I heard something about the government building some kind of decontamination chamber for stuff coming from Mars missions ... heard anything about this?

Not yet. If it deals with space it goes from all over the world (Cannada, UK and USA) to my email to you..... will check and let you know ASAP. Interesting!

Where No Telescope Has Gone Before NASA Science News for June 7, 2001 Whenever astronomers see the sky for the first time in a new part of the electromagnetic spectrum, they inevitably spot something they didn't expect -- from black holes to pulsars to planet-forming disks, there's always a surprise. Now NASA astronomers have captured the first focused images of any astronomical object at hard x-ray wavelengths. The eye-opening advance will finally reveal what the hard x-ray sky looks like in crisp detail -- and perhaps uncover a new batch of astronomical wonders. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast07jun_1.htm?list89800

----------- QUICK SPACE - NASA Selects Two Pups For Pluto-Kuiper Tryouts http://www.spacedaily.com/news/outerplanets-01a.html - Boeing Outlines New Concepts For Air Traffic Management http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gps-01g.html - HESSI Solar Explorer Delayed In Wake Of Pegasus Failure http://www.spacedaily.com/news/hessi-01a.html - Iridium Launches Global Satellite Data and Internet Services http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iridium-01c.html - Congress Asked To Boost Funds For Anti-Missile Laser http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010607054732.1qlx2abn.html - MIT Researchers Seek Ocean On Jupiter's Moon Through Its Sounds http://www.spacedaily.com/news/jupiter-europa-01a.html - New Study Indicates Planet Formation May Be Rare In Universe http://www.spacedaily.com/news/extrasolar-01e.html - White House-Appointed Panel Confirms Global Warming http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010607063146.r83fb4ns.html - Korea High On Agenda For EU-US Summit In Sweden http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010605122041.40xub8ng.html - Space-Age Russian Pop Group Hopes To Rocket Up The Charts http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010605231901.r3bu5h5q.html

NEWSALERT: Thursday, June 7, 2001 @ 1302 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NASA SELECTS TWO PLUTO MISSION PROPOSALS ---------------------------------------- NASA announced Wednesday that it had chosen two proposals for a mission to Pluto for additional study despite the fact that no funds for such a mission exist in the agency's budget for next year. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/07pluto/ INVESTIGATORS NAMED TO PROBE X-43A LAUNCH FAILURE ------------------------------------------------- NASA has announced the five-person accident investigation panel that will determine what caused the Orbital Sciences Pegasus booster with the agency's X-43A aircraft to malfunction during a botched launch Saturday. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/06x43board/ SENATE REPORT SLAMS NASA MANAGEMENT PRACTICES --------------------------------------------- A Senate committee report released this week -- entitled "Government at the Brink" -- sharply criticized NASA's handling of key programs, calling it one of the worst examples of mismanagement in the entire federal government. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/07senate/ IRIDIUM LAUNCHES GLOBAL DATA, INTERNET SERVICES ----------------------------------------------- Iridium Satellite LLC announced Wednesday the commercial availability of its mobile satellite data services, including dial-up connectivity and direct-Internet connections. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/07iridium/ STAR FACTORY NEAR GALACTIC CENTER BATHED IN X-RAYS -------------------------------------------------- Near the crowded core of the Milky Way galaxy, where stars shine so brightly and plentifully that planets there would never experience nighttime, astronomers have found a new phenomenon: a cauldron of 60-million-degree gas enveloping a cluster of young stars. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/07chandra/ PIONEER 10 STATUS CHECK ----------------------- New data from the Geiger Tube Telescope instrument aboard NASA's Pioneer 10 space probe has been analyzed. The report is cosmic ray intensity has continued to decrease. The craft is currently 7.34 billion miles from Earth. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/07pioneer10/

NEWSALERT: Friday, June 8, 2001 @ 1612 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SPACEWALK OCCURS INSIDE SPACE STATION ALPHA ------------------------------------------- The first spacewalk staged from the international space station was successfully performed today as Russian cosmonaut Yuri Usachev and American astronaut Jim Voss manually repositioned a 150-pound, three-foot diameter docking mechanism. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/status.html ARIANE 4 LAUNCH DELAYED ----------------------- Arianespace scrubbed this morning's scheduled liftoff of an Ariane 4 rocket carrying the Intelsat 901 telecommunications satellite due to unfavorable high-altitude winds above the South American launch base. http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v141/status.html SHUTTLE LAUNCH DELAYED AMID STATION ARM MYSTERY ----------------------------------------------- NASA officials have again postponed the launch of space shuttle Atlantis on the next international space station construction mission while engineers struggle to understand problems with the outpost's new robotic arm. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage7a/010607newdelay/ SATURN'S CHANGING SEASONS ------------------------- Looming like a giant flying saucer in our outer solar system, Saturn puts on a show as the planet and its magnificent ring system nod majestically over the course of its 29-year journey around the Sun. These Hubble images, captured from 1996 to 2000, show Saturn's rings open up from just past edge-on to nearly fully open as it moves from autumn towards winter in its Northern Hemisphere. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/08saturn/ NASA GIVES OFFICIAL NOD TO ROBOTIC MISSION TO MERCURY ----------------------------------------------------- NASA has given the first Mercury orbiter mission the go-ahead to move into full-scale spacecraft development -- setting up the first trip to the Sun's closest neighbor in more than a generation. Launch of the MESSENGER probe is set for March 2004. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/08messenger/

NEWSALERT: Saturday, June 9, 2001 @ 1657 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ARIANE 4 ROCKET LAUNCHES NEW ERA FOR INTELSAT --------------------------------------------- A predawn launch of a European Ariane 4 rocket today delivered into space the first in a new series of communications satellites to beef up Intelsat's orbiting fleet with more powerful and higher capacity craft. http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v141/ Read our call of the countdown and launch: http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/v141/status.html NEXT PEGASUS ROCKET LAUNCH REMAINS GROUNDED ------------------------------------------- It will be June 20 at the earliest before NASA's HESSI solar imaging satellite is hauled into space by an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket as the investigation continues into last Saturday's X-43A launch failure, officials said Friday. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/08hessi/ NEW X-RAY WINDOW TO THE UNIVERSE IS OPENED ------------------------------------------ Using a telescope containing unique X-ray mirrors, a team from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., has obtained the world's first focused high-energy X-ray images of any astronomical object. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/09hardxrays/

SPACEDAILY EXPRESS - June 11, 2001 - sponsored by - APSC - Satellite Launching, Simplified http://www.apsc2orbit.com --------------------------------------------- ----------- QUICK SPACE - China Moves Towards New Generation Metsats http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-01zg.html - Recipe For Deep Space - 'Microwave At 1,100 Degree C For X years' http://www.spacedaily.com/news/fuel-01e.html - Protecting Biospheres Beyond Earth http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01q1.html - Mars Express Will Put Phobos In The Spotlight http://www.spacedaily.com/news/marsexpress-01b.html - Forget The Barbed Wire This Is Concrete http://www.spacedaily.com/news/materials-01o.html - US-EU summit a chance for Bush to estabish global credentials http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010611013211.3pr88hck.html - Bush Urges "Rouge" Rather Than "Cold War Mentality" http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010608195638.66xf2f2j.html - US plans "science-based solution" to global warming: official http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010610233111.dynnvnno.html - ISS set to receive new Russian module at year end http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010609135111.y1emrcwu.html - ISS crew to install docking system for new Russian module http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010608150014.uhgkz71u.html - Atlantis launch pushed back again http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010608140634.2vophp4a.html

NEWSALERT: Monday, June 11, 2001 @ 0254 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now EUROPE'S MARS EXPRESS WILL INVESTIGATE PHOBOS --------------------------------------------- Phobos, the tiny innermost moon of Mars, is to come under unprecedented scrutiny after Europe's mission to Mars goes into orbit around the Red Planet late in 2003. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/10phobos/ GOLDIN TELLS GRADUATES HUMANS ON MARS IN 20 YEARS ------------------------------------------------- NASA administrator Dan Goldin told graduates of one of the nation's leading universities Friday that humans would walk on Mars within the next 20 years. Goldin described the unofficial but widely-accepted long-term goal of the agency's human spaceflight program. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/10goldinmit/ X-RAY NOVA, PULSATING WHITE DWARF FOUND IN ANDROMEDA ---------------------------------------------------- In its first look at the Andromeda Galaxy, Europe's XMM satellite has revealed several unusual X-ray sources, including a bright spot created by an enormous X-ray nova outburst and one of the "coolest" sources of the central region that appears to be a luminous white dwarf. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/11whitedwarf/ WIND BUBBLE FOUND AROUND YOUNG SUPER STAR CLUSTER ------------------------------------------------- An international team of astronomers has detected a wind bubble associated with a super star cluster in a nearby galaxy -- a key indicator that helps explain how this extremely young cluster is evolving. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/11bubble/ ENGINEER BRINGS COST OF EXPERIMENTS DOWN TO EARTH ------------------------------------------------- A Purdue University engineer is saving NASA millions of dollars by devising a method to test a new type of solar-power system on Earth instead of in the ultra-expensive environment of space. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/11solarexperi/ GAMMA-RAY BURST REVEALS SECRETS OF HOST GALAXY ---------------------------------------------- Five years ago, astronomers knew almost nothing about gamma ray bursts. Now, a team of observers has used a gamma-ray burst as a powerful tool to unveil the nature of the galaxy in which it occurred, more than 7 billion light-years away. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/10hostgalaxy/ BRIGHTEST QUASARS INHABIT GALAXIES WITH STAR-FORMING GAS CLOUDS --------------------------------------------------------------- A team of scientists at the California Institute of Technology and the State University of New York at Stony Brook has found strong evidence that high-luminosity quasar activity in galaxy nuclei is linked to the presence of abundant interstellar gas and high rates of star formation. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/10brightquasars/

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Scientists Claim to Revive Alien Bacteria By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News May 10 � Italian researchers claim to have found conclusive evidence that life on Earth arrived from outer space. Bruno D'Argenio, a geologist working for the Italian National Research Council, and Giuseppe Geraci, professor of molecular biology at Naples University, identified and brought back to life extraterrestrial microorganisms lodged inside 4.5 billion-year-old meteorites kept at Naples' mineralogical museum. "When in contact with a physiological solution, they became visible and began to move," D'Argenio said while presenting the finding at the Italian Space Agency yesterday. The bacteria, called "cryms" (for crystal microbes) by the researchers, remained dormant for billions of years and survived extreme ambient conditions � a clear indication, according to the researchers, that "life can exist everywhere in the solar system, though in a quiescent state." Once brought back to life, the cryms were cloned by the researchers and their DNA analyzed. cointinued @ I can the National Inquirer Headline Aliens Cloned in Italian Lab!!!!

