March 30
NASA ADMINISTRATOR RECEIVES PREMIER SPACE HONOR
NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin will be honored tonight with one of this country's most prestigious space awards. The National Space Club will present Administrator Goldin with the Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy at the organization's annual dinner in Washington, DC.
The award is the centerpiece of the 44th Annual Goddard Memorial Dinner, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST at the Washington Hilton Hotel. Each year, executives from the aerospace industries, government leaders and space educators gather to mark the past year's space achievements.
"Dr. Goddard is considered to be the father of practical modern rocketry and space flight. He was a true pioneer and innovator," said Goldin. "I am both honored and humbled by this award which validates and supports NASA's continuing mission to pioneer the frontiers of space and knowledge in order to achieve a safer, more secure and more fulfilling life here on Earth."
Established in 1958, the Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy is given to an individual or group who have demonstrated great achievement in advancing space flight programs contributing to the American leadership in astronautics. Past winners include astronaut and former U.S. Senator John Glenn, rocket pioneer Wernher Von Braun and President Ronald Reagan.
Founded in 1957, the National Space Club is a non-profit corporation created to stimulate the exchange of ideas and information about rocketry and astronautics and to promote recognition of the nation's achievements in space. The recipient of this award is selected annually by the Board of Governors of the National Space Club.
NOW PLAYING AT THE STAR NEAREST YOU: THE LARGEST SUNSPOT IN TEN YEARS BLAZES AWAY WITH ERUPTIONS
A huge sunspot, thirteen-times larger than the surface area of the Earth and growing, has now rotated with the Sun to face our planet. The sunspot, which is the largest of the current solar cycle, is also the largest to appear in a decade.
The area of the Sun, designated AR 9393, has been a prolific generator of stormy solar activity, hurling clouds of electrified gas towards Earth, producing four explosions, called flares, and spawning storms of high-speed particles in space.
The largest of the four flares occurred at 4:57 a.m. EST on Thursday, March 29, and was rated as an X-class flare, the most potent designation. The other three flares were rated M- class, second only to the X-class. An eruption near AR 9393 hurled a cloud of electrified, magnetic gas towards Earth on Wednesday. This eruption, called a Coronal Mass Ejection may cause auroral displays and magnetic storm activity when it impacts the Earth's magnetic field sometime Friday. Another Earthbound CME associated with the X-class flare was seen at 5:26 a.m. EST March 29 and is expected to arrive on Saturday.
"Sunspots with complex magnetic field structures like those in AR 9393 can generate big flares, and sure enough, we just had a powerful X-class flare from this area," said Dr. Joseph Gurman, at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, project scientist for the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft. SOHO is one of a fleet of sun-observing spacecraft now tracking this region and its activity.
Sunspots are darker areas on the visible surface of the Sun caused by a concentration of distorted magnetic fields. The strong magnetic field slows the flow of heat from the Sun's interior and keeps sunspots slightly cooler than their surroundings, causing them to appear dark. The number of sunspots increases and decreases as the Sun's 11-year cycle of stormy activity rises and falls. Violent solar activity is believed to be caused by the release of magnetic energy, and powerful solar eruptions and flares often occur near the enhanced magnetic field of sunspots.
Solar flares, among the solar system's mightiest eruptions, are tremendous explosions in the Sun's atmosphere, capable of releasing as much energy as a billion megatons of TNT. Caused by the sudden release of magnetic energy, in just a few seconds flares can accelerate solar particles to very high velocities and heat solar material to tens of millions of degrees.
Coronal mass ejections are clouds of electrified magnetic gas weighing billions of tons, hurled into space at speeds of 12 to 1,250 miles per second. Depending on the orientation of the magnetic fields carried by the ejection cloud, solar explosions cause magnetic storms by interacting with Earth's magnetic field, distorting its shape and accelerating electrically charged particles trapped within.
