trail was colored almost like a rainbow. It seemed to go up faster this time.

It was stunning and I hope they make a poster out of it as it crossed the terminator and into sunset and full daylight as it rose. Did you see it go up, Lucie? How envious I am!!! Halo Coronal Mass Ejection Space Weather News for February 11, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com A beautiful coronal mass ejection billowed away from the Sun early Sunday. Although the bulk of the explosion was directed away from Earth, it appears that some of the ejecta is nevertheless heading our way. The edge of the expanding cloud will likely reach Earth on Tuesday and could trigger auroras at high latitudes. For more information, including movies of the event, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com.

NEWSALERT: Monday, February 12, 2001 @ 0237 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now PROBE TO ATTEMPT FIRST LANDING ON ASTEROID TODAY ------------------------------------------------ NASA's $223 million mission to get up-close and personal with an asteroid goes out with what could very well amount to a bang as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft heads for an unprecedented landing on Eros today. http://spaceflightnow.com/near/status.html Tune into our live Webcast of the landing: http://spaceflightnow.com/near/live_qt.html SHUTTLE DOCKING PORT TO BE ADDED TO DESTINY TODAY ------------------------------------------------- Atlantis' spacewalking astronauts Tom Jones and Bob Curbeam plan to step outside the shuttle again on Monday to lend a hand attaching a cone-shaped docking port to the newly-installed Destiny lab. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010212fd6/ We will have live updates throughout the spacewalk: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html NASA DELIGHTED BY SMOOTH DESTINY LAB ACTIVATION ----------------------------------------------- The Atlantis astronauts and the international space station's three-man crew floated into the $1.4 billion Destiny module for the first time Sunday and sailed through the new laboratory's initial activation and check out. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010211fd5/index2.html LAUNCHES OF XM RADIO SATELLITES SHUFFLED ---------------------------------------- Sea Launch has decided to flip-flop the flights of its Zenit 3SL rocket carrying the two broadcasting spacecraft for XM Satellite Radio in the continuing wake of an aborted countdown January 8. http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/xm1/status.html

Wow, live webcast of the Eros asteroid landing. What time?

NEAR Spacecraft Leaves Orbit to Land on Asteroid LAUREL, Md. (Reuters) - Space probe NEAR Shoemaker left its yearlong orbit of monster asteroid Eros and headed toward the big rock's surface on Monday, the first time any craft tried to land on this kind of cosmic object. "We're on a flight path now that will take us to the surface," mission Director Bob Farquhar said in an update from the project's headquarters outside Washington. The bus-sized spacecraft was never meant to land -- it orbited the 21-mile-long asteroid for a year, taking some 160,000 images and beaming them back to Earth -- but it was at the end of its expected life and had satisfied all its objectives, so Farquhar and others decided a landing attempt could provide some "bonus science." To get the solar-powered ship out of its 21-mile-high orbit, thrusters were fired around 10:31 a.m. EST to send it toward the asteroid. Four more burns were scheduled to slow NEAR to what scientists hoped would be a soft landing. The landing was scheduled for about 3 p.m. EST, but because it will take 17.5 minutes for light to travel the 196 million miles from the craft to Earth, scientists at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel said they would not have much information at the exact instant of touchdown. NEAR Shoemaker -- short for Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous and in honor of the late astronomer Gene Shoemaker -- was supposed to come down to Eros at a leisurely speed of from 2 to 7 mph. However, if things went awry during the complicated maneuver, the landing could be much faster and much harder. The craft could be flattened on impact. If all went as planned, however, NEAR would take images as it edged closer to Eros and send them back to Earth, as it has since it first started orbiting the asteroid on Valentine's Day 2000. When it landed, NEAR could hit one of the huge boulders that dot the asteroid's surface, or become buried in one of the so-called sand ponds. Or it could go into "ostrich mode" and turn its antenna toward the surface and away from Earth, and never be heard from again. It took NEAR about four years to travel a 2 billion-mile, looping route to Eros, named for the Greek god of love. At a cost of $223 million, the mission is considered a model for the cheaper, faster space flights envisioned by NASA. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has already rated the mission a success for the data it has collected about Eros, a so-called near-Earth asteroid that has the potential to collide with the planet in 1.5 million years or so. If Eros ever did hit Earth, the results would be catastrophic; indeed, a much smaller space rock is thought to have been responsible for wiping out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Astronomers were also interested in the composition of this rock because it is probably a remnant from the formation of the rocky inner planets of our solar system some 4.5 billion years ago.

NEAR Spacecraft Lands on Asteroid COLUMBIA, Md. (AP) - The NEAR spacecraft touched down on the barren, rocky surface of Eros, successfully completing history's first landing on an asteroid. NEAR's landing at about 3:05 p.m. EST Monday was confirmed when Mission Control received a beacon signal from the craft resting on the surface of Eros, some 196 million miles from Earth. ``I am happy to report that the NEAR has touched down,'' said Robert Farquhar, mission director. ``We are still getting signals. It is still transmitting from the surface.'' Engineers watching from monitors from Mission Control broke into applause at confirmation of history's first landing of a manmade object on an asteroid. The mission, controlled by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, also was the first into deep space operated by a non-NASA center. NEAR flawless performed five rocket firings, starting Monday morning, to drop it out of a 15-mile orbit of Eros and slow it toward the surface. Early indications are that Mission control completed its plan to guide NEAR to a feather-like touchdown by slowing its velocity, relative to the surface of the asteroid, to about the speed of a fast walk, 3 to 5 miles an hour. The landing completes a five-year, 2-billion-mile mission for the robot craft and boosts the technical experience in putting spacecraft on objects with extremely light gravity. ``This gives us a lot of practice,'' said Ed Weiler, NASA's chief scientist. ``We'll eventually want to land on comets because they hold the clues to beginnings.'' Weiler said the experience gained in the NEAR landing attempt on Eros can be applied in about a decade when NASA may launch a landing mission to a comet. NEAR became the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid when it arrived at Eros, an object named for the Greek god of love, on Valentine's Day last year. The mission had been scheduled to end on Wednesday, anniversary of achieving orbit. Farquhar said it was decided to attempt the landing to squeeze a final bit of science out of the $223 million mission. No matter how the landing attempt ended, Weiler said, earlier, NEAR was ``a total success. It returned 10 times more data than expected.'' Officials targeted NEAR to land on Eros at the edge of a deep depression called Himeros. Scientists picked this spot because it is thought to be on the edge of two different geologic formations. During the final hours of its descent, NEAR furiously took pictures of Eros' surface as it drew closer and closer. Scientists hoped the final shots before impact would clearly show rocks as small as a fist, an unprecedented close-up view of an asteroid. ``In those final images, we'll be seeing objects that are just a few inches in resolution,'' said Andrew Cheng, chief project scientist of NEAR. Farquhar had warned in advance that landing NEAR n Eros is exquisitely ``tricky.'' NEAR was not designed to land anywhere. Shaped like tin can attached to four solar panels, the craft was not equipped with wheels or braces to absorb the landing force. Weiler commented, ``This is not a landing. It is a controlled crash.'' Eros has very light gravity, about one-thousandth that of Earth, which means that an object, such as NEAR, weighing 1,100 pounds on Earth, would weigh only slightly over a pound in the gravity field of Eros. A quarter, dropped from head-high on Eros, would take five seconds to fall to the surface. Weiler said the final descent of NEAR was actually slower than the asteroid's rotation and there was risk that the spinning space rock could actually swat the craft back into orbit. NEAR traveled more than 2 billion miles during its five-year mission. It was launched Feb. 17, 1996, into an independent solar orbit. NEAR swung by the Earth once to pick up speed and then streaked outward toward Eros, an asteroid in an elongated orbit that nears Mars and approaches Earth's orbit. In December 1998, a rocket firing designed to put the craft into orbit of Eros failed and NEAR sped past the asteroid. A second rocket firing series was successful and the spacecraft eventually returned to Eros and slipped into history's first orbit of an asteroid. The craft spent the last year snapping photos of Eros, second- largest of the asteroids that approach the Earth's orbit. The NEAR instruments also gathered information about the asteroid's composition, structure, size and shape. NEAR was built and operated under a faster-better-cheaper space exploration philosophy developed at NASA. Under the direction and control of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, the spacecraft was designed, built and launched in just 26 months. Some deep space explorations have taken a decade or more to mount. NEAR is also the first deep-space mission to be operated by a non-NASA space center. On the Net: Mission site: http://near.jhuapl.edu/media/index.html

NEWSALERT: Monday, February 12, 2001 @ 2100 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NEAR SHOEMAKER SURVIVES ASTEROID LANDING ---------------------------------------- The NEAR Shoemaker probe is apparently alive and well after touching down on the surface of asteroid Eros today. The spacecraft returned remarkable close up views of the asteroid's surface as it swooped down to its historic landing. Check our home page for the latest news and pictures. http://spaceflightnow.com/

Pretty neat, they landed a craft not designed to land and a beacon kept sending back signals. The close ups are very clear and show some good size boulders ona very solid asteroid, not a pile of rubble or block of ice.

Looks amazing, doesn't it?! I NEED a litle piece for my collection!!! NEWSALERT: Tuesday, February 13, 2001 @ 0439 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NEAR PROBE MAKES HISTORIC LANDING ON ASTEROID EROS -------------------------------------------------- NASA's $223 million mission NEAR Showmaker spacecraft made an unprecedented landing on the surface of asteroid Eros Monday, returning spectacular pictures on the way down. Check our home page for the latest news, pictures and video. http://spaceflightnow.com/ ASTRONAUTS SAIL THROUGH 2ND SUCCESSFUL SPACEWALK ------------------------------------------------ The Atlantis astronauts staged a near-perfect spacewalk Monday, connecting a shuttle docking port to the $1.4 billion Destiny laboratory module, installing a mounting fixture for a new robot arm and opening the lab's picture window on the world. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010212fd6/index2.html Latest updates in our status center: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html EXPERIMENTS TO STUDY FAILURES ON SMALL SATELLITE ------------------------------------------------ NASA experiments on a small British satellite are studying the effects of radiation on the various systems that make up each experiment. To yield this information, engineers are actually hoping for the components to fail. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/13strv/ GALILEO PLAYING BACK RECORDED OBSERVATIONS ------------------------------------------ It is going to be a relatively quiet week for the Galileo spacecraft. On Friday, the spacecraft performs standard maintenance on its propulsion systems. Other than that, playback of the data stored on the on-board tape recorder continues. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/12galileothisweek/

The Sun Does a Flip NASA Science News for February 15, 2001 NASA scientists who monitor the Sun say that our star's awesome magnetic field is flipping -- a sure sign that solar maximum is here. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast15feb_1.htm?list89800

I am waiting, not so patiently for the pictures the camera will send back from the asteroid. They had better success there than on Mars and this one wasn't intended to be.