Yup, it HAS to Happen. At your grocer's check-out stand now!!! The Biggest Explosions in the Solar System NASA Science News for June 12, 2001 Solar flares have vexed astronomers since they were discovered nearly a century and a half ago. The powerful explosions do things we simply don't understand. NASA's upcoming HESSI mission might finally solve the riddle of flares by making x-ray and gamma-ray pictures of the eruptions. What we learn could have down-to-Earth benefits and shed light on mysterious happenings far outside the solar system. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast12jun_1.htm?list89800

SPACEDAILY EXPRESS - June 12, 2001 - sponsored by - APSC - Satellite Launching, Simplified http://www.apsc2orbit.com --------------------------------------------- ---------- QUICK SPACE - Space Insurance Goes Online http://www.spacedaily.com/news/internet-01k.html - Life's Rocky Road Between Worlds http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01r.html - Chinese Metsat Program Long March To Success http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-01zh.html - Engineer Brings Cost Of Experiments Down To Earth http://www.spacedaily.com/news/solarcell-01d.html - Japan stands by Kyoto Protocol in face of new US proposal http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010612065530.ci804ki3.html - Bush arrives in Europe to bridge growing differences http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010612083621.wae4czsg.html

----------- QUICK SPACE - Japan delays launch of two spy satellites http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010613070624.jpdugptm.html - S.African millionaire bidding to become second space tourist: report http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010612190719.qyesusbc.html - Newly-found meteorite may point to water under Martian surface http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010612160555.cs3jd2m3.html - Russia's military satellites no longer reliable: space chief http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010613121247.ycdlmfyu.html

NEWSALERT: Thursday, June 14, 2001 @ 0553 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now EVIDENCE FOUND FOR RECENT SHALLOW GROUND ICE ON MARS ---------------------------------------------------- New high-resolution images from Mars Global Surveyor show evidence of ground ice on Mars as recently as 10 million years ago. More striking is that the signs of geologically recent ground ice deposits are near the equator, where ice was probably no deeper than 15 feet. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/14marsice/ INVESTIGATORS PREPARE TO OK NEXT PEGASUS ROCKET LAUNCH ------------------------------------------------------ NASA's $85 million HESSI mission designed to study solar flares could be launched next Thursday if engineers can finish their investigation to prove the satellite's ride to space -- an Orbital Sciences Pegasus rocket -- is fit to fly. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/14hessi/ NASA SELECTS FIRST MARS SCOUT CONCEPTS FOR STUDY ------------------------------------------------ The ten most promising mission concepts of the 43 proposed to NASA for possible launch to Mars in 2007 were selected Wednesday for continued studies. The missions include networks of small landers, orbiting constellations of small craft and a rover that would attempt to establish absolute surface ages of rocks and soils. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/14marsscout/ BRIGHTER, REDDER MARS TO ILLUMINATE SUMMER NIGHTS ------------------------------------------------- Hold on to your hats and keep a pair of binoculars handy: After a 26-month sprint around the track of the solar system, we are about to lap Mars again. The red planet is in "opposition," an event that puts Earth between Mars and the Sun. And next week, Mars will be at its closest distance from Earth since 1988. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/14marsopp/ REPAIRED SOLAR SAIL NOW READY FOR TEST LAUNCH --------------------------------------------- A suborbital demonstration flight of a solar sail is back on track for launch after a botched test damaged the craft. With repairs completed, the mission is expected to occur this summer aboard a Russian Volna rocket launched from a submarine in the Barents Sea. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/13solarsail/ JUPITER'S AURORAE, VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS ON IO REVEALED ---------------------------------------------------- Impressive thermal-infrared images have been obtained of the giant planet Jupiter during tests at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. They show the full extent of the northern auroral ring and part of the southern aurora. A volcanic eruption was also imaged on Io, the very active inner Jovian moon. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/12irjup/ NEW STUDY STIRS OLD DEBATE ABOUT GALAXIES ----------------------------------------- Using a technique that peeks over obscuring rings of dust and gas and into the hearts of distant galaxies, a researcher has found evidence suggesting that as many as half of the bright, active galaxies known as Seyfert 2 galaxies may have significantly less active central black holes. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/13debate/ OTHER HEADLINES --------------- NEW FACILITY TO IMPROVE AIRBORNE TELESCOPE'S CLARITY http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/13sofia/ OBSERVATIONS SHOW BROWN DWARFS FORM LIKE STARS http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/12browndwarf/ THE 'INS AND OUTS' OF A CELESTIAL DANCE BY CLUSTER 2 http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/12clusterdance/

Wow, ice on Mars!

They've been seeing it for ages. Of its composition they were never certain. And, at the Martian equator, never! 15 feet (4 1/2 meters) thick, no less! I am most eager to know what they discover. Some planets in the solar system have methane ice. Not the sort you want in your summer cooler!

No I'll take regular ice in my iced tea, please.

I think I will join you in that! A sprig of fresh mint, too! NEWSALERT: Friday, June 15, 2001 @ 0554 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ROBOT ARM BUMPS INTO STATION, BUT PASSES KEY TEST ------------------------------------------------- American astronauts aboard the international space station gave the outpost's new robotic arm a thorough workout on Thursday by successfully rehearsing the job of installing a 12-ton airlock during the next planned shuttle visit. But the test started off with the arm's free end striking the station. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage7a/010614dryrun/ PROTON ROCKET NEARS LIFTOFF --------------------------- A new spacecraft for Europe's ASTRA direct-to-home TV and radio satellite system is ready to rocket into orbit aboard a commercial Russian Proton booster. Launch is planned for 0149 GMT Saturday (9:49 p.m. EDT Friday). http://spaceflightnow.com/proton/astra2c/status.html HIDDEN OCEANS ON EUROPA COULD STILL SUPPORT LIFE ------------------------------------------------ Could life thrive where the Sun never shines? The answer to this unorthodox question bears directly on the tantalizing possibility that life exists in the hidden, perpetually dark oceans that are thought to shroud some of Jupiter's moons, most prominently Europa. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/15europa/ PROBE TO TAKE 'FINGERPRINT' OF COMET NUCLEUS -------------------------------------------- Instruments aboard a spacecraft that will be launched next year to explore two, and perhaps three or more, comets in the solar system will for the first time provide a "fingerprint" of the surface of cometary nuclei, giving the first firm evidence of the composition of the icy, rocky objects. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/15contour/ EVIDENCE SUGGESTS ALL RADIO-LOUD QUASARS MAY BE BLAZARS ------------------------------------------------------- Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have found new evidence to suggest that all radio-loud quasars may be blazars -- and the differences between them may be related to the angle from which they are viewed. Quasars are quasi-stellar objects found in distant reaches of the universe and blazars are much brighter types of quasars. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/15blazars/

Wow, that proton rocket may mean that we can start getting satellite radios in our cars. I'm pretty happy with local stuff, local weather and talk shows, etc. but maybe they will develop more compleling contenet with the advent of csatellite radio.

I am simply delighted to listen to NPR finally. But access to any radio station on the internet would be awesome. Of course you have heard John Burnett on the Hilo radio station over the net. Imagine summoning wherever you wanted no matter where in the world you were! I like it!