Severe solar weather is often heralded by dramatic auroral displays, but magnetic storms are occasionally harmful, potentially affecting satellites, radio communications and power systems.
Coronal Mass Ejections and flares can produce storms of high- velocity particles. The ejections are believed to produce longer particle storms than flares, storms that sometimes last for days, as they plow through the slower solar wind at supersonic speeds, creating a shock wave that accelerates electrically charged particles.
The SOHO project is an international cooperative program between NASA and the European Space Agency in the framework of the international Solar Terrestrial Science Program.
Movies and images of this solar activity will be broadcast today on NASA Television, which is broadcast on satellite GE- 2, transponder 9C, C-band, located at 85 degrees West longitude. The frequency is 3880 MHz, with vertical polarization and monaural audio at 6.8 MHz.
For more information on the sunspot, refer to:
http://www.spaceweather.com/ NASA GOVERNMENT INVENTION OF THE YEAR SELECTED
The Optical Fiber Cable Chemical Stripping Fixture invented by John Kolasinski and Alexander Coleman, from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, has been selected as the winner of the NASA Government Invention of the Year for 2000.
The invention is used to remove coatings surrounding tiny, as small as 125 microns, optical fibers. Fiber coatings, such as acrylate and polyimide, surround the glass fibers similar to the way insulation covers a copper wire. The device prepares optical fibers for termination to a connector by controlling the removal of the coating. The fixture also provides control over the stripping length.
"Optical fibers are used for very fast communication links between electronic devices," said Kolasinski, a senior aerospace technology engineer at Goddard. "A major benefit of the fixture is that it increases reliability over mechanical techniques that nick fibers, saving time and money by reducing repair and replacements."
Coleman, a senior electronics technician in the Electrical Systems Branch at Goddard's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA, said traditional coating removal techniques are based on mechanical wire stripping techniques that may scratch or nick the very small glass fiber, resulting in a latent defect and a reliability issue.
"Using this fixture decreases the likelihood of optical fiber failures caused by nicks induced by mechanical stripping methods," added Coleman. "It could also benefit others by helping to reduce optical fiber failures in connectors used for systems such as those in the telephone or the Internet. Anyone that builds fiber optic cables could use the device."
Estimates indicate that with today's telecommunications revolution, close to 200 million feet of fiber-optic cable are installed each year at a typical cost of $30 per foot.
The fixture has been used successfully on a number of NASA projects including the X-Ray Timing Explorer (XTE), the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, the Microwave Anisotropy Probe, Earth Observing-1 and the Hubble Space Telescope's solid state recorder.
Kolasinski is responsible for NASA-wide space flight fiber optic development efforts. His aerospace fiber optic experience spans nearly 10 years and eight flight projects. He holds two NASA patents for fiber optics fabrication devices, four pending patent applications and several new technology disclosures.
Coleman is currently working on the Ultra Long Duration Balloon Program and on new technology called Unmanned Video Sky Screening. Coleman holds two patents for fiber optics fabrication devices.
Both men developed the tool while working on XTE. "We were experiencing optical fiber failures in early space flight fiber optic systems that were caused by glass fiber nicks induced by mechanical stripping techniques," Kolasinski said. "This device uses chemicals and a controlled fixture, so we do not have to worry about metal blades coming in contact with and nicking a small optical fiber." He added the tool will work with many different types of fiber systems and any operator terminating a specific connector can consistently strip the same length of fiber for that termination providing high reliability and a quality product.
The RIFOCS Corp. in Camarillo, CA, has already purchased the license from NASA to use this device in their in-house programs. Other companies that work with certain types of fiber optic systems also are looking at obtaining a license.
"When I was officially notified I couldn't believe it," said Coleman. "I just about fell off my chair. I had to call John right away and let him know."
"I guess I still don't believe that Alex and myself are NASA government invention of the year winners," Kolasinski said. "There are very few people in the history of NASA to receive this award and I am extremely honored to be one of those."