I agree, Lucie!!! NEWSALERT: Friday, February 16, 2001 @ 1800 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ATLANTIS DEPARTS STATION AFTER FLAWLESS LAB DELIVERY ---------------------------------------------------- The shuttle Atlantis undocked from the international space station today, leaving the outpost behind with a new $1.4 billion laboratory module and some 3,000 pounds of equipment and supplies. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010216undock/index2.html See our status center coverage of the mission: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html CHANDRA FINDS MOST DISTANT X-RAY GALAXY CLUSTER ----------------------------------------------- The most distant X-ray cluster of galaxies yet has been found by astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. Approximately 10 billion light years from Earth, the cluster 3C294 is 40 percent farther than the next most distant X-ray galaxy cluster previously known. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/16chandra/ MARTIAN SEDIMENTARY ROCK FOUND IN UNLIKELY PLACE ------------------------------------------------ Although most of the best examples of layered sedimentary rock seen on Mars are found at equatorial and sub-tropical latitudes, a few locations seen at mid- and high-latitudes suggest that layered rocks are probably more common than we can actually see from orbit. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/16mgsspall/ FIRST CANADIAN ASTRONAUT GETS A PROMOTION ----------------------------------------- The Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the Canadian Space Agency has announced the appointment of astronaut Marc Garneau as Executive Vice-President of the CSA. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/16garneau/ LAUNCH SCHEDULE --------------- Keep up-to-date with planned space shuttle and rocket launches from around the globe with our Worldwide Launch Schedule page http://spaceflightnow.com/tracking/

SEMI-LIVE PICTURES FROM EROS ASTEROID http://near-mirror.boulder.swri.edu/iod/descent_image/image.jpg

Weekend Aurora Watch Space Weather News for Friday, Feb. 16, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com SOHO coronagraphs spotted a full-halo solar coronal mass ejection on Thursday that appears to be Earth-bound. The expanding cloud will likely reach our planet during the weekend and could trigger geomagnetic activity when it arrives. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for possible auroras. Meanwhile, in an unrelated development, NASA scientists say the Sun's enormous magnetic field is flipping! For more information please visit http://www.spaceweather.com

=========================================================== SKY & TELESCOPE'S NEWS BULLETIN - FEBRUARY 16, 2001 =========================================================== For images and Web links for these items, visit http://www.skypub.com =========================================================== "Astronomy: An Immersive Journey Through the Universe" is set of CD-ROMs that makes astronomy accessible to beginners and delivers the high accuracy required by serious astronomy enthusiasts. Use it to chart the positions of more than a million objects, take more than 60 expertly narrated tours, and enjoy thousands of graphics and photos. To order your copy for $29.95, visit Sky Publishing's online store (http://store.skypub.com/skypub/default.asp?links=REDAC) or call 800-253-0245. =========================================================== NEAR AND EROS MEET Although given no better than a 1-in-100 chance of survival, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft thumped onto the dusty, boulder-strewn surface of minor planet 433 Eros on Monday and lived to tell about it. The spacecraft continued to broadcast to Earth after touching down at an estimated 1.5 meters per second at 3:05 p.m. EST (20:05 Universal Time). As mission personnel looked on anxiously, NASA tracking stations in California and Spain continued to receive a low-power signal (but no data) after the first-ever landing on a small solar-system body. The landing sequence began about 4 hours earlier, as a rocket firing forced NEAR-Shoemaker out of its 35-kilometer-high orbit and sent it on a collision course with Eros. Four more rocket firings, beginning at altitude of 5 km, slowed the craft during its 47-minute freefall. Engineering data and altitude measurements showed that the spacecraft descended to the surface just as planned, perhaps bouncing once before settling down tipped to one side and resting on the corners of two solar-cell panels. The touchdown site is on the shoulder of Himeros, a broad depression in the southern hemisphere. NEAR Shoemaker's onboard camera radioed more than 50 pictures as the surface drew closer. The landscape looked smooth and dust-covered for the most part, peppered with myriad boulders ranging from house- to fist-size. But mission scientists were most surprised by the lack of small impacts. "We are absolutely amazed by the absence of small, fresh craters," exclaimed imaging-team leader Joseph Veverka, as well as by numerous shallow sinkhole-like depressions. The final frame, taken from a height of 125 m, showed an area 6 m wide and revealed details only about 1 centimeter across. NASA had intended to cease tracking the spacecraft on February 14th, when the mission was to officially end. However, since the spacecraft survived, it has been granted a reprieve as scientists try to glean more useful data from the probe. LIFE UNDER FROZEN MARTIAN LAKES? The Antarctic lake Vostok, has received much attention for being an analog to the Europan surface. Scientist believe that the lake, covered by nearly 4 kilometers of ice, closely resembled the proposed ocean on Jupiter's frozen moon. Both bodies of water seemed to have formed by geothermal heating, and because the ice above is so thick, both seas remained sealed from sunlight and air for millions of years. Thus, if life exists in Lake Vostok (drilling missions have yet to reach the liquid layer), it's plausible that life could also exist on Europa. However, scientists now believe that Vostok better resembles another planet suspected of once harboring life: Mars. Natalia Duxbury (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and her colleagues suggest that Vostok did not form by geothermal heating after all. Instead models of Vostok created by the researchers imply that the Antarctic lake was originally an open body of water that froze over between 5 and 30 million years ago. And as such, any life found inside the lake would be older than the Antarctic ice sheet. This model bares a striking resemblance to the red planet. The Martian north pole is known to be covered with ice. However, Mars's axial tilt has changed dramatically throughout the planet's lifetime and the current polar regions were once much warmer. Therefore it is easy to assume that sometime in Martian history, the poles, like Duxbury's model of Vostok, were once open bodies of water that later froze over. Assuming life was present while Vostok was an exposed lake, and assuming life is seen the lake today, it seems possible that if life existed in an ancient Martian polar lake, it may still be there too. The European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter, scheduled for launch in 2003, will examine the Martian poles for buried liquid water. A similar experiment will eventually be flown to Europa as well. Details of the study can be found in the January 25th Journal of Geophysical Research. PLUTO'S PALETTE REVEALED During the 1980s Pluto and its satellite Charon repeatedly passed in front of and behind one another as seen from Earth, a fortuitous series of "mutual events" whose light curves allowed astronomers to create crude maps of Pluto's surface. The maps showed that the half of Pluto facing Charon was distinctly pink with a broad, dark belt girding its midsection. Theorists surmised that the planet's equatorial zone contained reddish organic byproducts derived from the frosts of nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide that cover the adjacent brighter regions. However, when Eliot F. Young (Southwest Research Institute), Richard F. Binzel (MIT), and Colorado high-school student Keenan Crane analyzed four mutual events recorded in both blue and yellow light, they got an unexpected surprise: the dark band actually consists of separate blue and yellowish red regions. As the trio of researchers report in the January issue of Astronomical Journal, these variegations may indicate that bluish frosts are mixed with dark material in varying amounts or that the equatorial belt has received different amounts of heat and radiation to drive the organic reactions in the icy surface. COMET MCNAUGHT-HARTLEY HIGH IN HERCULES Comet McNaught-Hartley (C/1999 T1) is still moving north, reaching yet higher in the morning sky for the Northern Hemisphere. The 8th-magnitude comet rises around 11 p.m. for midnorthern latitudes and is an easy target for binoculars as it moves through Hercules this coming week. By the first light of dawn, the comet will be about 65 deg. above the eastern horizon. Here are positions for McNaught-Hartley for 0 hours Universal Time in 2000.0 coordinates: Date R.A. Dec. Feb 17 17h 06m +30.4 deg. Feb 19 17 12 +32.3 Feb 21 17 17 +34.1 Feb 23 17 22 +36.0 For details and a finder chart for the month of February, see the Special Sky Events page at http://www.skypub.com/sights/skyevents/0102skyevents.html . THIS WEEK'S "SKY AT A GLANCE" Some daily events in the changing sky, by the editors of Sky & Telescope. FEB. 18 -- SUNDAY * Some doorstep astronomy: This is the time of year when the bright constellation Orion stands at its highest in the south in early evening. Look for Orion's Belt, a diagonal row of three stars, in its middle. FEB. 19 -- MONDAY * Jupiter's Great Red Spot should cross Jupiter's central meridian (the imaginary line down the center of the planet's disk from pole to pole) around 11:01 p.m. EST. The "red" spot is currently very pale orange-tan. It should be visible for at least 50 minutes before and after in a good 4- or 6-inch telescope if the atmospheric seeing is sharp and steady. For a list of all predicted Red Spot transit times, see http://www.skypub.com/sights/moonplanets/redspot.html . * Jupiter's largest moon, Ganymede, casts its shadow on the planet from 9:42 to 11:55 p.m. EST. FEB. 20 -- TUESDAY * Mars is near Beta Scorpii this morning and Wednesday morning. Take a look with binoculars! In a telescope, Beta is revealed as a fine double star. FEB. 21 -- WEDNESDAY * More doorstep astronomy: Once you've found Orion and his Belt high in the south (see Sunday above), follow the line of the Belt to the lower left for about two fist-widths at arm's length to find brilliant Sirius. In the opposite direction, Orion's Belt points roughly to the group of bright Jupiter, yellow Saturn, and orange Aldebaran. FEB. 22 -- THURSDAY * Jupiter's Red Spot transits around 8:32 p.m. EST. FEB. 23 -- FRIDAY * New Moon (exact at 3:21 a.m. EST this morning). FEB. 24 -- SATURDAY * Shortly after sunset, look just above the western horizon, far below Venus, for the hairline crescent Moon. ============================ THIS WEEK'S PLANET ROUNDUP ============================ MERCURY is hidden deep in the glow of sunrise. VENUS is the brilliant object (magnitude -4.6) shining in the west during and after dusk. MARS (magnitude +0.6, in the head of Scorpius) rises around 1 a.m. and glows yellow-orange in the south before dawn. To its lower left is similarly-colored Antares. JUPITER and SATURN (magnitudes -2.4 and -0.2, respectively) shine brightly high in the southwest to west during evening. Jupiter is the brightest; yellowish Saturn is 8 degrees to Jupiter's lower right. To Jupiter's right are the Pleiades, and farther to Jupiter's left or upper left sparkles orange Aldebaran. URANUS and NEPTUNE are hidden in the glare of the Sun. PLUTO (magnitude 14; invisible without a large telescope) is in Ophiuchus in the southeast before dawn. (All descriptions that relate to the horizon or zenith -- including the words up, down, right, and left -- are written for the world's midnorthern latitudes. Descriptions that also depend on longitude are for North America. Eastern Standard Time, EST, equals Universal Time [GMT] minus 5 hours.) More celestial events, sky maps, and news of the world's astronomy research appear each month in SKY & TELESCOPE, the essential magazine of astronomy. See our enormous Web site and astronomy bookstore at http://www.skypub.com/. Clear skies!