NEWSALERT: Thursday, June 14, 2001 @ 0553 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now EVIDENCE FOUND FOR RECENT SHALLOW GROUND ICE ON MARS ---------------------------------------------------- New high-resolution images from Mars Global Surveyor show evidence of ground ice on Mars as recently as 10 million years ago. More striking is that the signs of geologically recent ground ice deposits are near the equator, where ice was probably no deeper than 15 feet. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/14marsice/ INVESTIGATORS PREPARE TO OK NEXT PEGASUS ROCKET LAUNCH ------------------------------------------------------ NASA's $85 million HESSI mission designed to study solar flares could be launched next Thursday if engineers can finish their investigation to prove the satellite's ride to space -- an Orbital Sciences Pegasus rocket -- is fit to fly. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/14hessi/ NASA SELECTS FIRST MARS SCOUT CONCEPTS FOR STUDY ------------------------------------------------ The ten most promising mission concepts of the 43 proposed to NASA for possible launch to Mars in 2007 were selected Wednesday for continued studies. The missions include networks of small landers, orbiting constellations of small craft and a rover that would attempt to establish absolute surface ages of rocks and soils. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/14marsscout/ BRIGHTER, REDDER MARS TO ILLUMINATE SUMMER NIGHTS ------------------------------------------------- Hold on to your hats and keep a pair of binoculars handy: After a 26-month sprint around the track of the solar system, we are about to lap Mars again. The red planet is in "opposition," an event that puts Earth between Mars and the Sun. And next week, Mars will be at its closest distance from Earth since 1988. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/14marsopp/ REPAIRED SOLAR SAIL NOW READY FOR TEST LAUNCH --------------------------------------------- A suborbital demonstration flight of a solar sail is back on track for launch after a botched test damaged the craft. With repairs completed, the mission is expected to occur this summer aboard a Russian Volna rocket launched from a submarine in the Barents Sea. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/13solarsail/ JUPITER'S AURORAE, VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS ON IO REVEALED ---------------------------------------------------- Impressive thermal-infrared images have been obtained of the giant planet Jupiter during tests at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. They show the full extent of the northern auroral ring and part of the southern aurora. A volcanic eruption was also imaged on Io, the very active inner Jovian moon. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/12irjup/ NEW STUDY STIRS OLD DEBATE ABOUT GALAXIES ----------------------------------------- Using a technique that peeks over obscuring rings of dust and gas and into the hearts of distant galaxies, a researcher has found evidence suggesting that as many as half of the bright, active galaxies known as Seyfert 2 galaxies may have significantly less active central black holes. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/13debate/ OTHER HEADLINES --------------- NEW FACILITY TO IMPROVE AIRBORNE TELESCOPE'S CLARITY http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/13sofia/ OBSERVATIONS SHOW BROWN DWARFS FORM LIKE STARS http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/12browndwarf/ THE 'INS AND OUTS' OF A CELESTIAL DANCE BY CLUSTER 2 http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/12clusterdance/

NEWSALERT: Monday, June 18, 2001 @ 0456 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ATLAS ROCKET TO PUT FIRST ICO SATELLITE INTO SPACE TONIGHT ---------------------------------------------------------- The foundation upon which the ICO global telephone and data relay satellite system will be built is awaiting a late-night liftoff atop a Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/ac156/status.html PROTON ADDS NEW CRAFT TO ASTRA SATELLITE SYSTEM ----------------------------------------------- A new broadcasting spacecraft was propelled into Earth orbit on Saturday to join the ASTRA direct-to-home TV satellite system serving over 87 million homes across Europe. http://spaceflightnow.com/proton/astra2c/status.html XMM-NEWTON OBSERVATORY PEERS INTO A STELLAR COFFIN -------------------------------------------------- Astronomy is a painstaking discipline, requiring time and patience. Yet once in while, a string of discoveries using different telescopes occur in the same domain, each following hot on the heels of one another. Now, XMM-Newton adds the latest chapter to the story of IC443, one of the most studied supernova remnants. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/17xmm/ VETERAN SPACE SHUTTLE COMMANDER RETIRES --------------------------------------- Four-time space shuttle flier Brian Duffy (Col., USAF) has retired from the astronaut corps to accept a senior management position at Lockheed Martin. Duffy also will retire from the U.S. Air Force at the end of June. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/16duffy/ TAURUS XL ROCKET WINS COMMERCIAL LAUNCH ORDER --------------------------------------------- Orbital Sciences has sold its first Taurus XL rocket, a more powerful version of the company's ground-launched vehicle. The mission will carry a Taiwanese remote sensing satellite into orbit in 2003 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/18rocsat2/ SPROUT WINGS AND FLY -------------------- Engineers at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center have been flying a deployable, inflatable wing technology demonstrator experiment using a radio controlled airplane. The project's number one flight research question: "will it fly as the wings deploy in flight?" http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/17inflate/ SPACE TECHNOLOGY IMPROVES VIEW OF GIANT TELESCOPE ------------------------------------------------- NASA engineers in Alabama have been climbing a Texas mountain for the past year to help astronomers reach deeper into space with the world's third-largest telescope at the McDonald Observatory on Mount Fowlkes. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/16msfcscope/

QUICK SPACE - UAV Stealth Plane Gets X Rating http://www.spacedaily.com/news/plane-x47a-01a.html - Global Hawk Production Ramps Up Begins http://www.spacedaily.com/news/uav-01g.html - The Aerover Blimp: The Ultimate All-terrain Vehicle http://www.spacedaily.com/news/ballon-01b.html - Tecstar Reclaims Technology Lead For Solar Cells http://www.spacedaily.com/news/solarcell-01e.html - Boeing-Built ICO Satellite Scheduled to Launch http://www.spacedaily.com/news/ico-01a.html - Thuraya Satellite Begins Commercial Mobile Phone Service http://www.spacedaily.com/news/thuraya-01b.html - Loral Skynet Offers Antenna-Seeding Program For Growing Cable Zone http://www.spacedaily.com/news/satellite-biz-01i.html - Hidden Oceans On Jupiter's Moons Could Support Life http://www.spacedaily.com/news/jupiter-europa-01b.html - Swiss geologists find Mars meteorite in the Sultanate of Oman http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-meteorite-01b.html - Xybernaut's Wearable Computers To Be Trialed For Mars Explorers http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-manned-01e.html - X-43A Mishap Investigation Update http://www.spacedaily.com/news/rlv-01o.html

Interplanetary shock wave triggers Northern Lights Space Weather News for June 19, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com AURORA YESTERDAY: A dense interplanetary shock wave buffeted Earth's magnetic field on Monday and lit up the midnight skies of North America with aurora borealis. Sky watchers saw the show despite the lengthening twilight of northern summer, which begins officially this Thursday. Visit spaceweather.com for images of the display. AURORA TODAY? Another solar wind disturbance swept past our planet on Tuesday; the impact might trigger renewed geomagnetic activity. Mid- and high-latitude sky watchers should be alert for (the slim chance of) auroras around local midnight. Visit http://SpaceWeather.com for more information and updates.

Eclipse Safari NASA Science News for June 19, 2001 On Thursday, June 21st, the Moon's shadow will race across southern Africa for the only total solar eclipse of 2001. Read this story to learn why eclipses happen, what animals do when the Moon's shadow sweeps by, and what astronomers hope to learn by observing the event. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast19jun_1.htm?list89800

NEWSALERT: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 @ 1707 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now PEGASUS LAUNCH OF HESSI POSTPONED INDEFINITELY ---------------------------------------------- NASA has halted plans to fly its HESSI solar probe aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus rocket until investigators determine what likely caused the botched X-43A launch earlier this month. When HESSI will be launched is unknown. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/19hessi/ ATLAS LAUNCHES FOUNDATION OF ICO SATELLITE SYSTEM ------------------------------------------------- The orbital assembly of a new wireless telephone and data relay satellite network began Tuesday when a Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS rocket successfully launched the cornerstone spacecraft for the ICO system. http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/ac156/ Read our call of the countdown and launch: http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/ac156/status.html XMM SNAPS STRIKING IMAGE OF STELLAR ACTIVITY, BLACK HOLE -------------------------------------------------------- Europe's orbiting XMM-Newton telescope has obtained one of the most striking ultraviolet pictures ever taken of the galaxy M81. Strong ultraviolet emission is a feature of star formation, supernova explosions and the accretion of matter by a supermassive black hole. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/20m81/ DEFROSTING MARTIAN SAND DUNES LOOK LIKE VEGETATION -------------------------------------------------- As winter gives way to spring in the Martian southern hemisphere, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor is observing the retreat of the south polar frost cap. One of the most aesthetically-pleasing aspects of the spring defrosting process is the pattern that is created on the sand dune fields. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/19dunes/ SOLAR NEUTRINO PROBLEM SOLVED ----------------------------- Data from an unusual underground observatory have helped scientists solve a key mystery about the Sun, but have in turn raised new questions about fundamental particle physics, scientists announced Monday. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/20sno/ THURAYA BEGINS COMMERCIAL SATELLITE PHONE SERVICE ------------------------------------------------- Thuraya -- the satellite-based regional mobile communications system -- has started rolling out its service with the ultimate goal of covering a region encompassing approximately 2.5 billion people in 100 countries across the Middle East, North and Central Africa, Europe, the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/19thuraya/

QUICK SPACE - Atlas Launches ICO Into Medium Earth Orbit http://www.spacedaily.com/news/ico-01b.html - Russia Plans Flyback Booster http://www.spacedaily.com/news/launcher-russia-01j.html - NSA certifies Iridium Security Module http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iridium-01d.html - Logicon To Supply Software For Missile Shield http://www.spacedaily.com/news/bmdo-01zj.html - Air Force Begins Independent Test Of SBIRS Ground Station http://www.spacedaily.com/news/sbirs-01d.html - NASA To 'Map' Big Bang Remnant To Study Early Universe http://www.spacedaily.com/news/map-01b.html - Planetary Hit-and-Run Among Creative Ideas Nudged by NASA http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-scouts-01a.html

QUICK SPACE - Australian Government To Fund New Indian Ocean Launch Center http://www.spacedaily.com/news/aust-01b.html - Vegetation Key to Accurate Climate Modeling http://www.spacedaily.com/news/climate-01h.html - Putin Warns Of Arms Buildup If US Drops Abm Treaty http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010623151328.a3wxqofv.html - AFA Conference Brings Space Stars Together http://www.spacedaily.com/news/milspace-01t.html - Future Army Could Run On Alternative Fuels http://www.spacedaily.com/news/future-01g.html - Boeing Delta-4 To Launch DSCS-3 A3 Satellite For US Air Force http://www.spacedaily.com/news/milspace-comms-01e.html - AeroAstro Reviews Malaysian SPORT http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanosat-01c.html - Radiation-Resistant Chips for Sturdier Satellites http://www.spacedaily.com/news/radiation-01h.html - What's Real, What's Science Fiction? http://www.spacedaily.com/news/robot-01c.html