The winners will be honored at the Invention of the Year Award ceremony scheduled for Friday, May 4, at 10 a.m. EDT, NASA Headquarters, 300 E. St. SW, Washington, DC.
NASA Science News for March 30, 2001
NATO and NASA are joining forces to host an Advanced Study Institute for astrobiology in Crete, Sept 29-Oct 10, 2001. A diverse group of the world's most prominent scientists will share with students what they have learned lately about life in the Universe.
FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast30mar_1.htm?list448368 'SPACE PLACE' TEAM RECEIVES TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION AWARD'
The International Technology Education Association has presented the NASA/JPL 'Space Place' outreach team with the organization's Presidential Citation "for efforts above and beyond the call of duty in service to the technology education profession."
Sponsored primarily by NASA's New Millennium Program, the Space Place effort encompasses numerous educational products, including a Web site featuring space science- and technology- related activities at http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov/ . Space Place also produces classroom activity articles published in the International Technology Education Association's monthly educator journal, monthly articles appearing on children's pages of five major metropolitan newspapers, and display materials and educational activities distributed through partnerships with museums, planetariums, libraries and community organizations nationwide.
The award was presented to the Space Place team at the organization's annual conference held in Atlanta, Ga., last weekend.
2001 MARS ODYSSEY SCHEDULED FOR LAUNCH APRIL 7 The launch of NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey is scheduled for Saturday, April 7, at 11:02 a.m. EDT. Liftoff will occur aboard a Boeing Delta II launch vehicle from Pad A at Space Launch Complex 17, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. A second launch opportunity exists thirty minutes later at 11:32 a.m., if necessary. Should launch be delayed by 24 hours, the two launch times available on Sunday are 10:29 a.m. and 11:29 a.m. EDT. The planetary launch window extends through April 27. The 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is designed to map the Martian surface. It will search for geological features that could indicate the presence of water, now or in the past, and may contribute significantly toward understanding what will be necessary for a more sophisticated exploration of Mars.
Genesis Meets Young Astronauts
Are you interested in how the Young Astronauts program engages kids in space science? Genesis is an upcoming feature mission on the Young Astronauts program. Tune in live to NASA TV on April 9 from 11:00-11:30 PST and April 10 from 12:00-12:30 PST at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/ram/ya-v.ram as Commander Dave Howe has McREL's John Ristvey as his special guest. The thirty-minute program features video clips, hands-on activities from Genesis science education modules, and the opportunity to call in to ask questions. For more information visit http://www.genesismission.org/product/conferences&events.html and http://stepstar.esd101.net/k12/astro/events.htm for the upcoming Young Astronauts schedule.
********************************************************** Meet Genesis Mission Assurance Manager Bob Axsom
Meet Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Bob Axsom. As Genesis mission assurance manager, Bob's role is to assure the success of the mission. His rich history of involvement in NASA missions dates back to Project Mercury. Bob credits his career success to an inspirational elementary teacher who "awakened in me the realization that I could achieve a high degree of success by forcing myself to do the work. He was like a magician with the class exposing us to math, English, poetry, art, dancing, physical fitness, and Hawaiian culture far beyond the usual dull classroom instruction." Read Bob's interview at: http://www.genesismission.org/people/index.html
********************************************************* Genesis Grams: The Next Generation
"The Earth is a blue, churning sapphire amidst the vast reaches of the galaxy," wrote a middle school student from Muskego, Wisconsin. This submission and the remaining Genesis Grams have been engraved on the Genesis microchip and are awaiting launch aboard the spacecraft in mid-2001. The ages 10-and-under, and 11-17 categories of Grams are posted on the Genesis Web site at: http://www.genesismission.org/product/index.html Watch next month to view the 18-and-over category posting.