Blazing Venus NASA Science News for February 20, 2001 Fiery Venus is a wonderful planet to look at, but you wouldn't want to live there! This is a good time to keep an eye on the second planet from the Sun as it approaches Earth and delivers a dazzling sky show. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast20feb_1.htm?list89800

NEWSALERT: Wednesday, February 21, 2001 @ 1612 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ATLANTIS TAKES DETOUR TO MOJAVE DESERT LANDING ---------------------------------------------- Running two days late, the shuttle Atlantis dropped out of a cloudy Mojave Desert sky and glided to a smooth landing Tuesday at Edwards Air Force Base to wrap up an extended space station assembly flight. (Includes video!) http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010220landing/ Read our call of the landing: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html RUSSIAN MIR SPACE STATION REACHES 15TH ANNIVERSARY -------------------------------------------------- The Mir space station marked its 15th anniversary in orbit on Tuesday, one day after the captains of the Russian space program defended their decision to deorbit the pioneering outpost. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010220anni/ RESEARCH DETERMINES HOW PLANTS TELL WHICH WAY IS UP --------------------------------------------------- Scientists are expanding the understanding of how gravity affects plant growth, which has implications for agriculture and space travel. Extended space missions will need to use plants and know how gravity affects the growth of plants. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/21plants/

Nature's Tiniest Space Junk NASA Science News for February 21, 2001 NASA scientists are using an experimental radar to monitor a swarm of space dust surrounding our planet -- cosmic junk that can pose an electrical hazard to satellites. Now anyone can listen to the radar echoes, live on the Internet! (This story also includes an unusual radar movie of a 2000 Leonid meteor.) FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast21feb_1.htm?list89800

Any news on the status of Mir, Marci?

Not yet other than it will take a different trajectory than originally planned! NEWSALERT: Friday, February 23, 2001 @ 1518 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now TITAN 4 ROCKET LAUNCH ON HOLD ----------------------------- Saturday's scheduled launch of an Air Force Titan 4B rocket from Cape Canaveral has been postponed due to a vehicle issue. Further details on the problem and when the launch might be rescheduled are expected later today. http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/b41/status.html We'll have a live video Webcast of launch: http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/b41/live_qt.html ASTEROID OR COMET BLAMED FOR MASS EXTINCTION -------------------------------------------- Earth's most severe mass extinction - an event 250 million years ago that wiped out 90 percent of all marine species and 70 percent of land vertebrates - was triggered by a collision with a comet or asteroid, according to new findings. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/23extinct/ COLUMBIA UNVEILING DELAYED -------------------------- The overhauled space shuttle Columbia is being kept inside Boeing's assembly plant in Palmdale, California, longer than planned today because of bad weather. After nearly a year-and-a-half of major modification and inspection work, Columbia is due for rollout today to be mounted atop a 747 carrier aircraft for the trek back to Kennedy Space Center. http://spaceflightnow.com SOHO WATCHES KAMIKAZE COMET AS IT PLUNGES INTO SUN -------------------------------------------------- A comet that fell into the Sun on February 7 was tracked by two different instruments on the ESA-NASA SOHO spacecraft, enabling scientists to characterize it quite precisely. This was just one of nearly 300 comets discovered by SOHO since 1996! http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/23soho/ SPACE STATION RESIDENTS TO TAKE WEEKEND GETAWAY ----------------------------------------------- The three-man Expedition One crew living aboard the international space station will depart the orbiting outpost for a short time Saturday to move their Soyuz capsule to a different docking port. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html NEW TELESCOPE MAKES BLACK HOLE DISCOVERY ---------------------------------------- Working independently, two teams of astronomers have used the new 6.5-meter telescope at the MMT Observatory on Mount Hopkins, Ariz., to discover a massive black hole -- the first ever found in the galactic halo, thousands of light years above the Milky Way galactic plane. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/23mmt/

The Great Moon Hoax NASA Science News for February 23, 2001 12:00:00 PM Yes, there really is a Moon hoax, but the prankster isn't NASA. Moon rocks and common sense prove Apollo astronauts really did visit the Moon. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast23feb_2.htm?list89800

Apocalypse Then NASA Science News for February 23, 2001 They say lightning never strikes twice. Well, how about asteroids? A violent collision with a space rock, like the one that doomed the dinosaurs, may have also caused our planet's greatest mass extinction 250 million years ago. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast23feb_1.htm?list89800

NEWSALERT: Saturday, February 24, 2001 @ 1114 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SPACE STATION RESIDENTS TAKE WEEKEND GETAWAY -------------------------------------------- The three-man Expedition One crew living aboard the international space station departed the orbiting outpost for a short time this morning to move their Soyuz capsule to a different docking port. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html See a graphic illustrating the flyaround: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a/010224flyaround/graphic.html NEAR MISSION EXTENDED THROUGH END OF THE MONTH ---------------------------------------------- NASA granted an additional four-day extension for the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) Shoemaker mission on Friday so that the spacecraft can return additional data from the surface of the asteroid Eros through the end of the month. http://spaceflightnow.com/near/010223extend/ Previous coverage of NEAR Shoemaker's landing: http://spaceflightnow.com/near/status.html TITAN 4 LAUNCH DELAYED FURTHER ------------------------------ Launch of the $455 million Titan 4B rocket carrying a $750 million Milstar military communications satellite has been pushed back to Tuesday at the earliest. The extra time is needed so technicians can further study and fix a problem with the rocket's telemetry system. http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/b41/status.html JOHNSON SPACE CENTER CHIEF GEORGE ABBEY OUSTED ---------------------------------------------- NASA announced late Friday that George Abbey, one of the most powerful and enigmatic figures in the space program, was being replaced as director of the Johnson Space Center. Abbey, who becomes a special advisor to the NASA Administrator, was ousted in the wake of huge cost overuns in the international space station program. Read the NASA news release: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/23abbey/

NEWSALERT: Monday, February 26, 2001 @ 1100 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now BRITISH GOVERNMENT RESPONDS TO NEO TASK FORCE --------------------------------------------- The British government issued a response Saturday to a task force report on the threat posed by near-Earth asteroids and comets, concurring with many of the recommendations in the report but promising little in the way of immediate, concrete action. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/26neo/ RUSSIANS LAUNCH SUPPLY SHIP FOR SPACE STATION ALPHA --------------------------------------------------- The Progress M-44 cargo freighter is bound for the international space station today after being propelled into orbit by a Russian Soyuz-U rocket. On Saturday, the three-man Expedition One departed the orbiting outpost for a short time to move their Soyuz capsule to a different docking port to make way for the Progress. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html CANADA STUDIES THIRD-GENERATION RADARSAT SATELLITE -------------------------------------------------- Work on the third Radarsat remote sensing satellite has officially gotten underway as the Canadian Space Agency issued a feasibility studies contract to MacDonald, Dettwiler, and Associates. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/26radarsat3/ GLITCH WITH TITAN 4 ROCKET RESOLVED, LAUNCH DATE SET ---------------------------------------------------- The Titan 4B rocket has been cleared for liftoff Tuesday with the Milstar communications satellite cargo, the Air Force announced Saturday after isolating and correcting a problem with the vehicle's first stage telemetry relay system. http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/b41/status.html GALAXY GROUPS SURVEYED BEYOND LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD ------------------------------------------------ In a cosmically short time, probably in a few billion years, our Milky Way galaxy will smash into the Andromeda galaxy. Pulled together by gravity, the two spiral galaxies will violently merge perhaps into another kind of galaxy, an elliptical galaxy. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/25groups/ HOW DID MATTER COME TO DOMINATE THE UNIVERSE? --------------------------------------------- The seemingly unremarkable fact that the universe is full of matter turns out to be something physicists can't quite account for. According to the big bang theory, equal amounts of matter and antimatter were created at the birth of the universe, but precious little antimatter is to be found in the universe today. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/25matter/

NEWSALERT: Tuesday, February 27, 2001 @ 1109 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now TITAN 4 ROCKET STANDS POISED FOR BLASTOFF TODAY --------------------------------------------------- There is $1.2 billion on the line today at Cape Canaveral where a powerful Titan 4B rocket awaits an afternoon launch carrying a crucial U.S. military communications satellite that will serve as a switchboard-in-the-sky. We will the most comprehensive live coverage throughout the day in our status center and Webcast. http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/b41/status.html Live streaming broadcast of the launch: http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/b41/live_qt.html NEW EVIDENCE FOUND TO SUGGEST ANCIENT MARS LIFE ----------------------------------------------- Crystals of the mineral magnetite, embedded within a famous Martian meteorite, have provided scientists with the latest evidence that primitive life once existed on Mars. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/27marslife/ GRISSOM 'FLIES' ONE LAST TIME AT CAPE CANAVERAL ----------------------------------------------- Lt. Col. Virgil "Gus" Grissom, one of America's first astronauts, will once again fly from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Grissom's "flight" is possible because the Air Force's Titan 4B rocket scheduled for launch today has been named "Gus" in honor of him. http://spaceflightnow.com/titan/b41/010226patch.html STRESS, CHAOS FORM SOLAR SYSTEM'S TALLEST MOUNTAINS --------------------------------------------------- Researchers studing images taken by the Galileo and Voyager spacecraft have found that enigmatic mountains on Jupiter's moon Io may be the combined result of heating, melting and tilting of giant blocks of crust. The moon has some of the tallest mountains in our solar system. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0102/27iomount/

NEWSALERT: Thursday, March 1, 2001 @ 1145 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NEAR SHOEMAKER PHONES HOME FOR THE LAST TIME -------------------------------------------- NASA's NEAR Shoemaker -- the intrepid space probe that provided the first intensive examination of an asteroid -- has finally reached the end of its five-year adventure. http://spaceflightnow.com/near/010228end/ STATION, SCIENCE SQUEEZED IN NASA BUDGET PROPOSAL ------------------------------------------------- President George W. Bush's 2002 budget proposal, released Wednesday, provides essentially no increase in funding for NASA while mandating serious reforms to the international space station and the cancellation of two planetary science missions. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/01budget/ HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SPOTS A GALAXY ON THE EDGE ------------------------------------------------- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has snapped this remarkable view of a perfectly "edge-on" galaxy. This new Hubble picture reveals with exquisite detail huge clouds of dust and gas extending along, as well as far above, the galaxy's main disk. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/01hubble/ JUPITER'S LARGEST MOON MAY BE A WET, SLUSHY PLACE ------------------------------------------------- Planetary scientists studying Jupiter's icy moon Ganymede have combined stereo images from the Galileo and Voyager missions and found provocative features on the moon. They have mapped long swathes of bright flat terrain that they think is evidence of water or slush that emerged one billion years or so ago. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/01ganymede/

Buck Rogers, Watch Out NASA researchers are studying insects and birds, and using so-called smart materials with uncanny properties to develop mindboggling new aircraft designs. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast01mar_1.htm?list89800

Sunspots and a Coronal Mass Ejection Space Weather News for March 2, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com SOLAR ACTIVITY: This week the face of the Sun looked remarkably blank as the sunspot number dropped to its lowest level in three months. But there's more to solar activity than sunspots! On February 28th a filament collapsed on the Sun and the eruption sent a coronal mass ejection toward Earth. The expanding cloud will likely reach our planet on Saturday, March 3rd, and trigger high latitude auroras. For more information about this and other space weather news, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com.