NEWSALERT: Monday, June 25, 2001 @ 0130 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now TEMPERATURE MAP OF IO PRESENTS A PUZZLE --------------------------------------- Earth's tropics are hotter than the polar regions for a good reason, so scientists are puzzled that the same pattern doesn't show on Jupiter's moon Io. Powerful volcanoes and the previous day's sunshine warm the nighttime surface of Jupiter's moon Io, as seen in this image from NASA's Galileo spacecraft. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/24iomap/ EUROPA'S FROZEN SURFACE ----------------------- Europa, a moon of Jupiter, appears as a thick crescent in this enhanced-color image from NASA's Galileo spacecraft. Reddish linear features are some of the cracks and ridges, thousands of kilometers long, which are caused by the tides raised by the gravitational pull of Jupiter. Also visible are a few circular features, which are small impact craters. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/24europa/ COMPANIES USE AIR SHOW TO ANNOUNCE LAUNCH DEALS ----------------------------------------------- Arianespace, Boeing and International Launch Services announced a batch of new contracts last week at the Paris Air Show. Here are the three respective corporate releases describing the deals. ARIANE SIGNS 8 NEW LAUNCH CONTRACTS: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/25ariane/ BOEING/MELCO DEAL WORTH UP TO 6 DELTA 4s: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/25boeing/ ILS ATLAS 5 APPROVED BY INMARSAT VENTURES: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/25ils/ ROSETTA - A SPACECRAFT IN SEARCH OF PRISTINE MATTER --------------------------------------------------- In January 2003 the European spacecraft Rosetta is to launch on atop an Ariane 5 to comet "Wirtanen" in search of pristine matter. For a year, it will orbit this tailed star at a distance of one kilometer and explore it in detail. At the same time, a probe will land on the comet's surface for surface-science investigations and analysis. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/23rosetta/ UNIQUE LINK FOUND BETWEEN STELLAR DEATH AND BIRTH ------------------------------------------------- Astronomers from the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of California at Berkeley have discovered a key building block for new stars in the rapidly expanding remains of an ancient stellar explosion. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/23fuse/ ADOLESCENT INTERSTELLAR CLOUD SET FOR STAR FORMING -------------------------------------------------- Astronomers have discovered a highly unusual, massive interstellar cloud that appears poised to begin a burst of star formation. The cloud may be the first ever to be detected in the transition between atomic and molecular states. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/25cloud/ X-RAY VIEW OF A YOUNG PLANETARY NEBULA -------------------------------------- Chandra's image of NGC 7027 represents the first detection of X-rays from this young planetary nebula that is about 3,000 light years from Earth. A bubble of 3 million degree Celsius gas with a length about a hundred times that of our solar system is shown in the image. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/25chandra/ CELLULAR, MACROMOLECULAR BIOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH PROPOSALS PICKED ---------------------------------------------------------------- NASA has selected 43 researchers to receive grants totaling approximately $27 million over four years to conduct biotechnology research on Earth and in space. This research will create knowledge in important areas of biotechnology such as tissue engineering, gene expression and biosensor technology. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/24biotech/ ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: IT'S MORE THAN A MOVIE ----------------------------------------------- Engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory will talk about the real artificial intelligence work that takes place at NASA in a live webcast, scheduled for June 29, at 11 a.m. Pacific Time. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/23artintell/

A Meteor Shower This Week? Space Weather News for June 25, 2001 http://www.spaceweather.com METEOR SHOWER: On June 26th and 27th Earth will pass through the dusty debris trail of comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke, triggering the annual "June Bootid" meteor shower. Most years the June Bootids are meek: a typical shower consists of only a few visible meteors each hour -- but not always. In 1998 sky watchers enjoyed an intense Bootid outburst. What will happen this year? No one knows, but meteor enthusiasts will be watching the heavens for a possible flurry of shooting stars. Tune in to SpaceWeather.com for observing tips and more information about the shower. And don't forget to try listening to the June Bootids using our online meteor radar. SOLAR ECLIPSE: SpaceWeather.com's growing gallery of images from last week's solar eclipse now includes sounds as well. Listen to audio clips that reveal the excited reactions of onlookers before and during totality. Visit http://SpaceWeather.com

What's up with the decimated ham radio satellite? Any more news on this? The guys on the 442.475 repeater were bemoaning the fact that some super cold liquid may have leaked and jammed up most of the communications gear.

This is the last I heard from them: seeks 80-meter bulletin reports A change has been made to the 80-meter bulletin antenna system. W1AW is requesting from amateurs who listen to the 80-meter transmissions send in signal reports. Please note QTH, time of reception, mode, signal strength and quality. Use of the standard RST system is acceptable. Mail your report on a postcard to W1AW 80-meter reports, 225 Main Street, Newington, Connecticut, 06111. Email reports may be sent to w1aw@arrl.org. The complete W1AW Operating Schedule appears in July QST, page 105, or on the web at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw.html .

All the World's a Stage ... for Dust NASA Science News for June 26, 2001 Tune in to a NASA website and watch giant dust clouds as they ride global rivers of air, cross-pollinating continents with topsoil and microbes. This story includes movies of an African dust cloud blowing westward to North America in June. It also addresses questions like: Where does topsoil for Caribbean islands come from? And, are sneezes in Florida triggered by allergens from other continents? The answers may surprise you! FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast26jun_1.htm?list89800

----------- QUICK SPACE - Ringing Out The Bugs On Route To Saturn And Titan http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cassini-01g1.html - US May Still Decide Against Missile Defense: Russian Minister http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010625140642.et8cy2ut.html - Taiwan Secretly Developing Cruise Missile: Report http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010626063827.gjvjk3z4.html - Georgia Supports US Missile Defence Shunning Russian Concerns http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010625150543.m1yzqpsh.html - Chinese Scientists Gravitate Towards African Solar Eclipse http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-01zi.html - Cluster's Whispers Probe The Electrifying Plasmasphere http://www.spacedaily.com/news/cluster2-01b.html - Rime of the ancient Mariner: NASA looks back to Mercury http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010625113444.hjxemcxr.html - Refining Estimates For The North American Carbon Sink http://www.spacedaily.com/news/greenhouse-01p.html - German Government, Energy Bosses Agree To C02 Emission Cut http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010625160336.rcbrap9j.html - Telesat Increases Equity Stake In Wildblue http://www.spacedaily.com/news/internet-01m.html

Spacedaily Express - June 27, 2001 QUICK SPACE - NASA-Tito Discord Over Space Tourism Remains http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010627013535.rme0do06.html - SEAKR Offers Compact Flash Memory Pak For Space Applications http://www.spacedaily.com/news/space-electronics-01g.html - Space Probe To Glimpse Infancy Of The Universe http://www.spacedaily.com/news/map-01c.html - New Solar-Powered Hyperion Robot Stays In Sync With The Sun http://www.spacedaily.com/news/robot-01d.html - China Kicks Off World Space Week 2001 Promo Campaign http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-01zj.html - Russia Under Greater Threat From Missile Attack Than US: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010626131926.pf3wy6bv.html - Nuke Sub Missiles Notch Up Three More Successful Tests http://www.spacedaily.com/news/icbm-01h.html - Taiwan Secretly Developing Cruise Missile http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010626063827.gjvjk3z4.html - El Nino Link To Southern Ocean Currents http://www.spacedaily.com/news/pacific-01b.html - Japan, US To Develop Technology To Cut CO2 Emissions http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010627043220.x5odpsdz.html - G8 leaders to be unwitting participants in WWF campaign http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010626190948.el2o0x1c.html - Kyoto rescue effort runs into money problems http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010626162759.e3m4nq2q.html

Satellite snaps 'before' and 'after' photos of tornado path NEWSALERT: Wednesday, June 27, 2001 @ 0455 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now SATELLITE IMAGES TELL TALE OF WISCONSIN TORNADO ----------------------------------------------- The morning after the northwestern Wisconsin town of Siren was leveled by a devastating tornado, the federal Landsat-7 satellite captured its destructive path from space. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/27tornado/ 'GRACE TWINS' TO INVESTIGATE THE EARTH SYSTEM --------------------------------------------- The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellite duo is being prepared for launch to carry out gravimetric measurements of the Earth with an unprecedented accuracy, allowing for detection of minor changes in the gravity field caused by the circulating magma in the planet's interior, melting glaciers or changing ocean currents. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/27grace/ CLUSTER'S WHISPERS PROBE ELECTRIFYING PLASMASPHERE -------------------------------------------------- An astronaut who exits a spacecraft without a spacesuit will die very quickly because there is no air to breathe. However, although space is often regarded as an airless vacuum, it is by no means empty. Spacecraft such as Cluster are built to detect and study the sparse 'soup' of electrified plasma that populates near-Earth space. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/27cluster2/ INTERSPUTNIK REPORTS FAILURE OF EXPRESS-2 SATELLITE --------------------------------------------------- The Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications announced Monday that the Express-2 satellite had undergone an emergency de-activation as a result of technical problems with its Earth-orientation system. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/26express2/ SOLAR CONJUNCTION COMING TO END FOR GALILEO ------------------------------------------- This week the Galileo spacecraft peeks back out from behind the Sun. For about the last three weeks, Jupiter, with Galileo in orbit around it, has been blocked from view by the Sun. During this period of solar conjunction, the radio signal from the spacecraft must pass through the turbulent atmosphere of the Sun. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/26galileothisweek/ ESA AWARDS GIANT CONTRACT FOR NEW ASTRONOMY SATELLITES ------------------------------------------------------ The largest contract ever in the history of European space astronomy has been awarded by ESA to an industrial consortium led by Alcatel Space Industries for the manufacture of two astronomy satellites, the Herschel Space Observatory and Planck. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/26esaaward/ BOEING DELTA 4 TO LAUNCH DSCS-3 A3 FOR USAF ------------------------------------------- Boeing officials have announced that the U.S. Air Force has assigned a second launch of a Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) satellite aboard a Boeing Delta 4 rocket. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/26dscs3a3/

don't forget the meteor shower, look out west and don't forget mars in the southern sky. the meteor shower is supposed to last a week (through Jul 2). get comfy and watch the sky!

Yup, I posted it on 24 ..... thanks for the reminder. Go out, look and enjoy then come back to report your sightings!

QUICK SPACE - .COM for Satellite Control Center Automation? http://www.spacedaily.com/news/industry-01a.html - DirecTV Shuts Down Satellite Pirates http://www.spacedaily.com/news/satellite-biz-01j.html - Boeing Rocketdyne RS-68 First Flight Engine Go for Launch http://www.spacedaily.com/news/delta4-01j.html - The Goldilocks Effect: How Other Earths Form Just Right http://www.spacedaily.com/news/early-earth-01e.html - Where There's Soup, There's Life http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01w.html - Rare Orbital Anomaly May Have Caused Global Cooling http://www.spacedaily.com/news/greenhouse-01q.html - Subglacial Volcanoes On Mars http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-volcano-01b.html - Russia To Bring Space Shuttle Back From The Grave http://www.spacedaily.com/news/russia-space-general-01m.html - My Way or the SKYway http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tourism-01y.html - Russia Test Launches RS-18 ICBM http://www.spacedaily.com/news/icbm-01i.html

i was too sleepy to catch them last night plus we were rather overcast. sooooo....am gonna try again tonight. will let you know what i see.

Look for the comet, as well!!!

comet? it was overcast again last night *frown* but i think i accidentally saw mars! is it slightly orange? (no, it's not the sun!!)

Mars is very orane compared with other things in the nigth sky. I am hoping tonight will be my turn to see it. Yup, Comet Linear. Go take a look at the Sky and Telescope page I posted yesterday - or see below! COMET LINEAR HEADING INTO NORTHERN SKIES Northern Hemisphere observers should finally get a peek at Comet LINEAR (C/2001 A2) later this week as it quickly moves through Cetus. The comet was closest to the Sun on May 24th, but will be closest to the Earth on June 30th (37 million kilometers). Observers at midnorthern latitudes will see the comet climb higher above the east-southeast horizon each morning. By the end of the week, Comet LINEAR should be 10 to 25 deg. high (depending on your latitude) by the first hints of dawn. LINEAR has faded a little since reaching 3rd magnitude last week, but it remains a naked-eye object. In a week's time, however, the comet could fade even more or have yet another outburst. The comet remains high in the morning sky for Southern Hemisphere observers, where it will be more than halfway to the zenith in the eastern sky before dawn. Here are coordinates for Comet LINEAR for 0 hours Universal Time (in 2000.0 coordinates) for the coming week: R.A. Dec. Jun 23 2h 12m -17.8 deg. 25 1 50 -15.0 27 1 27 -11.9 29 1 04 - 8.5

Wandering Mystery Planets NASA Science News for June 29, 2001 The word 'planet' comes from the Greek word 'wanderer,' but the planets in our solar system aren't true nomads. They stay close to home, always circling the Sun. This week scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope may have discovered a class of genuine planetary wanderers. It seems that mysterious objects smaller than Jupiter are running loose in globular cluster M22! Are they planets? No one knows, but astronomers are planning to find out. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast29jun_1.htm?list89800

----------- QUICK SPACE - Europe Steps Up Satellite Piracy Crackdown http://www.spacedaily.com/news/satellite-biz-01k.html - XM Radio Birds Operating Perfectly http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01t.html - AsiaSat and Telstra link to stream broadband services to Australia http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010628055513.oso6ra9u.html - Venus Holds Clues To Finding Earth's Platinum And Diamonds http://www.spacedaily.com/news/venus-01b.html - Russia, US to discuss missile defense row in coming days http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010628220024.dapgh4fe.html - Common Ground Sought for Nuclear Security in 21st Century http://www.spacedaily.com/news/icbm-01j.html - Iridium Beefs Asia Pacific Push http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iridium-01e.html - Mass Extinction At The Triassic-Jurassic Boundary http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01t.html - Did A Disturbance In The "Force" Caused The K-T Impact? http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01u.html - How Trees Changed The World http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01v.html - Unlocking The Mystery Of Recurring Sea Ice Holes http://www.spacedaily.com/news/antarctic-01d.html - UN climate talks show big gaps, storm over US, Japan http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010628203836.vsajplp4.html - Britain's BNFL eagerly anticipates nuclear power "renaissance" http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010628115256.m4lnqbjs.html

NEWSALERT: Friday, June 29, 2001 @ 0637 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now NASA NAMES THE LAUNCH DAY FOR SHUTTLE ATLANTIS ---------------------------------------------- NASA officials gathered on Thursday for the traditional Flight Readiness Review and affirmed July 12 as the launch date for Atlantis' 11-day mission to deliver the Joint Airlock to the international space station. Liftoff is planned for 5:04 a.m. EDT (0904 GMT). http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage7a/010628frr/ HINTS OF PLANET-SIZED DRIFTERS BEWILDER SCIENTISTS -------------------------------------------------- Piercing the heart of a globular star cluster with its needle-sharp vision, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered tantalizing clues to what could potentially be a strange and unexpected population of wandering, planet-sized objects. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/27hubble/ NASA'S MAP PROBE SET FOR WEEKEND LAUNCH --------------------------------------- Boeing's Delta 2 rocket is slated for launch Saturday to propel a NASA spacecraft on a journey to detect the afterglow of the Big Bang, which scientists hope will shed light on age-old questions about the content, shape, history and the ultimate fate of the universe. http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d286/status.html SPACE TOURISM HEARING TURNS INTO STATION DEBATE ----------------------------------------------- A Congressional hearing on the nascent space tourism industry Tuesday turned into a debate between Dennis Tito and a NASA official regarding how many people the International Space Station can accommodate. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/27tourism/ CANADA BUYS LOCKHEED MARTIN SATELLITE AND LAUNCH ------------------------------------------------ Telesat Canada has bought a new direct-to-home TV broadcasting satellite and a rocket to launch the craft from Lockheed Martin. The Nimiq 2 spacecraft is due for liftoff from Cape Canaveral atop an Atlas 5 booster in the fourth quarter of 2002. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/29nimiq/ ESA SOLAR MISSION ATTRACTS FOLLOWERS TO TENERIFE ------------------------------------------------ The launch date of Solar Orbiter, ESA's next mission to study the Sun, should be no later than 2010. This was one of the key messages to emerge from the first Solar Orbiter workshop which was held in Tenerife last month. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/29solarorbiter/ FIRST BOEING DELTA 4 ROCKET FLIGHT ENGINE 'GO FOR LAUNCH' --------------------------------------------------------- The liquid-fueled main engine that will power the first Boeing Delta 4 rocket off the launch pad next spring has completed acceptance testing, clearing the way for the powerplant's attachment to the vehicle in the factory. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/28rs68/ PIONEER OF U.S. HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT DIES --------------------------------------- John F. Yardley, a leading figure in the early days of human space flight and the Space Shuttle program, died early Tuesday. He was 76. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/28yardley/

am hoping to catch the meteor shower tonight--well, maybe not, i just looked outside to remind myself what the sky was doing and it's overcast again. we need the rain and the nice low humidity but I WANNA SEE THE METEORS! *grin*

I also WANNA SEE THE COMET!!! but I gotta go out before dawn to see it. *sigh*

k i went out for a bit last night and saw nothing but satellites and high aircraft. the dogs wanted out at 4, so bleary-eyed i looked at the stars and saw nothing again! *frown* but i shall not give up, this thing is supposed to last through Monday!

Wolfie, at 4am you should have seen the COMET!!! I was awake and I am sure the view from the summit of Mauna Kea was spectacular, but... It is so depressing looking at the underside of clouds when there are such great things going on on the other side! Satellites??? You did not do so bad. This is not one of the better meteor showers. I got my brand new husband out of bed to watch the Geminids which will occur again next month. Wait for them. They are usually spectacular!!!

you got your WHO out of bed?

A bunch of years ago - I was on my honeymoon. My ex was just as curious as I was and we saw nothing but Maine fog! Sorry, I did not make it clear about the time-frame involved. I am not married!

*laugh* think i'm gonna have trouble seeing anything tonight too as the sky has been cloudy all day threatening rain!

Same here, pretty cloudy.

well, the clouds were starting to break up last night but it is overcast again today. did catch a glimpse of mars again (isn't it in the southern sky?)...did have fantastic dreams about the meteors though! *laugh* will check out the night sky again and let you know!

I looked for Mars again last evening. I managed to see the moon though the partial cloudiness, but nothing else. Cloudy this morning so no comet-hunting. ( Mars is the biggest brightest orange thing up there. )

this is the only orange orb in my sky anyway and it is sort of high on the horizon and is south to southeast.

Yup that's it! Please, no beaming up or letting little green men (otherwise know as BEMs) come get you! Unless, of course, they are your relatives =)

*laugh* only if they let me bring you with!