NEWSALERT: Friday, March 2, 2001 @ 1107 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NASA KILLS X-33 AND X-34 ------------------------ NASA announced Thursday that it would not provide any additional funding for the X-33 or X-34 launch vehicle technology demonstration programs, effectively killing both projects before either made its first flight. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/01x33/index2.html SETTING SAIL THROUGH SPACE -------------------------- The Planetary Society and Cosmos Studios are ready to test the first solar sail ever deployed in space later this year. Solar sails are seen by many space observers as the "wave of the future" that will revolutionize space flight as spacecraft travel beyond the solar system. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/02sail/ CALLING PIONEER 10 ------------------ The longest operating deep-space probe is getting at least one more chance for life as project managers have secured observation time with radio antennas to try to contact the spacecraft for the first time since last summer. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/02pioneer10/ RARE METEORITES REKINDLE SOLAR SYSTEM BIRTH DEBATE -------------------------------------------------- A new meteorite study is rekindling a scientific debate over the creation of our solar system. The study is based on the microscopic analysis of two rare meteorites recently discovered in Antarctica and Africa. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/02meteor/

NEWSALERT: Monday, March 5, 2001 @ 1348 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SHUTTLE DISCOVERY SET FOR SUNRISE LAUNCH THURSDAY ------------------------------------------------- The seven astronauts who will ride shuttle Discovery into space made a late-night arrival at Kennedy Space Center on Sunday as preparations remain on schedule to start the countdown today. The shuttle is poised for liftoff Thursday at 6:42 a.m. EST (1142 GMT). http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html STS-102 MISSION THEATER ----------------------- From countdown to touchdown we will provide the internet's most comprehensive video coverage of Discovery's mission to the International Space Station. Subscribe to the Mission Theater today! http://spaceflightnow.com/theater/theater.html VOLCANIC IO ERUPTS ------------------ Newly released images taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft captures a dynamic eruption at Tvashtar Catena, a chain of volcanic bowls on Jupiter's moon Io, and changes in the largest active field lava flows in the solar system, the Amirani flow. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/04ioerupt/ PLUTO MISSION CLINGS TO LIFE ---------------------------- NASA will continue to accept proposals for a mission to Pluto at the request of Congress despite a proposed budget that includes no funding for such a mission, agency officials confirmed Friday. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/03pluto/ DID COMETS WATER EARTH? ----------------------- A physics professor at the University of Iowa says that he has found new evidence to support his theory that the water in Earth's oceans arrived by way of small snow comets. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/05smallcomet/ EUROPE, JAPAN PLAN JOINT MARTIAN OBSERVATIONS --------------------------------------------- Japanese and European Mars orbiters will keep each other company once they arrive at the red planet in 2003 and 2004. A recent meeting between the Mars Express and Nozomi teams forged an agreement to work together once their respective probes arrive in Martian orbit. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/05marscoop/ COMMERCIAL SATELLITE TO SCAN ALL OF JAMAICA ------------------------------------------- Space Imaging has signed an agreement with the government of Jamaica to take 1-meter, high resolution satellite images with the orbiting Ikonos spacecraft of the entire country to be used by land-related and mapping agencies. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/04jamaica/ EUTELSAT LOOKS ACROSS ATLANTIC TO BUY NEW SATELLITE --------------------------------------------------- EUTELSAT, the 48-member European Satellite Telecommunications Organization, has signed a contract for a broadband communications satellite from Boeing Satellite Systems Inc. The satellite, to be known as e-BIRD, is a spin-stabilized Boeing 376 HP model. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/03ebird/ To Subscribe: mailto:newsalert-on@astrolists.com

NEWSALERT: Wednesday, March 7, 2001 @ 0327 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now DISCOVERY 'GO' FOR LAUNCH AMID STATION BUDGET TROUBLE ----------------------------------------------------- With the shuttle Discovery poised for launch Thursday on the next space station assembly mission, senior NASA managers Tuesday attempted to downplay the potential impact of a projected $4 billion budget shortfall, calling an expected down-sizing a "minor adjustment." http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010306iss/ COUNTDOWN ROLLS ON FOR THURSDAY'S SHUTTLE LAUNCH ------------------------------------------------ The trouble-free countdown continues at Kennedy Space Center for shuttle Discovery's sunrise blastoff Thursday. The weather forecast is generally favorable with the only concern being unseasonably cold temperatures. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010306count/ STS-102 MISSION THEATER ----------------------- From countdown to touchdown we will provide the internet's most comprehensive video coverage of Discovery's mission to the International Space Station. Subscribe to the Mission Theater today! http://spaceflightnow.com/theater/theater.html RUSSIA OFFERS MODULE, EXTRA SOYUZ CAPSULE TO PARTNERS ----------------------------------------------------- Russian Aviation and Space Agency, Rosaviacosmos, has endorsed the development of the first commercially operated module of the international space station in hopes of charging rent to its partners. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/06enterprise/ CHECKING ON AN OLD AND ACTIVE COMETARY FRIEND --------------------------------------------- When Comet Hale-Bopp passed through the inner solar system in early 1997, it was admired in the sky as a "classical" comet, with a bright head and an enormous, multi-colored tail. Now four years later, astronomers have captured new views of the comet. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/07halebopp/ CHANDRA SNAPS REMARKABLE IMAGE OF GALAXY GROUP ---------------------------------------------- A new Chandra image reveals great detail and complexity in the central region of the compact galaxy group known as HCG 62. Such galaxy groups, which contain fewer galaxies than the better-known galaxy clusters, are an important class of objects because they may serve as cosmic building blocks in the large-scale structure of the Universe. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/07chandra/ UNIQUE DOUBLE-HEADER AS TWO SHUTTLES GRACE CAPE SKIES ----------------------------------------------------- Space shuttles Atlantis and Columbia made it back to Florida's Space Coast on Monday after lengthy cross-country ferry flights from California, but there wasn't enough parking spots at Kennedy Space Center for both spaceplanes and their carrier aircraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/06ferryflights/ BOEING'S DIGITAL CINEMA READY FOR VIEWING ----------------------------------------- Boeing digital cinema, a capability that enables same-day delivery of digital media via satellite to multiple movie theaters, is ready for viewing. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/06cinema/

Digital cinema, wow. What clever cracker will be first to break this for home consumption?

NEWSALERT: Thursday, March 8, 2001 @ 0545 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NASA COUNTS DOWN TO DISCOVERY'S SUNRISE LAUNCH ---------------------------------------------- The shuttle Discovery has been fueled for blastoff today on a flight to deliver the international space station's second full-time crew and nearly five tons of supplies and equipment, including the lab's first suite of scientific experiments. We are providing continuous live coverage in our status center: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html Read our comprehensive mission preview: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010307preview/ STS-102 MISSION THEATER ----------------------- From countdown to touchdown we will provide the internet's most comprehensive video coverage of Discovery's mission to the International Space Station. Subscribe to the Mission Theater today! http://spaceflightnow.com/theater/theater.html HUBBLE SPIES HUGE CLUSTERS OF STARS FORMED IN ANCIENT CRASH ----------------------------------------------------------- Studying galactic interactions is like sifting through the forensic evidence at a crime scene. Astronomers wade through the debris of a violent encounter, collecting clues so they can reconstruct the celestial crime to determine when it happened. Take the case of M82, a small, nearby galaxy that long ago bumped into its larger neighbor, M81. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/08hubble/ MIR REENTRY TARGET DATE SET --------------------------- Russian space officials decided to postpone the deorbiting of the Mir space station to around March 20 to save the propellant onboard the Progress spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010308reentry/ ARIANESPACE TO LAUNCH FIRST ARIANE 5 ROCKET OF 2001 --------------------------------------------------- The Ariane 509 rocket was rolled to its South American launch pad Wednesday in final preparation for liftoff this evening to deliver European and Japanese telecommunications satellites into orbit. http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v140/status.html

The End is Mir NASA Science News for March 10, 2001 Space station Mir, the heaviest thing orbiting our planet other than the Moon itself, will return to Earth around March 20th. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast10mar_1.htm?list89800

NEWSALERT: Monday, March 12, 2001 @ 0703 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ITALIAN-MADE 'MOVING VAN' DOCKED TO SPACE STATION ------------------------------------------------- The Leonardo Multipurpose Logistics Module has been mounted to the international space station with its 9,993 pounds of equipment and experiments for the U.S. Destiny laboratory. The astronauts are slated to enter the $150 million pressurized module in a few hours, then start unpacking its contents on Monday night. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010312fd5/ MARATHON SPACEWALK SETS NEW ENDURANCE RECORD -------------------------------------------- In a marathon spacewalk marked by unexpected glitches and lost hardware, two astronauts mounted critical equipment on the hull of the international space station Sunday. The 8-hour 56-minute long excursion, was the longest in spacewalk U.S. history. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010311fd4/ DISCOVERY MAKES BELATED DOCKING WITH STATION -------------------------------------------- The shuttle Discovery glided to a delayed-but-successful docking with the international space station early Saturday to deliver the first of three new crew members after flight controllers finally managed to lock down a possibly free-swinging solar panel. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010310fd3/ STS-102 MISSION THEATER ----------------------- We are providing the internet's most comprehensive video coverage of Discovery's mission to the International Space Station, including multiple views of Thursday's launch, extraordinary onboard video, daily news conferences and the mission highlights. Subscribe to the Mission Theater today! http://spaceflightnow.com/theater/theater.html REPORT: CHINA PLANS FIRST MANNED MISSION NEXT YEAR -------------------------------------------------- China plans to launch its first astronauts in late 2002 following more unmanned test flights of the Shenzhou test capsule, according to Japanese news reports. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/11china/ TWO SPACECRAFT REVEAL NEW DETAILS OF JUPITER'S AURORA ----------------------------------------------------- Bright auroras on parts of Jupiter where those shimmering glows have not previously been seen appear in new images taken from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The research is part of a joint study with Cassini to examine how the aurora is affected by the solar wind. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/10jupaurora/ UNIVERSE PUT ON THE SCALES -------------------------- Only 35 percent of the Universe's contents is in the form of matter, according to new findings. The rest is believed to be in the form of 'dark energy'. This measurement, the most accurate to date, is based on data from 141,000 galaxies. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/10weigh/

NEWSALERT: Wednesday, March 14, 2001 @ 1921 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now VOLCANOES MAY HAVE PLAYED ROLE IN MARTIAN LIFE ---------------------------------------------- Two of the oldest volcanoes on Mars, which have been active for 3.5 billion years, are providing clues to the possibility of life on the planet, according to preliminary analysis by geologists of new data from the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/14marsvolcano/ STATION CREW ROTATION COMPLETE ------------------------------ Astronaut Susan Helms moved aboard the international space station today, completing the lab's first crew rotation and becoming the first woman to live aboard the outpost. The astronauts are ahead of schedule unloading the Leonardo cargo carrier. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010314fd7/ STS-102 MISSION THEATER ----------------------- We are providing the internet's most comprehensive video coverage of Discovery's mission to the International Space Station, including multiple views of liftoff, extraordinary cockpit launch video, daily news conferences and the mission highlights. Subscribe to the Mission Theater today! http://spaceflightnow.com/theater/ DEEP X-RAYS SHOW UNIVERSE TEEMING WITH BLACK HOLES -------------------------------------------------- For the first time, astronomers believe they have proof black holes of all sizes once ruled the universe. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory provided the deepest X-ray images ever recorded, and those pictures deliver a novel look at the past 12 billion years of black holes. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/14chandra/ ASTRONOMERS FIND MISSING TYPE OF QUASAR --------------------------------------- Astronomy's "most wanted" list shortened by one this week when researchers announced that they had spotted the first type II quasar, an object on the fringes of the known universe whose existence they had suspected for two decades. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/14quasar/

Home, Space Home NASA Science News for March 14, 2001 On the ground, the International Space Station would be an odd looking building -- but space is an odd place to live! Find out how space weather, orbital free fall, and the Space Shuttle's payload bay shapes the architecture of the ISS. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast14mar_1.htm?list89800

So Mir's going to crash somewhere in Australia. Will it land on the locale of Survivor?