NEWSALERT: Monday, July 2, 2001 @ 0019 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now CRAFT LAUNCHED TO UNLOCK SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE ------------------------------------------------ A NASA space probe designed to map the afterglow of the Big Bang -- the fossil light from the creation of the universe 14 billion years ago -- was launched into space on Saturday atop a Boeing Delta 2 rocket. http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d286/ Read our call of the countdown and launch: http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d286/status.html ESA AND NASA SET NEW CASSINI-HUYGENS PLAN ----------------------------------------- Managers for an international mission to Saturn have announced a revised plan to work around a telecommunications problem and avoid loss of scientific data after the Cassini spacecraft releases the Huygens probe to descend to the surface of Titan, Saturn's biggest moon, in 2005. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/30huygensfix/ GLITCH HALTS FREE FLIGHT TEST OF NASA'S X-38 -------------------------------------------- NASA X-38 program engineers decided to postpone the seventh free flight of an X-38 vehicle on Friday. The halt came after the X-38, still secured to a wing pylon on NASA's B-52B mother ship, was already airborne. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/30x38delay/ ORBITAL ANOMALY MAY HAVE CAUSED GLOBAL EARTH COOLING ---------------------------------------------------- A rare coincidence of orbital cycles may have caused sudden global cooling 23 million years ago, according to scientists, who used high resolution records and new techniques that allow astronomical calibration to be extended much further back in time. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/02anomaly/ GIANT 'EYEBALL' FURTHERS MEGA-TELESCOPE CONCEPT ----------------------------------------------- A satellite receiver that works like a giant eyeball has arrived in Sydney for testing, bringing a step closer one idea for the world's next 'mega-telescope' -- an army of giant spheres to collect radio waves from the cosmos, dotted in patches across the landscape. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/02eyeball/ SPACE STATION SENDS BACK FIRST RADIATION DATA --------------------------------------------- The first series of radiation data collected inside the International Space Station has been transmitted from space to scientists on Earth eager to assess its potential biomedical impacts and implications for future research. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/01issrad/ EXPEDITION TWO SCIENCE OPERATIONS STATUS REPORT ----------------------------------------------- An experiment that could make the Space Station an even better place to conduct microgravity experiments was undergoing tests this week in the orbiting laboratory. The Active Rack Isolation System is designed to act like a powered shock absorber to dampen vibrations from powered equipment and crew activities. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0106/30isssci/

I'm packing, Wolfie. They want your new ring (now posted on Geo 8)

*laugh* they wanna see if it's a fake or not! saw in the paper about a probe thing launched this weekend--yeah, that's the one you mentioned in 560--it's a Microwave Anisotropy Probe....hmmm...wonder if it'll work better than the hubble (wasn't that sent to do the same thing?).

We'll ask Cosmological Mike to take a bearing on it and download the goodies for us. It was a beautiful launch from what I saw on CNN. It covers much different range of the spectrum from what I understand. Fall out and stand by - will check it in the morning when y'all are wider awake!

Wednesday, 27 June, 2001, 08:23 GMT 09:23 UK Strange glows on Jupiter moon The white dots seen near the equator are volcanoes By BBC News Online science editor Dr David Whitehouse Strange glows have been seen dancing over Jupiter's moon Io. They were recorded during an eclipse of Io in January, witnessed by the Cassini spacecraft that was on its way to Saturn. Cassini's camera captured images of the eclipsed Io in several colours, ranging from the near-ultraviolet to the near-infrared. The colour of the diffuse glows tells scientists what elements are responsible; oxygen and sulphur are the best candidates. Some of the glows are associated with volcanic eruptions; others are auroral in nature being caused by Jupiter's titanic magnetic field wafting over the tiny moon. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1409000/1409117.stm ,.

Monday July 2 10:20 PM ET Astronomers Find Solar System Body By ANDREW BRIDGES, AP Science Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) - Astronomers announced Monday they have discovered an icy body that rivals Pluto's moon in size and hints that other planets may lurk within the far reaches of our solar system. The object, 2001 KX76, appears to be between 595 and 788 miles across, making it larger than any known asteroid and, perhaps, even Pluto's moon Charon. Charon is estimated to be 744 miles in diameter. A team of astronomers used the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile to find the object in images taken on May 22. It orbits the sun at a distance of about 4 billion miles in the Kuiper Belt of objects beyond Neptune. The new object apparently trumps in size all other known objects beyond the orbit of Neptune, except Pluto itself.

Varuna points way to 10th solar planet PARIS: A large asteroid, named Varuna after the lord of the cosmos in Hindu mythology, has been spotted in the outer fringes of the Solar System, a discovery which suggests the Sun may have more than nine planets, astronomers say. Varuna was detected last November by Arizona-based astronomers in the Spacewatch Project, a scheme aimed at scouring the asteroid belts to look, in part, for rogue rocks that could be a potential threat to Earth. The spherical object is 900 km in diameter, which makes it only a tad smaller than Charon, the tiny moon that orbits Pluto, the most distant of the Sun's nine known planets. The discovery, by a team led by David Jewitt of the Institute of Astronomy in Honolulu, is reported last week in Nature, the British science weekly. http://www.timesofindia.com/280501/28hlth3.htm

Is Pluto still considered a planet? Wasn't there some theory which denied that Pluto was actually a planet, due to its unusual orbit, or something?

interesting question, cheryl--i think i heard the same thing but never found out the outcome either. marcia, can you post the dates for the geminoid meteor shower again? (thanks!)

QUICK SPACE - Telesat Buys LockMart Bird And Launch Package http://www.spacedaily.com/news/telesat-01a.html - Putin Warns "Fate Of Mankind" Rests On Missile Talks http://spacedaily.com/news/010702152308.ernkhxkb.html - DS1 Closing In For Final Act http://www.spacedaily.com/news/deep1-01e.html - NASA Opens The Door Atlantis July 12 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-01t.html - Kuiper Belt Object found possibly as large as Pluto's moon http://www.spacedaily.com/news/kuiper-01f.html - Space Station Sends Back First Radiation Data http://www.spacedaily.com/news/radiation-01i.html - NASA Taps Hopkins' Applied Physics Lab To Develop Solar Missions http://www.spacedaily.com/news/solar-program-01a.html - Giant Eyeball Will Focus MegaScope http://www.spacedaily.com/news/telescopes-01a.html - Inter-Governmental Conference on Space Applications Opens in Vietnam http://www.spacedaily.com/news/unspace-01a.html

Pluto is a moon that went off course. Habit keeps it in the planet category. Good point. Terry, interesting articles. I noted them as well but was sidetracked by Wolfie and the rc files for Geo. I did get my little earth logo back, though. Thanks, Wolfie - you reminded me not all commands were in the rc file. *Hugs* Metoer shower list next

As Promised all meteor showers (and there are dozens of them ) are listed with the radiants position illustrated for each one for 2001 along with moon phase: http://www.imo.net/calendar/cal01.html Some of the better-known meteor showers and their approximate dates are: Lyrids, Apr. 21; Perseids, Aug. 12; Orionids, Oct. 20; Taurids, Nov. 4; Leonids, Nov. 16; Geminids, Dec. 13.

Remember, those dates are for midnight, so to watch the Perseids in August you might start looking late the evening of the 11th, and so on.

Howdy all One of the cool things about meteor showers is that it provides yet another propagation mode for VHF and up (somewhat). This is in the form of meteor scatter where you bounce signals off the ionized particles in the upper atmosphere - the trick here is that you only have a small window of time to send a signal since the 'mirror' does not last that long. Most if not all meteor contacts use time slots for stations to transmit and receive and it might take several slots to make a contact. Another, even more exotic mode, is high speed meteor scatter where you send a burst of data off the ionized air. The basic contact calls for high speed cw (possibly voice?) and the burst mode is a cw message speed up superfast and sent via computer. Ive only tried a meteor contact once on voice since my cw is not quite what it used to be. I did hear a brief voice burst from the station I was trying to contact 1200 miles away. Neat stuff but Im busy with enuf distractions right not to take up another facet of the hobby. 73 de AA9IL Mike radio cosmo international p.s. just got my satellite tracking software loaded up and the latest keps so now I can start doing some sat contacts again!

Cosmic One, you need not tell me. My father (W2CWR) had me climbing trees with antennas and doing sightings out the window with a makeshift telephone rig he had hooked up to synchronize the meteors and his reception of the sound. We did it with Aurorae too... Fantastic about the satellite stuff being up and running again. Meteors are a lot smaller things to aim at than EME transmissions, but are they basically the same? It's all in the timing! And precision aiming of the antennas....and so on and so forth. This is not easy stuff gang!

Aphelion Away! Earth is far from the Sun on the 4th of July On the 4th of July, Earth will lie at its greatest distance from the Sun -- an annual event astronomers call 'aphelion.' But don't expect any sudden relief from the heat. Indeed, say researchers, our planet is actually warmer when we're farther from the Sun than at any other time of year -- an earth science curiosity that this story explains. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast03jul_1.htm?list89800

along with cosmo's VHF stuff, meteor showers are also a good way to have some perspective on the fact that Earth is indeed a planet and we are floating around in space! sometimes folks think that space is "out there" like a trip to see long lost relatives or going across the ocean, when indeed, we are in the middle of it.

(thanks for the meteor dates, marcia!)

NEWSALERT: --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now ASTRONOMERS DISCOVER GIANT KUIPER BELT OBJECT --------------------------------------------- Astronomers announced Monday that they have discovered an object in the distant Kuiper Belt that could rival Pluto's moon in size. The discovery of is more ammunition in the debate regarding the classification of Pluto, the smallest and most distant planet. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/03kbo/ Read news release announcing discovery http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/03kbo/index2.html SHUTTLE LAUNCH PADS FILLED FOR SUMMER STATION MISSIONS ------------------------------------------------------ For the first time in 18 months both space shuttle launch pads at Kennedy Space Center are occupied following Monday's rollout of Discovery in preparation for blastoff in August on a mission to exchange the resident crew aboard the international space station. Discovery joins sistership Atlantis, which was rolled out June 21. http://spaceflightnow.com/station/stage7a1/010702rollout/ MARS-BOUND PROBE ADJUSTS ITS TRAJECTORY --------------------------------------- NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft fine-tuned its flight path on Monday for arrival at Mars in October as it performed its second trajectory correction maneuver, changing its velocity by about two miles per hour. http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/odyssey/status.html BROWN DWARFS ARE STELLAR EMBRYOS EVICTED BY SIBLINGS ---------------------------------------------------- Brown dwarfs, essentially stunted stars, were most likely ejected from newborn, multiple-star systems before they had a chance to accumulate enough mass to ignite the hydrogen in their interiors and flower, according to a new study. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/03evicted/ GALILEO IN QUIET CRUISE MODE ---------------------------- This holiday week sees the Galileo spacecraft continue its normal cruise activities. On Thursday, a standard test of the on-board gyroscopes is performed. Due to repeated dosages of the intense radiation near Jupiter, some of the electronic components used to report data from the gyros have degraded. These periodic tests check the current health of the electronics, and also determine if updates are needed to software parameters. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/03galileothisweek/

Even Homes in Space Need a Door The International Space Station may be the most technologically advanced house ever built, but at the moment it lacks something found in every home on Earth -- a front door! But not for long. Later this month the space shuttle is slated to deliver a 6-ton airlock to the ISS. US-suited astronauts will finally be able to cross the threshold of their own doorway to space for critical assembly and maintenance tasks -- and for the most thrilling experience of all: spacewalks. This story includes animated tours of the new airlock and a movie showing how the station's robotic arm will install the new chamber. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast06jul_1.htm?list89800

will it have a welcome mat too? oh yeah, and a seasonal wreath?

A Big Wreath with Twinkling lights and maybe those infernal chip-controlled Christmas tunes which can be so irritating. Stand by for the manger scene! This weekend on SPACE.com: STS-104 Coverage Kick-off ------------------------------------- Come back Sunday for a preview of the upcoming Space Shuttle Atlantis mission. Check out our mission preview, crew bios, countdown clock and more! Images from Space ------------------------------------- * New Image Gallery: Chandra's First Two Years http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagegallery/ The Chandra X-Ray Observatory stunned scientists in its first two years of exploring deep space, revealing sights and cosmological insights few had even dared to anticipate. * New! Thirty satellite views from Space just added! http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagepump/ Check out thirty stunning new satellite images courtesy of Space Imaging. We've added wonderful views of Washington State, incredible images of Italy, and more! Zoom in today! SPACE.com TV ------------------------------------- * Rockets Red Glare http://www.space.com/spacetv/ Still can't get enough of the July 4th celebration? Join us this weekend for at retro-rockets!

NEWSALERT: Saturday, July 7, 2001 @ 1430 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now HUBBLE CAPTURES BEST VIEW OF MARS OBTAINED FROM EARTH ----------------------------------------------------- Frosty white water ice clouds and swirling orange dust storms above a vivid rusty landscape reveal Mars as a dynamic planet in this sharpest view ever obtained by an Earth-based telescope. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/05hstmars/ OUR GALAXY'S SISTER IS A CANNIBAL, ASTRONOMERS SAY -------------------------------------------------- The large spiral galaxy called Andromeda is devouring a couple of small neighboring dwarf galaxies, astronomers report. The evidence of galactic dismemberment is a stream of stars on the outskirts of Andromeda that appears to have been stripped from two dwarf galaxies by their larger companion. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/06cannibal/ FIRST SPACE STATION PLANTS, SEEDS HEADED TO EARTH ------------------------------------------------- The Expedition Two crew continued to prepare the first plants and seeds produced on the International Space Station for their return trip on shuttle Atlantis set to visit the orbiting laboratory next week. The plants are the first to successfully go through germination, growth and seed development aboard the station. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/06isssci/ SOUNDS OF A STAR ---------------- Sound waves running through a star can help astronomers reveal its inner properties. In the case of our Sun, such waves have greatly improved our knowledge about what is going on inside. However, because they are much fainter, it has turned out to be very difficult to detect similar waves in other stars. But now waves have been detected in a solar-twin star. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/06astroseismology/ HOW FAST DOES THE WORLD TURN? ----------------------------- A discovery that may someday help measure how clouds and earthquakes change Earth's rotation has come from an experiment that made friction-free helium whistle. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/06worldturn/ RAPID HEARTBEAT IN ANDROMEDA YIELDS DISCOVERY --------------------------------------------- There are many kinds of celestial objects in the Universe but we are far from knowing them all. XMM-Newton may have discovered a new one: a very luminous soft X-ray source that is pulsating extremely rapidly in the central region of the Andromeda galaxy. This unusual object could be a new kind of accreting white dwarf. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/05andromeda/ 'STAR WARS' CRYO TANK GETS NEW LIFE WITH NASA --------------------------------------------- A multi-million-dollar cryogenic chamber, erected as part of Air Force research for President Reagan's 1980s Strategic Defense Initiative, will soon be helping NASA develop space science capabilities for the 21st century. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/05cryotank/ EATING RIGHT FOR LONG-DURATION SPACE MISSIONS --------------------------------------------- A study released of astronauts who lived aboard the Russian space station Mir, and counterparts living in seclusion on Earth, has validated a tool for measuring astronauts' dietary intake during long space flights. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/04spaceeat/ NASA NAMES CREW TO STS-111 SPACE STATION MISSION ------------------------------------------------ NASA has named three astronauts to the crew of space shuttle mission STS-111, scheduled to launch in 2002 to deliver a new International Space Station resident crew and a Canadian-built mobile base for the orbiting outpost's robotic arm. STS-111 is also the second space shuttle mission dedicated to delivering research equipment to the space platform. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/04sts111/ EUTELSAT SETS NEW COURSE AS A PRIVATE COMPANY --------------------------------------------- The assets and activities of the European Telecommunications Satellite intergovernmental organization were transferred on July 2 into Eutelsat S.A., a limited liability company headquartered in Paris. This establishes Eutelsat on a level playing field for furthering its expansion in the global telecommunications market. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0107/04eutelsat/

Marcia, on the subject of "those infernal chip-controlled Christmas tunes which can be so irritating"; since space is a vacuum and sound isn't supposed to travel in a vacuum. Well, they could always hang the wreath with the offending seasonal music on the inside of the "front door".

off the subject but--is anyone else having trouble seeing the new posts when they open up a conference? i found this one answering another topic, same conference, by scrolling all the way down to see the last 5 posts.

Yes, Cheryl! But, since Space abhors a vacuum, the sound will again fill the void. We are doomed to chiped Christmas tunes unless we remove the chips (have done that more than a few times!) Wolfie, not so far and you are sound asleep now. Perhaps Spring misses The Master?!

SPACEDAILY EXPRESS - July 9, 2001 - sponsored by - APSC - Satellite Launching, Simplified http://www.apsc2orbit.com --------------------------------------------- ----------- QUICK SPACE - Artemis On Course For Launch Thursday http://www.spacedaily.com/news/artemis-01b.html - Japan to launch H-2A rocket on August 25 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010704102207.11nsyx4i.html - NASA plans test flight for solar-powered wing http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010705231718.9gvhiglf.html - Hubble Captures Best View Of Mars Ever Obtained From Earth http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-general-01f.html - Ancient Volcanoes Were A Wipe Out http://www.spacedaily.com/news/early-earth-01f.html - System Would Harness GPS Signals To Study Environment http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gps-01i.html - Nigeria Establishes Space Office http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nigeria-01a.html - Japanese Tourist Operator Opens Space Division http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tourism-01z.html - Iraq tests modified anti-aircraft missile: Kuwaiti paper http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010708085346.y4cckgwo.html - Pentagon to conduct missile-interception test on July 14 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010707003815.9rsgo4wu.html - Schweizer Ships UAV Prototype To Northrop Grumman http://www.spacedaily.com/news/uav-01h.html