What a thought - and could they have envisioned a more spectacular ending for the series?! Welcome Interference -- astronomers get a new tool in the hunt for planets NASA Science News for March 15, 2001 NASA scientists have combined starlight from the two largest telescopes on Earth to form an extraordinary optical interferometer -- a powerful tool in the search for planets outside the solar system. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast15mar_1.htm?list89800

NEWSALERT: Thursday, March 15, 2001 @ 1700 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now RUSSIANS REFINE PLAN FOR REENTRY OF SPACE STATION MIR ----------------------------------------------------- After weeks of uncertainty, Russian space officials have set the early hours of March 22 as the definitive target for the Mir's fiery reentry into Earth's atmosphere. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010314date/ SPACE STATION CARGO TRANSFER IN HIGH GEAR ----------------------------------------- The Discovery astronauts spent the day repacking the Leonardo cargo module with space station trash and discarded equipment while the lab's departing crew members briefed their replacements on the finer points of operating the growing outpost. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010315fd8/ NOW SHOWING: MORE THAN A DOZEN SHUTTLE LAUNCH VIEWS --------------------------------------------------- Spaceflight Now's STS-102 Mission Theater is now showing more than a dozen varied views of shuttle Discovery's spectacular sunrise blast off last week. Among the 50 other clips available, are daily reports and mission highlights. Subscribe to the Mission Theater today! http://spaceflightnow.com/theater/ VOLCANOES ON JOVIAN MOON IO TRY ERASING THEIR AGE ------------------------------------------------- The amount of lava gushing from individual volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io dwarfs earthly comparisons, and the pace at which lava is repainting Io's surface suggests a novel technique for determining the relative ages of surface regions there. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/15io/

I watched a little bit of Mission to Mars last night, have you seen this Marci? How accurate is this movies portrayal of the technology we'd actually use on a mission like this?

Propagation from ARRL Solar flux declined this week, having reached a short-term peak a week prior to Wednesday. But average daily solar flux and sunspot numbers were higher this week than last. Daily sunspot numbers reached a peak of 174 on Monday. This is the highest it has been since February 9, when it was 179, or January 23, when it was 178. Geomagnetic conditions have been quiet, with A indices in the single-digits. Quiet conditions should continue, although there is a possibility that sunspot group 9373, currently at the center of the solar disk oriented toward earth, could produce some solar flares on Thursday or Friday. You'll hear the results on the WWV reports a few days later if the K index rises above 3. Solar flux is expected to be around 135 on Friday and 130 for the following few days, then rise to around 145 on March 22-24. By comparison, a year ago the average sunspot number and solar flux reported in this bulletin (ARLP011) was respectively 193.4 and 194.9. Scott Craig has a revised version of his Solar Data Plotting Utility, which works with the data presented in this bulletin. The new version was released last week, and has a new feature which can connect to the internet and automatically download the solar data from an ARRL FTP site. His website is at http://www.craigcentral.com, and the software is at http://www.craigcentral.com/sol.htm. Next week is the spring equinox, with anticipated spring propagation conditions. 15 and 20 meters should be open later into the evening, with 20 meters possibly open all night. 10 meters should improve around the change of seasons, but will probably degrade for worldwide propagation as spring moves toward summer. Sunspot numbers for March 8 through 14 were 98, 113, 131, 139, 174, 110 and 159 with a mean of 132. 10.7 cm flux was 167.2, 161.4, 160.1, 157.8, 157.6, 147.3 and 142.2, with a mean of 156.2, and estimated planetary A indices were 6, 6, 5, 4, 10, 7 and 7 with a

List-Subscribe: NEWSALERT: Friday, March 16, 2001 @ 1854 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now DISCOVERY TO STAY AN EXTRA DAY AT SPACE STATION ----------------------------------------------- Mission managers have decided to extend Discovery's stay at the International Space Station by one day. Meanwhile, the station's first crew looks forward to homecoming, if not Earth's gravity. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010316fd9/ GALILEO GETS FINAL REPRIEVE BEFORE CRASH INTO JUPITER ----------------------------------------------------- The resilient Galileo spacecraft doesn't know when it call it quits. So, NASA has outlined the details of one last mission extension, which includes five more flybys of the Jovian moons before a final plunge into the crushing pressure of the giant planet's atmosphere. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/16galileo/ WALKER SAYS NO TO NASA ADMINISTRATOR JOB ---------------------------------------- A former Congressman who had been considered as a leading candidate to succeed Dan Goldin as NASA administrator said Thursday he has no interest in the position. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/16walker/ SEA LAUNCH TO LOFT RADIO RELAY SATELLITE SUNDAY ----------------------------------------------- The countdown got underway Thursday for Sea Launch's planned Sunday mission to place the first digital audio relay spacecraft into orbit for XM Satellite Radio, a company that aims to broadcast music, news and entertainment programming directly to cars across America starting this summer. http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/xm2/status.html TWIN TELESCOPES TEAM UP TO SHARPEN THEIR FOCUS ---------------------------------------------- The two largest telescopes in the world were linked together this week for the first time, a key step forward for efforts to directly observe extrasolar planets. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/16keck/ TWO ASTEROIDS GET IRISH TOUCH ----------------------------- Two asteroids have been given Irish names in time for St. Patrick's Day. Discovered in July 1987 by famed asteroid hunter and planetary astronomer Eleanor Helin, the asteroids have been officially christened by the International Astronomical Union and honor Irish contributions to astronomical research. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/16irish/ NOW SHOWING: MORE THAN A DOZEN SHUTTLE LAUNCH VIEWS --------------------------------------------------- Spaceflight Now's STS-102 Mission Theater is now showing more than a dozen varied views of shuttle Discovery's spectacular sunrise blast off last week. Among the 50 other clips available, are daily reports and mission highlights. Subscribe to the Mission Theater today! http://spaceflightnow.com/theater/

NEWSALERT: Monday, March 19, 2001 @ 0718 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now DISCOVERY DEPARTS THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ------------------------------------------------- The international space station's first commander formally turned the ship over to his replacement Sunday night, wishing the lab's second three-person crew good luck aboard the orbital outpost and urging them to "sail her well" during their four-and-a-half-month stay. Discovery then undocked to bring the Expedition One crew home. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010318fd12/ COMPUTER ISSUE RESOLVED AS MODULE RETURNS TO SHUTTLE ---------------------------------------------------- The Leonardo "moving van" was pulled away from the space station and returned to Discovery's payload bay Sunday morning after delivering five tons of equipment and supplies to the orbiting outpost. The move followed intensive troubleshooting to verify the health of the shuttle's flight computers. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010318fd11/ SATELLITE LAUNCHED TO BEAM DIGITAL RADIO ACROSS AMERICA ------------------------------------------------------- American motorists seeking something new from their car radios received a boost Sunday when a rocket launched from a platform in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and delivered a digital audio broadcasting satellite into orbit. http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/xm2/ Read our call of the countdown and launch: http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/xm2/status.html MIR VETERANS RECALL STATION'S GLORY, LAMENT ITS PASSING ------------------------------------------------------- As the shuttle and station crews wrapped up a quiet but productive day in space, four of the five Mir veterans on board reflected on the upcoming demise of the old Russian station, lamenting its passing but looking forward to the future. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010317fd10/ GROUND CONTROL PREPARES TO BOOST MIR'S POWER SUPPLY --------------------------------------------------- Russian mission controllers in Korolev plan to restart space station Mir's orientation system on Wednesday, or around 24 hours prior to the complex's scheduled deorbiting, officials said Friday. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010317control/ U.S. PROVIDES DATA TO RUSSIA FOR MIR SPLASHDOWN ----------------------------------------------- United States space specialists are providing Russian technicians with Mir space station positional data to help ensure the vehicle's safe splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010317usaf/ U.S. TO BUILD CONSTELLATION OF SATELLITES FOR TAIWAN ---------------------------------------------------- Taiwan has chosen Orbital Sciences to build a fleet of six microsatellites that aims to study Earth's atmosphere to aid scientists in weather and climate forecasting and ionosphere and gravity research fields. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/18rocsat/ To subscribe send email to newsalert-on@astrolists.com

Marcia, did you see the Wired article on the new rocket technology they want to use to send men to Mars, the propellant reaches a temperature of a million degrees and is contained by magnetic force. I think they said it could reach Mars in about 4 months. Pretty amazing.

No, but I will look for it and report back! Thanks! 2001 Mars Odyssey: Coming soon to a launch pad near you! NASA Science News for March 19, 2001 NASA's latest mission to Mars, an orbiter scheduled for launch on April 7, 2001, will seek out underground water-ice and explore space weather around the Red Planet -- and that's not all! FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast19mar_1.htm?list89800

Sprin5 , I searched Wired and subscribed to their news...could not find the article. Will look elsewhere but am most interested! Thanks for the Wired suggestion. I had forgotten it existed!

I actually read it in their magazine, I don't know if they carried it online. 140 days or so is a very fast trip to Mars considering current technology takes about 9 months.

That is truly incredible. I searched their site and weent back to the last century and did not find the article. I am sure more will be written about it, and when I find it, I will put it in here! Geomagnetic Storm Space Weather News for March 20, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com AURORA WATCH: A moderate geomagnetic storm that began Monday when a solar coronal mass ejection buffeted Earth's magnetic field shows no immediate signs of abating. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras after local nightfall. HERE COMES THE SUN: Another coronal mass ejection is heading our way. SOHO coronagraphs spotted a very faint CME on Monday that could arrive in the neighborhood of our planet on March 22nd or 23rd. For updates and more information please visit http://www.spaceweather.com

It's in the light green Jan 2001 Wired that says "Touch me all over" on the cover. Zip Drive! Building the Fast Track to Mars. Page 96. Aa rocket that runs on million degree plasma and could someday fuel a fast track trip to Mars. VASIMR - variable specific impulse magnetoplasma rocket.