Today in Science/Astronomy: * Images Stir Life on Mars Debate http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/clarke_mars_banyon_010709-1.html Mars has turned into a red planet Rorschach test. Depending on who is doing the looking, pictures snapped by the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) clearly show a world of big time biota, from fields of vegetation and towering Banyan trees, to blotches of bacteria and even a giant circuit board. * Hubble Views Mars at its Closest to Earth http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mars_hubble_010705.html The powerful Hubble Space Telescope has snapped the best images of Mars ever taken from Earth. Sharp-eyed optics on the orbiting facility resolved features on the red planet as small as 10 miles (15 kilometers) across. * New Image Gallery: Chandra's First Two Years http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagegallery/ The Chandra X-Ray Observatory stunned scientists in its first two years of exploring deep space, revealing sights and cosmological insights few had even dared to anticipate. ----------------------------------- Today in Missions/Launches: * Complete Coverage: STS-104 Atlantis Mission to Station Alpha http://www.space.com/shuttlemissions/ Shuttle Atlantis and five astronauts are poised to blast off this week on a mission to deliver an airlock to the International Space Station, capping the first full phase of a $60 billion orbital construction project. Check out our mission preview, live video, countdown clock and more! * Apparent Illegal Aliens Captured Near Shuttle Launch Pads http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/launches/ksc_security_010706.html More than a dozen young Asian men and women that appeared to be illegal aliens were apprehended Friday within scant miles of NASA space shuttle launch pads at Kennedy Space Center, security officials said. ------------------------------------ Today in Business/Industry: * NASA Reviews Proposal Expanding X-37 Project http://www.space.com/spacenews/americas/x37_070601.html As the U.S. Air Force considers taking a larger role in the X-37 experimental space vehicle effort, NASA is weighing a Boeing proposal that would expand the program to include a second flight unit. One of the vehicles under Boeing's proposal would be used for atmospheric testing only, program officials said. ------------------------------------ * SpaceTV: http://www.space.com/spacetv/index.php3 * Space Age Gear: http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/space_gear-1.html * SpaceWatch: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/index.html * Uplink: Share your opinion! http://uplink.space.com/index.html ------------------------------------- SOLAR and SPACE WEATHER (July 9, 2001) 3-Day Solar Forecast Solar activity is expected to be low. But Sunspot Region 9531, which was numbered over the weekend and has been growing rapidly, is a likely source of additional low-level (C-class) solar flares. 3-Day Aurora Forecast Earth's geomagnetic field is expected to be mainly quiet to unsettled for the next three days. Isolated active periods may also occur as the speed of the solar wind fluctuates. Solar Data The current sunspot number is 101, and the solar wind speed recently clocked in at 416 kilometers per second (930,563 mph). The solar wind density was 5.3 protons per cubic centimeter. (Speed and density values are snapshots in time and change during the day.) http://www.space.com/spacewatch/space_weather.html ------------------------------------- Sign up to become part of the greatest search in history! Join TeamSETI:

Space news Just in time for summer, Space Adventures, Ltd. invites you to lose some weight... in fact, lose it all! With programs scheduled for July and August, Space Adventures Zero-Gravity flights can free you of your extra pounds multiple times in one hour, for 30 seconds intervals: http://www.spaceadventures.com/zerog/index_space.html

New CME to worry about... The current X-2 Solar Flare today has a lot in common with this one described more fully by Spaceweather.com for the X-6 Class solar flare on July 14, 2000. It also came from the middle of the sun as it faced us. Just thought you might like to see it. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast14jul_2m.htm

Space Weather News for July 16, 2002 http://www.spaceweather.com A remarkable sunspot is crossing the face of the Sun. The large active region stretches 15 Earth-diameters from end-to-end and poses a threat for powerful flares. Indeed, on July 15th, twisted magnetic fields above the spot erupted. The explosion sparked an X-class solar flare and hurled a coronal mass ejection into space. As a result, sky watchers on Earth might spot auroras on Tuesday or Wednesday night. Visit spaceweather.com for more information and updates.

Today in Science/Astronomy: * Moon Holds Earth's Ancient Secrets http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/moon_earth_020723.html Tons of rocks and dust long ago blasted from Earth by asteroid impacts lay on the Moon's surface and could hold secrets to our home planet's early history and the origin of life. * Astronotes: The 'Winners' of the Caption Competition http://www.space.com/news/astronotes-1.html OK, "contestants" implies that those who responded to SPACE.com 's little game (see Tech Today - iSun) were actually going to win something. Well, they have! we proudly presents the three funniest entries in our rather impromptu "Write the Caption" competition. * Stolen Apollo Moon Rocks Recovered by FBI in Florida http://www.space.com/news/ap_moonrocks_020723.html Three employees of the Johnson Space Center in Houston and another man were charged in an alleged plot to sell stolen moon rocks from the Apollo missions for $1,000 to $5,000 a gram, the FBI said. * True Tally of Asteroids Probably at High End of Estimates http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/asteroid_tally_020723.html The continued rapid pace of discovery for large asteroids in relatively close proximity to Earth suggests there may be more of them than some scientists have predicted. The speculation, from one of the astronomers who helps count the rocks, does not imply a significantly increased threat to Earth, but it does extend a long-running debate over just how many of these space rocks exist. * Celebrating 30 Years of Imaging the Earth http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/planetearth/landsat_anniversary_020723.html NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) this week celebrate Landsat's 30th anniversary of imaging the Earth.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ALERT ISSUED: 00:50 UTC, 21 JULY 2002 /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ A major class X3.3 solar flare was observed at 21:30 UTC on 20 July. This event was accompanied by strong radio emissions (a 2600 sfu tenflare, 20,000 sfu intensity at 8.8 GHz and 43,000 sfu at 15.4 GHz), a Type II sweep (estimated shock velocity 515 km/sec - preliminary), and a strong loop prominence on the southeast limb. In addition, an interesting and h-alpha wave is visible propagating onto the visible solar disk to the northwest of the flaring center. Although this is well time correlated with the presumed onset of the flare start, it may be an independent phenomena as opposed to a Moreton-type wave related directly to the flaring site. Nevertheless, it is interesting to speculate. The x-ray and radio signatures of this event suggest it was a probable proton producing flare. However, no significant flux enhancements are expected in the near-Earth space environment due to its present poor location. X-ray fluence with this event was modestly respectable at near 0.75 Joules. The southeast limb has been teeming with activity. Frequent and occasionally fairly strong surging has been observed over the last 24 hours. Additional major levels of solar flare activity are expected from this spot complex as it continues to approach and (within the next 24 to 48 hours) rotate into view. Region 10036 is still considered a possible site for major flaring. It has experienced renewed growth over the last 24 hours. Although magnetic gradients and shear are not as strong as in Region 10030, the spot complex may still produce an isolated major event over the next several days. Flare activity from Region 10036 is expected to be fairly infrequent unless more rapid growth and dynamic flux emergence occurs. It is expected to take a back seat to the activity in the region due to rotate around the southeast limb. ** End of Notice **

More Spaceship Sightings Beginning this week, the International Space Station will make a series of eye-catching passes over North America. The bright spaceship is easy to see from your own backyard--and it looks great through a telescope, too. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/24jul_spaceship2.htm?list89800

http://www.space.com/news/nasa_plutonium_020724.html Earl Wahlquist, associate director of the Department of Energy�s Space and Defense Power Systems Office, said July 23 that 7 kilograms of Plutonium 238 � slightly more than half of the U.S. inventory � is being reassigned for use by an undisclosed national security agency. The 7-kilogram parcel of Plutonium is due to be removed from a spare RTG the Department of Energy built for NASA as part of the Cassini and Galileo programs.

Caveat Impactor An asteroid with almost no chance of hitting Earth made big headlines this week. Were we ever in danger? Read this story and find out. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/26jul_nt7.htm?list89800

View Near-Earth Asteroid There's no danger of a collision. Even so, a big space rock will soon come so close to Earth that sky watchers can see it through binoculars. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/30jul_ny40.htm?list89800

Is this the 1 on 250,000 rock?

The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (07/30/2002) ----------------------------------------------------------------- New Reference: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/ * CALIPSO: A Global Perspective of Clouds and Aerosols from Space http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/CALIPSO Two of the biggest uncertainties in understanding and predicting climate change are the effects of clouds and aerosols (airborne particles). The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) satellite mission, currently under development, will help scientists answer significant questions about climatic processes by providing new information on these important atmospheric components. -------------------- Natural Hazards: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/ * Latest Events: Fire: Fires Scorch Oregon http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4650 Unique Imagery: Smoke, Clouds and Ship Tracks Off California Coast http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4651 Unique Imagery: Bright Water Off Newfoundland http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4652 Dust and Smoke: Smoke from Canadian Fires Blankets Eastern U.S. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4653 Fire: McNalley Fire in Sequoia National Forest http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4648 Fire: Fires in Central and Southern Africa http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4647 Volcano: Nyamuragira Volcano Erupts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4643 Storm: Super Typhoon Fengshen http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4638 Storm: Hurricane Elida off Central America http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4639 Storm: Severe Snowstorm in Lesotho http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4640 Storm: Hurricane Douglas South of Baja California http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=4633 -------------------- In the News: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/ * Latest Images: Aqua CERES First Light http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10273 Nyamuragira Volcano Erupts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10272 Konari, Iran http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10271 Summit Crater of Mauna Loa http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10270 Three Gorges Dam, China http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10268 Distinguishing Clouds from Ice over the East Siberian Sea, Russia http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10267 Hyacinths Choke the Rio Grande http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=10265 * NASA News http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ - At Five-Year Anniversary, Conference Considers Satellite's Contributions to Understanding Global Energy, Water Cycle * Media Alerts http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/ - Increased Strength in Asian Southwest Monsoon May Be Result Of Warming, Say Researchers - Global Warming May Push Bats to the Low Arctic * Headlines from the press, radio, and television: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/ - Monsoon Intensity Increasing as Earth Warms - Record Sea Temperatures Threaten Great Barrier Reef - Slowest U.S. Tornado Year Since 1988 - Indian Government Says Lack of Rain Worst in Decade - Landsat Paints a Portrait of Our Changing Planet - Air Pollution Changes Rainfall, May Cause Drought - Unlocking the Storm Code - Ice Crystals Clues to Climate - West Nile Virus Spreads Westward into 26 States - Study Finds Alaska Glaciers Melting at Higher Rate - China?s Pollution Found in Hawaii - NASA Turns New Weather Bird Over to NOAA - Cause and Effect Across 70,000 Years of Atmospheric Chaos --------------------------------------------------------------------- Earth Observatory weekly mailing -- http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/

ok, what is wrong with this topic? it keeps showing up with a blank message spot and i've tried to hit the "forget". maybe my actually typing something in here will straighten it out.......

This topic continues to appear as having new posts when it does not. I wonder why!