Taco Bell is going to give us all free tacos if the Russians can hit a target with the re-entering Mir: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010320/sc/taco_bell_mir.html

Ok will look for the Wired article online...thanks, Terry! NEWSALERT: Tuesday, March 20, 2001 @ 0825 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now TITO CONTROVERSY HEATS UP ------------------------- In an escalating battle of wills, NASA is staging a news conference today to discuss its opposition to Russian plans for launching American millionaire Dennis Tito to the international space station next month as history's first space tourist. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/20tito/ Read NASA news release on Tito training: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/20tito/index2.html STORMY WEATHER THREATENS SPACE SHUTTLE'S HOMECOMING --------------------------------------------------- The Discovery astronauts tested the shuttle's re-entry systems late Monday and packed up for landing early Wednesday to bring the international space station's first crew back to Earth after 141 days in the weightlessness of space. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010320eom/ We will have live landing coverage: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html See a detailed entry timeline: http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/fdf/102entry.html FIRE ALARM SENDS STATION CREW SCRAMBLING ---------------------------------------- A fire alarm went off in the Destiny laboratory module of the international space station Monday. It turned out to be a false alarm, but it shut down ventilation systems, computers dropped off line and the station's new crew was unable to find the documentation needed to reactive critical systems. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010319falsealarm/ SPACE STATION MIR TO REMAIN ALOFT FOR AN EXTRA DAY -------------------------------------------------- Russian space officials have postponed the deorbiting of the Mir space station by 24 hours to Friday. The decision to delay the reentry was caused by lower than expected descent rate of the station in the upper atmosphere. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/010319date/ LOCKMART'S ATHENA ROCKET WELCOMED BACK AT NASA ---------------------------------------------- Lockheed Martin's Athena rocket, facing a very uncertain future after being left out of a NASA launch services contract two years ago, received favorable news from the space agency Monday. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/20athena/ STARDUST COMET PROBE'S VISION GETS FUZZY AGAIN ---------------------------------------------- In December, Stardust, the mission to Comet Wild 2 to capture dust particles and return them to Earth, cleared a coating that was clouding its camera optics by applying heat. Today, team members are investigating the reappearance of the coating, which is similar to the frost on a car windshield. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/20stardust/ ORBITAL PICKED TO BUILD THREE TV SATELLITES FOR PANAMSAT -------------------------------------------------------- PanAmSat has announced a new multi-spacecraft agreement with Orbital Sciences Corporation for the development of the next generation of Galaxy cable satellites. The contract solidifies Orbital as a major supplier in the world market for GEO communications satellites. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/20oscpas/

That %#*&%*# shuttle woke me up this morning at 2:30. I thought a tree had fallen on the house, it was so loud. When I got awake enough to start to think I realized what it was but the blasted thing raised me right up out of the bed. When it hits the earth's atmosphere it sounds like someone set off a pair of cannons in the back yard. This time it must have entered right over Polk county. Pleasant dreams.

Grumble grumbel - I'll trade you a few earthquakes and a volcanic eruption to hear that and watch a launch...*sighing with envy* Thanks for reporting! New Aurora Photos + A Geomagnetic Activity Alert Space Weather News for March 21, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com AURORA PHOTOS: The intensity of this week's strong geomagnetic storm surprised many forecasters. Nevertheless, quick-witted photographers around the world were able to capture beautiful photos of the aurora borealis. You can see some of the best images in our March 20th aurora gallery. GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY WARNING: Coronal mass ejections that left the Sun on March 19th and 20th could buffet Earth's magnetosphere before the weekend. Our planet may also be heading for an encounter with a solar wind stream. Together these events could trigger another round of geomagnetic activity. NEAR-EARTH ASTEROID: A newly-discovered asteroid will pass by Earth on March 23rd four and a half times farther away than the Moon. There's no danger of a collision, but the space rock (about the size of a football field) will be close enough for amateur astronomers to spy through properly-equipped telescopes. For more information please visit http://www.spaceweather.com

Staying Cool on the ISS NASA Science News for March 21, 2001 In a strange new world where hot air doesn't rise and heat doesn't conduct, the International Space Station's thermal control systems maintain a delicate balance between the deep-freeze of space and the Sun's blazing heat. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast21mar_1.htm?list89800

NEWSALERT: Thursday, March 22, 2001 @ 1650 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now FINAL HOURS COUNTING DOWN FOR SPACE STATION MIR ----------------------------------------------- The space station Mir -- a relic of the once grand Soviet space program that later served as a stepping stone to today's world cooperation in orbit -- is making its final laps around Earth. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/status.html STATION PIONEERS BACK ON EARTH AFTER HISTORIC VOYAGE ---------------------------------------------------- After a dramatic reversal of fortune, the shuttle Discovery dropped out of orbit and glided to a pre-dawn landing at the Kennedy Space Center Wednesday, bringing the international space station's first full-time crew back to Earth after a 141-day space odyssey. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage5a1/010321land/ NASA CONTINUES PROTESTING SPACE JOYRIDE OF DENNIS TITO ------------------------------------------------------ NASA managers vow to continue efforts to convince their Russian counterparts not to launch U.S. millionaire Dennis Tito to the international space station next month, saying the would-be space tourist has not been properly trained and represents a clear safety threat to the multi-billion-dollar station and its crew. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/20tito/ RUSSIA STANDS FIRM ON TITO; COSMONAUTS RESUME TRAINING ------------------------------------------------------ The Russian Aviation and Space Agency ordered the Russian Soyuz taxi crewmembers to resume training at the Johnson Space Center on Tuesday but remained adamant that Dennis Tito would fly with to the space station with or without NASA's consent. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/20tito/russianreax.html DEEP SPACE 1 PROBE LOADS UP FOR TREK TO COMET --------------------------------------------- NASA's Deep Space 1 spacecraft, sailing through the solar system today, has taken delivery of a new cargo: the latest software for its ambitious encounter with Comet Borrelly this September. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/21ds1/ BLINKING STAR EXPLAINS MYSTERY ABOARD GALILEO --------------------------------------------- When a star tracker on NASA's Galileo spacecraft temporarily lost a star being used as a reference point for monitoring the spacecraft's attitude, engineers suspected an aberration in the equipment, not in the star. After all, this particular star is one of the 50 brightest in the sky. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/22galblink/ X-RAY TELESCOPE PROVIDES WEALTH OF DATA ABOUT COMET --------------------------------------------------- Most of their time is spent frozen in the outer reaches of the solar system. But when these balls of ice and dust, which we know as comets, decide to make an appearance, the spectacle is often grandiose. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/22comet/ POLAR TELESCOPE SIGHTS FIRST HIGH-ENERGY NEUTRINOS -------------------------------------------------- A novel telescope, buried deep in the Antarctic ice at the South Pole, has become the first instrument to detect and track high-energy neutrinos from space, setting the stage for a new field of astronomy that promises a view of some of the most distant, enigmatic and violent phenomena in the universe. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/22polar/ NASA ASTROBIOLOGY INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES NEW TEAMS ----------------------------------------------- NASA has selected four new teams to become part of the agency's Astrobiology Institute (NAI), a national and international research consortium that studies the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life on Earth and in the universe. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/21astrobio/

NEWSALERT: Friday, March 23, 2001 @ 1624 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now MIR DIVES INTO PACIFIC ---------------------- The 15-year odyssey of the Russian space station Mir ended in an extraordinary fireball in Earth's atmosphere today. Fiery debris rained down on the South Pacific Ocean after a successful controlled reentry of the station. http://spaceflightnow.com/mir/status.html DELTA 2 ROCKET PICKED TO LAUNCH QUICKBIRD 2 SATELLITE ----------------------------------------------------- A commercial eye-in-the-sky with better vision than any other Earth imaging satellite will be lofted into space by a Boeing Delta 2 rocket this fall, officials announced Thursday. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/23quickbird2/ WHITE DWARFS SHED LIGHT ON DARK MATTER -------------------------------------- Some of the invisible "dark matter" that makes up most of the mass of our galaxy may be in the form of previously undetected white dwarf stars, astronomers reported this week. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/23darkmatter/ LAUNCH SCHEDULE UPDATES ----------------------- Our Worldwide Launch Schedule is updated regularly to reflect the latest news on human and unmanned rocket flights planned from spaceports around the globe. Today you can find out about newly announced delays for this June's space shuttle mission and the next two Titan 4 rocket launches. http://spaceflightnow.com/tracking/

---------------------------------------------------------- / PHYSICSWEB: E-mail alert \ (http://PhysicsWeb.org) ========================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------- | News ========================================================== * First sighting of dark matter: (22 Mar) Astronomers have seen dark matter directly for the first time. Ben Oppenheimer of the University of California at Berkeley and colleagues in the US and UK have discovered a new kind of white dwarf that could account for up to a third of the 'dark' matter in the Universe. The extremely dim burnt-out stars were found in the 'galactic halo' that surrounds the Milky Way. Oppenheimer's team believes they represent part of the invisible matter - proposed to exist 70 years ago - that binds together galaxies and galaxy clusters with its gravitational pull (B R Oppenheimer et al 2001 Science at press). [ http://PhysicsWeb.org/article/news/5/3/10 ] ----------------------------------------------------------

Beam it Down, Scotty! NASA Science News for March 23, 2001 Solar power collected in space and beamed to Earth could be an environmentally friendly solution to our planet's growing energy problems. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast23mar_1.htm?list89800

Cannibal Coronal Mass Ejections NASA Science News for March 27, 2001 Fast-moving solar eruptions that overtake and devour their slower-moving kin can trigger long-lasting geomagnetic storms --and dazzling auroras-- when they strike Earth's magnetosphere. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast27mar_1.htm?list89800

NEWSALERT: Tuesday, March 27, 2001 @ 0754 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NASA AND MILITARY CONTINUE SEARCH FOR MARS LANDER ------------------------------------------------- NASA said Monday that it would begin a joint review with a military mapping agency to investigate images that may have pinpointed the location for the lost Mars Polar Lander spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/27mpl/ NASA TESTS ROCKET MODEM USING GLOBALSTAR SATELLITES --------------------------------------------------- Imagine a day when self-diagnostic tools allow future rockets to phone home with vital information about their condition, location and performance. NASA engineers believe the technology could replace expensive ground systems, reducing the cost of space flight. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/25modem/ U.S. NAVY SATELLITE TO LAUNCH ATOP ATLAS 3 ROCKET ------------------------------------------------- Lockheed Martin's Atlas 3 rocket will be used to loft the U.S. Navy's eleventh satellite for the UHF Follow-On communications network, officials announced Monday. Scheduled for blastoff in 2003 from Cape Canaveral, the commercial mission will be managed under the auspices of International Launch Services. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/27atlas3uhf/ SPACE TELESCOPE USING MEMBRANES STUDIED --------------------------------------- Lockheed Martin has been contracted by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to conduct a study on a low-mass membrane telescope for NASA's New Millennium Program. The telescope concept would allow construction of an orbiting observatory with reduced weight and cost. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/26dart/ FINAL CREW MEMBERS NAMED TO HUBBLE OVERHAUL MISSION --------------------------------------------------- Three astronauts have been named to complete the STS-109 crew already in training for a mission that will feature five spacewalks to upgrade NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in late 2001. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/27sts109crew/ NASA NAMES FUTURE SPACE STATION EXPEDITION CREWS ------------------------------------------------ As the Expedition Two crew gets settled aboard the International Space Station, American crew members for future space station missions have begun formal training to meet launch dates, beginning in 2002. The 14 astronauts, six assigned to primary crews and eight assigned to backup crews. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/24expcrews/ MOVEMENT OF EARTH'S CRUST CAN BE DETECTED WITH GPS -------------------------------------------------- The same type of technology used by motorists to help them navigate city roadways can now be used to detect and measure the smallest movements in the Earth's crust, an international group of scientists has found. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/25gps/ TRW TO CONDUCT GOES-R WEATHER SATELLITE STUDY --------------------------------------------- TRW's weather systems business took another step forward with the award of a contract to study how to accommodate advanced sensors onto the next series of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites, starting with GOES-R, for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/27goesr/ VETERAN SATELLITE TESTBED GETS NEW LEASE ON LIFE ------------------------------------------------ A NASA experimental satellite that completed its mission to test futuristic communications technologies has been given to a university-led consortium for use in educational studies. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/24acts/ STUDENT EXPERIMENTS TO FLY HIGH THANKS TO NASA ---------------------------------------------- A NASA education program will give high school students from across the country the opportunity for their dreams to literally take flight when experiments designed by the students fly on either a Space Shuttle or sub-orbital rocket. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/24kidexp/ NEW NASA 'TRAFFIC LIGHT' ACCELERATES COMPUTERS ---------------------------------------------- A new "traffic light" for computers, originally developed by NASA scientists, offers the potential to increase their speed and efficiency by prioritizing computer programs. The Portable Batch System enables system administrators to specify the order in which individual programs should be processed. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/26comp/

QUICK SPACE - Detecting Planet Killers as a Sideline http://www.spacedaily.com/news/deepimpact-01c.html - Finding Your Own Cloud Nine http://www.spacedaily.com/news/future-01b.html - India In High-Stakes Bid To Join Global Satellite Launch Club http://www.spacedaily.com/news/india-01b.html - Home, Space Home http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-01m.html - NASA And NIMA Continue Joint Review Of Mars Polar Lander Search Analysis http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-polar99-01a.html - Engineering a Better Faster Risotto http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-01a.html - A Constellation Of Orbital Power http://www.spacedaily.com/news/ssp-01b.html - World's Largest Plasma Wind Tunnel Reaches Completion http://www.spacedaily.com/news/windtunnels-01a.html ------------------ HEADLINES IN BRIEF March 27, 2001 ---------- SPACEGUARD - Detecting Planet Killers as a Sideline http://www.spacedaily.com/news/deepimpact-01c.html Paris (ESA) March 27, 2001 - A 100 metre-wide space rock known as 2001 EC16 paid a passing visit to Earth's vicinity last Friday. As it swept by at a little over 1.7 million km from Earth - approximately four and a half lunar distances - the only people to pay it much attention were a dedicated band of astronomers. ---------- TECH SPACE - Finding Your Own Cloud Nine http://www.spacedaily.com/news/future-01b.html Pasadena - March 26, 2001 - In the continuous quest to find cost-effective methods to explore the planets, NASA engineers have risen to the occasion by developing a variety of new balloon methods inspired by centuries-old, solar-heated hot-air balloons, as well as by conventional helium light-gas balloons. ------------------- ADVERTISEMENT --------------------- The Door Is Open To Cutting Edge Technologies MSU TechLink can help your company develop strategic partnerships between Department of Defense laboratories and aerospace companies in the Northwest. Partnering with DoD will help leverage R&D investments and enhance commercialization opportunities. Visit Techlink Today -- http://techlink.msu.montana.edu/aero.html -- ------------------------------------------------------- --------- SPACEMART - India In High-Stakes Bid To Join Global Satellite Launch Club http://www.spacedaily.com/news/india-01b.html Sriharikota (AFP) March 27 - 2001 - India will make its bid for membership of the exclusive global club of commercial satellite launchers on Wednesday with the long-awaited maiden mission of its newly-developed delivery rocket. The blandly-named Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) is the most technologically challenging project so far undertaken by the Indian space programme and carries the hopes and aspirations of thousands of scientists, engineers and industrialists. ------------ STATION NEWS - Home, Space Home http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-01m.html Huntsville - March 27, 2001 - Homes on Earth provide shelter from the wind and rain. But a home in Earth orbit must shield its occupants from the solar wind, and it must withstand a steady rain of dust-sized meteoroids, many moving faster than a speeding bullet! --------- MARSDAILY - NASA And NIMA Continue Joint Review Of Mars Polar Lander Search Analysis http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-polar99-01a.html  Washington - March 26, 2001 - NASA and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) today said researchers from the two agencies will continue a joint review of the initial results of NIMA's search for the missing Mars Polar Lander. This analysis is extremely challenging, and has thus far produced no definitive conclusions. ------------- OPINION SPACE - Engineering a Better Faster Risotto http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-01a.html Herndon - March 27, 2001 - One of my nephews, due to circumstances beyond his control, ended up for a while in a very selective school. While he is blessed with many wonderful attributes, superior academic achievement isn't, and may not ever be, one of them. The faculty, quickly realizing this, spent an entire academic year not attempting to rescue him from drowning in academic quicksand, but rather figuring out how to get him to leave. ------- "SMALLER SATELLITES: BIGGER BUSINESS?" ------ Strasbourg will be the setting for the International Space University's 6th Annual Symposium. This year's theme will be small satellites with an emphasis on concepts, applications and markets. Join some of the world's leading experts, manufacturers and users in interdisciplinary presentations and discussions on a wide variety of issues pertaining to small satellites Strasbourg - May 21-23 - 2001 --------- http://www.isunet.edu/Symposium/ ---------- SPACEMART - A Constellation Of Orbital Power http://www.spacedaily.com/news/ssp-01b.html Huntsville - March 27, 2001 - It's December 2000 and the governor of California flips a switch illuminating the state Christmas tree on the capital lawn. Twenty minutes later, he orders aides to pull the plug. Why? Statewide power shortages. ---------- TECH SPACE - World's Largest Plasma Wind Tunnel Reaches Completion http://www.spacedaily.com/news/windtunnels-01a.html Paris (ESA) March 27, 2001 - On 13 March 2001 'wind-on' was achieved in the SCIROCCO Plasma Wind Tunnel. For the first time a 6200 degree Celsius hot air plasma, that is an ionized gas produced at extremely high temperatures and flowing at a speed of approximately 4 km per second, was generated in the newly constructed Italian arc jet test facility. ----------------------------- SPACEDAILY EXPRESS LIST NOTES -------------------------------------------- SpaceDaily Express is issued daily and lists all new postings to www.SpaceDaily.com Subscription is free: subscribe@spacer.com

Solar activity is on the rise... Space Weather News for March 27, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com SOLAR ACTIVITY: In recent days the Boulder sunspot number has rocketed to 339, its highest level since July 2000. At least one large sunspot group has a complex magnetic field that could harbor energy for powerful solar flares. Forecasters estimate a 20% chance of an X-class eruption during the next 24 hours. AURORA WATCH: An interplanetary shock wave buffeted Earth's magnetosphere Tuesday morning and another may be following close behind. A coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on March 25th will arrive late Tuesday or Wednesday and possibly trigger additional geomagnetic disturbances. In recent days Alaskan sky watchers have enjoyed some of the best auroras of the current solar cycle. Check out our gallery of aurora photos for the latest images. For more information and updates, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com

-------------------------------------------- SPACEDAILY EXPRESS - March 28, 2001 ** forward SpaceDaily Express to a friend ** -------------------------------------------- ----------- QUICK SPACE - What Should We Tell The Universe? http://www.spacedaily.com/news/outerplanets-01c.html - US and Taiwan Go COSMIC Over Atmospheric Studies http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cosmic-01a.html - TechLink Helps Companies in Northwest Blast Into AeroSpace http://www.spacedaily.com/news/techlink-01a.html - Staying Cool on the ISS http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-01n.html - When Will Television Invades Mars http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-general-01b.html - Can Liquid Water Still Exist On Mars http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-water-science-01e.html - Failure IS an Option http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-01b.html ------------------ HEADLINES IN BRIEF March 28, 2001 ------------- SPACE SCIENCE - What Should We Tell The Universe? http://www.spacedaily.com/news/outerplanets-01c.html Pasadena - March 28, 2001 - NASA's embattled mission to Pluto and the Kuiper belt isn't on firm ground at the moment, but it's far from being totally dead. Even if the project is officially terminated in the short term, the possibility of resurrecting this mission in the future has not been eliminated. --------- SPACEMART - US and Taiwan Go COSMIC Over Atmospheric Studies http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cosmic-01a.html Boulder - March 28, 2001 - COSMIC is a joint U.S.-Taiwan scientific project, with a goal to launch a constellation of six microsatellites to collect atmospheric sounding measurements. The scientific foundation for COSMIC is the radio occultation (limb sounding) technique developed by JPL and Stanford University in the late 1960s to study planetary atmospheres. - TechLink Helps Companies in Northwest Blast Into AeroSpace http://www.spacedaily.com/news/techlink-01a.html Bozeman - March 27, 2001 - The TechLink Center at Montana State University is helping companies throughout the Northwest establish productive technology development and commercialization partnerships with NASA, the Department of Defense (DoD), and other federal agencies. ------------ STATION NEWS - Staying Cool on the ISS http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-01n.html Huntsville - March 28, 2001 - The universe is a place of wide extremes: light, dark.. wet, dry.. air, vacuum.. hungry, fed. Human life tends to flourish in the balance. We feel most comfortable in places that are not too hot or too cold, not too light or too dark -- in other words, places that are "just right." --------- MARSDAILY - When Will Television Invades Mars http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-general-01b.html Miami - March 28, 2001 - If you like TV, you'll love the Mars Channel. Take your seats for the network premiere of interplanetary telly - Can Liquid Water Still Exist On Mars http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-water-science-01e.html Moffett Field - March 28, 2001 - In 1998, NASA's Associate Administrator Wesley Huntress, Jr., stated, "Wherever liquid water and chemical energy are found, there is life. There is no exception." ------------- OPINION SPACE - Failure IS an Option http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-01b.html Boise - March 28, 2001 - In the months since the twin failures of the Mars Polar Lander and the Mars Climate Orbiter, NASA has profoundly changed the manner in which it applies the "Faster, Better, Cheaper" philosophy of space exploration. --------------------------------- SPACEDAILY EXPRESS LIST NOTES -------------------------------------------- SpaceDaily Express is issued daily and lists all new postings to www.SpaceDaily.com Subscription is free: subscribe@spacer.com or remove@spacer.com ------------------------------------------------

The Lure of Hematite: Curious deposits of rust on Mars hint at ancient water NASA Science News for March 28, 2001 On rusty-red Mars, a curious deposit of gray-colored hematite (a mineral cousin of common household rust) could hold the key to the mystery of elusive Martian water. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast28mar_1.htm?list89800

NEWSALERT: Thursday, March 29, 2001 @ 0705 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now IRIDIUM SYSTEM COMPLETES ITS MIRACLE RESURRECTION ------------------------------------------------- Back from the brink of impending destruction, the reborn Iridium telephone satellite system relaunched commercial service Wednesday as the network's new owners prepare to debut data relay services via the orbiting constellation in June. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/29iridium/ LAST-SECOND ABORT GROUNDS FIRST FLIGHT OF INDIAN ROCKET ------------------------------------------------------- India's newest rocket was one second away from launch Wednesday on its inaugural flight when computers detected a malfunctioning engine and aborted the liftoff. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/28gslvd1/ TWO SPACE PROBES SEE GIANT PLUMES ON VOLCANIC MOON IO ----------------------------------------------------- Two tall volcanic plumes and the rings of red material they have deposited onto surrounding surface areas appear in images taken of Jupiter's moon Io by NASA's Galileo and Cassini spacecraft in late December 2000 and early January 2001. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/28galcassio/ MASSIVE INFANT STARS ROCK THEIR CRADLE -------------------------------------- A new Hubble image has helped to decipher the complex interplay of gas and radiation of a star-forming region in a nearby galaxy. The image graphically illustrates just how these massive stars sculpt their environment by generating powerful winds that alter the shape of the parent gaseous nebula. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/29hubble/ NEW SKIES SELECTS BOEING SATELLITE TO EXPAND FLEET -------------------------------------------------- New Skies Satellites N.V. has ordered from Boeing a power-house communications spacecraft with 88 transponders that will provide a wide-range of television, internet and multi-media services across North America. Sea Launch has been tapped to loft the craft in 2003. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/29nss8/ BOEING SATELLITE ARM PICKS SEA LAUNCH FOR SPACEWAY -------------------------------------------------- Boeing Satellite Systems on Wednesday announced that a pair of Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rockets will carry the two Spaceway broadband communications spacecraft into orbit in 2002 and 2003. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/29spaceway/ SCIENTISTS UNRAVEL THE KINKS IN SOLAR WAVES ------------------------------------------- Kinks in the Sun's magnetic field have puzzled scientists since they first started studying the solar wind, and now researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have found the reason: they are caused by the evolution of a type of magnetic wave called Alfven waves. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/29kinks/ AFTER LOFTING DESTINY, ASTRONAUTS VISIT WEST WING ------------------------------------------------- It was a Texas reunion of sorts at the White House Wednesday as the crew of STS-98 and their families got an opportunity to spend some time with the President of the United States. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/29sts98potus/ COLLIDING SOLAR ERUPTIONS PACK POWERFUL PUNCH --------------------------------------------- Fast-moving solar eruptions apparently overtake and often devour their slower kin. This discovery was made by a team of astronomers working with tandem NASA spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/28cme/ SBIRS HIGH PAYLOAD SUCCESSFULLY PASSES KEY TEST ----------------------------------------------- Senior leaders from the Air Force recently observed a key test sequence of hardware for the next-generation missile warning satellite system known as SBIRS at the Lockheed Martin Sunnyvale facility. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/28sbirs/ HORMONE MAY PREVENT BONE BEING LOST IN SPACE -------------------------------------------- The reality of long-term space travel is raising questions about how to deal with the impact of long-term weightlessness on the body. Researchers say that one of the destructive results -- accelerated and significant loss of bone density -- may be thwarted by a hormone secreted by the gut to help the body use food as fuel. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/28bone/

Massive Sunspot May Lead to Geomagnetic Storms The Sun has developed the largest sunspot seen in 10 years according to images from SOHO, a satellite that monitors the Sun. The size of this enormous spot is equivalent to the total surface area of 13 Earths. The sunspot region has already produced a coronal mass ejection and a powerful solar flare, and these are likely to lead to geomagnetic storms. The worldwide network of Magnetic Observatories operated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is monitoring the geomagnetic field that is expected to become quite disturbed as result of this solar activity. While geomagnetic storms give rise to the beautiful Northern lights, they can also pose a serious threat for commercial and military satellite operators, power companies, astronauts, and they can even shorten the life of oil pipelines in Alaska by increasing pipeline corrosion. Geomagnetic storms occur when plasma, a hot ionized gas of charged particles produced by eruptions on the Sun, impacts the Earth's magnetic field causing it to fluctuate wildly. These fluctuations cause currents to flow in conductors on the ground and in space. Solar eruptions can produce billions of tons of plasma traveling at speeds in excess of a million miles an hour. The first eruption should hit the Earth's magnetic field some time on Friday, March 30, and the second on Saturday. The geomagnetic field will likely become very active and there is a strong chance of Aurora sightings The USGS provides valuable geomagnetic data to a wide variety of users and organizations that are affected by geomagnetic storms. The agency operates a network of 14 magnetic observatories that continuously monitor the Earth's magnetic field. The data are collected in near-real time via satellite to a downlink center located in Golden, Colo., and provided to numerous customers including NOAA's Space Environment Center and the U.S. Air Force Space Command Center. Plots of the data from these observatories can be seen on-line at: http://geomag.usgs.gov/frames/plots.htm The SOHO satellite is operated jointly by the European Space Agency and NASA. As the nation's largest water, earth and biological science, and civilian mapping agency, the USGS works in cooperation with more than 2000 organizations across the country to provide reliable, impartial, scientific information to resource managers, planners, and other customers. This information is gathered in every state by USGS scientists to minimize the loss of life and property from natural disasters, to contribute to the conservation and the sound economic and physical development of the nation's natural resources, and to enhance the quality of life by monitoring water, biological, energy, and mineral resources. ### USGS ###

Back-to-School Time for Astrobiologists NASA Science News for March 30, 2001 NATO and NASA are joining forces to host an Advanced Study Institute for astrobiology in Crete, Sept 29-Oct 10, 2001. A diverse group of the world's most prominent scientists will share with students what they have learned lately about life in the Universe. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast30mar_1.htm?list89800

NEWSALERT: Saturday, March 31, 2001 @ 2029 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ALPHA CREW PROMISES WARM WELCOME FOR TITO ----------------------------------------- The space station's crew will welcome U.S. millionaire Dennis Tito aboard Alpha next month if the Russians proceed with plans to launch him - over NASA's objections - as part of mission to deliver a fresh Soyuz lifeboat. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage6a/010330briefing/ LARGEST SUNSPOT IN 10 YEARS BLAZES AWAY WITH ERUPTIONS ------------------------------------------------------ A huge sunspot over a dozen times larger than the surface area of the Earth and growing, has now rotated with the Sun to face our planet. The sunspot, which is the largest of the current solar cycle, is also the largest to appear in a decade. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/31sunspot/ FIRST BLACK HOLE DISCOVERED IN GALACTIC HALO -------------------------------------------- A professor at the University of Southampton is part of an international team which has discovered a stellar mass black hole -- the first ever found in our galactic halo. This region of space lies above and below the main spiral arms of our galaxy, thousands of light years above the Milky Way galactic plane. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/31galactichalo/ A NEW MARTIAN ODYSSEY IS ABOUT TO BEGIN --------------------------------------- With memories of recent back-to-back failures still painfully fresh, NASA is leaving no stone unturned to make sure the $305 million Mars Odyssey probe makes it safely into orbit around the Red Planet later this year. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch April 7 atop a Boeing Delta 2 rocket. http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d284/010330preview.html AIR FORCE MILSTAR 2 SATELLITE BEGINS ON-ORBIT TESTING ----------------------------------------------------- A combined MILSATCOM Joint Program Office/Lockheed Martin team has begun on-orbit testing of the first U.S. Air Force Milstar 2 communications satellite following the successful February 27 launch and activation of critical spacecraft systems. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/30milstar/ BOEING BOOKS ASTRA SATELLITE TO RIDE ARIANE 5 ROCKET ---------------------------------------------------- Arianespace, Boeing Satellite Systems and Societe Europeenne des Satellites (SES) have announced the signing of a contract to launch the Astra 3A telecommunications spacecraft on an Ariane 5 heavy-lift vehicle. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/30astra3a/ SBIRS FACILITY OPENS IN COLORADO -------------------------------- The Space and Missile Systems Center, Air Force Space Command and Lockheed Martin took a giant step toward building greater unity and teamwork as the Space Based Infrared Systems Combined Task Force opened Thursday at a ceremony in Boulder, Colo. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0103/30sbirs/ List-Subscribe:

A Record-Setting Solar Flare Space Weather News for April 3, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com The biggest sunspot of the current solar cycle unleashed the most powerful solar flare in at least 12 years yesterday. The "X17" class eruption blasted a coronal mass ejection into space and triggered an ongoing solar radiation storm around our planet. For details and updates please visit http://SpaceWeather.com .

NEWSALERT: Tuesday, April 3, 2001 @ 0512 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SUPERNOVA FOUND TO CONFIRM ACCELERATING UNIVERSE ------------------------------------------------ The serendipitous discovery of a distant supernova has confirmed that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate because of the presence of a pervasive, mysterious "dark energy," astronomers reported Monday. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/03supernova/ EXOTIC CO2 PROCESS MAY HAVE CARVED MARTIAN GULLIES -------------------------------------------------- Liquid carbon dioxide breakouts rather than water probably created the Martian gullies discovered last summer in high-resolution images from the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter camera, some scientists say. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/01co2gullies/ OBSERVATORY SEES VISTAS IN HEART OF ORION NEBULA ------------------------------------------------ A new astronomical instrument has been installed on the European Southern Observatory telescope at La Silla. It is well suited for studying the complex processes that take place in the innermost regions of star-forming clouds. Among the first images are some of the most penetrating, mid-infrared views ever obtained of the central region of the Orion Nebula. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/02orion/ NEW EXPLORERS: SELF-INFLATING SOLAR-HEATED BALLOONS --------------------------------------------------- In the continuous quest to find cost-effective methods to explore the planets, NASA engineers have risen to the occasion by developing a variety of new balloon methods inspired by centuries-old, solar-heated hot-air balloons, as well as by conventional helium light-gas balloons. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/03balloon/ COLD POLAR RINGS HELP FORM CLOUDS THAT DESTROY OZONE ---------------------------------------------------- Newly discovered, narrow rings of cold air over Earth's poles help form colorful clouds that destroy ozone, according to a new report. The ozone layer protects life on Earth from the sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation that could cause skin cancer in humans and biological damage to living things. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/02polarrings/ JUPITER RADIATION BELTS HARSHER THAN EXPECTED --------------------------------------------- New measurements from NASA's Cassini spacecraft indicate that any future spacecraft venturing very near Jupiter would be zapped by the radiation belts there even more severely than had been previously estimated. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/01jupbelts/ GALILEO CONTINUES REPLAY OF JOVIAN MOON DATA -------------------------------------------- There are no engineering activities scheduled this week, so the spacecraft can concentrate on playing back the data stored on the on-board tape recorder during its December flyby of Ganymede. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/03galileothisweek/ BOEING AND ALENIA SPAZIO SIGN TRADING AGREEMENT ----------------------------------------------- Officials from Boeing and Alenia Spazio signed an agreement whereby Boeing will purchase fuel tanks from Alenia Spazio for the upper stage of the Boeing Delta 2 launch vehicle. Alenia Spazio has agreed to purchase Delta launch services for its satellite program. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0104/02boeingalenia/

A Supernova Sheds Light on Dark Energy NASA Science News for April 3, 2001 A discovery by astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope supports the notion that the Universe is filled with a mysterious form of "dark energy" -- a possibility first proposed, then discarded, by Albert Einstein early in the last century. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast03apr_1.htm?list89800

Plumbing the Space Station NASA Science News for April 3, 2001 12:00:00 PM Nothing goes to waste on the International Space Station - nearly everything is recycled. What makes this ecologist's dream world work? Some of the fanciest plumbing in the solar system! FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast03apr_2.htm?list89800

Super-flare coronal mass ejection reaches Earth Space Weather News for April 4th 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com Monday's super solar flare hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space that was mainly -- but not entirely -- directed away from Earth. The edge of the expanding CME passed our planet at approximately 1500 UT (11 am EST) on April 4th. Sky watchers should be alert for auroras after local nightfall. Almost certainly, this geomagnetic storm will be less intense than the one on March 31st that spawned "Northern Lights" as far south as Mexico. Nevertheless, isolated severe storms are possible. Check SpaceWeather.com for details and updates.

Was Johnny Appleseed a Comet? NASA Science News for April 5, 2001 A new experiment suggests that comet impacts could have sowed the seeds of life on Earth billions of years ago. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast05apr_1.htm?list89800

Odyssey is on the way to Mars!