********************************************************* An Apple for the Rural Teacher
Rural teachers, would you like to join a national network of educators field testing Genesis modules? McREL is seeking teachers to join the Rural Education Development Network. Participating teachers will assist in efforts to improve and implement education modules by providing feedback and working with other area teachers. Teachers will receive support for classroom implementation, other print and electronic resources, and access to online discussion groups linking rural educators from across the country. For information about field testing education materials contact John Ristvey via e-mail jristvey@mcrel.org or call 303-632-5620. For more information about development networks, visit http://www.genesismission.org/product/opportunities/devcenters/index.html ********************************************************** Elementary Teachers, Tell Us About Genesis Kids!
Have you used Genesis Kids in your classroom? Tell us what you think on a brief, online survey at: http://www.comtracker.com/survey/form3.asp?sID=1102&rID=00703641582888 The survey will remain online in the upcoming weeks for those of you who are planning to use Genesis Kids in the near future.
********************************************************* Annual NSTA Convention in St. Louis
The Genesis education and public outreach team distributed volumes of materials to science teachers, curriculum coordinators, and administrators at NSTA's annual convention last week in St. Louis. View our NSTA conference page at: http://www.genesismission.org/product/conferences&events.html for a convention update. If you were unable to attend the conference, you can sign up online to field test our materials at: http://www.genesismission.org/product/opportunities/devcenters/index.html
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March 29, 2001
HUGE SUNSPOT: The largest sunspot in ten years is crossing the solar disk. The fast-growing spot, called AR9393, covers an area of the Sun equivalent to the total surface area of 13 Earths! Visit spaceweather.com to learn how this sunspot compares to others in history and how to safely observe it. AURORA ALERT: An eruption near sunspot AR9393 hurled a coronal mass ejection toward Earth on Wednesday. Forecasters estimate a 15 to 25% chance of severe geomagnetic storms when the expanding cloud buffets our planet's magnetic field, most likely on Friday. For more information and updates, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com FIRST CHAPTER OF EARTH'S "BIOLOGICAL RECORD" DOCUMENTED FROM SPACE
The first continuous global observations of the biological engine that drives life on Earth - the countless forms of plants that cover the land and oceans - are published this week in the journal Science. Researchers expect the detailed new record, which NASA plans to continue for a decade or longer, will reveal as much about how our living planet functions today as the fossil and geologic records have revealed about its past.
"This is a period of exploration for us," said lead author Michael Behrenfeld, an oceanographer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. "We've never been able to see the Earth this way before."
This study is based on the first three years of daily observations of ocean algae and land plants from the Sea- viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor, or SeaWiFS, mission, creating the most comprehensive global biological record ever assembled. Scientists will use the new record of the Earth's surface to study the fate of carbon in the atmosphere, the length of terrestrial growing seasons and the vitality of the ocean's food web.
"With this record we have more biological data today than has been collected by all previous field surveys and ship cruises," added Gene Carl Feldman, SeaWiFS project manager at Goddard. "It would take a ship steaming at 6 knots over 4,000 years to provide the same coverage as a single global SeaWiFS image." The new study presents a global assessment of the fundamental work that plants perform to make life possible - producing food, fiber, and oxygen - and how their productivity changes from season to season and year to year in response to our changing environment.
The biological record from SeaWiFS indicates that global plant photosynthesis increased between September 1997 and August 2000. Photosynthesis by land plants and algae absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and ocean and thus plays a critical role in regulating atmospheric carbon levels. The initial increase in carbon fixation was largely due to the response of marine plants to a strong El Nino to La Nina transition, but the cause of the continued increase during the later portion of the record is not yet clear.
"With three years of observations we can see seasonal changes in plant and algae chlorophyll levels very well, but we don't yet have a long enough record to distinguish multi-year cycles, like El Nino, from fundamental long-term changes caused by such things as higher carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere," Behrenfeld added.
"The SeaWiFS record provides a baseline against which future estimates of Earth system carbon cycling can be compared," said Feldman.
NASA plans to produce a five-year record using SeaWiFS observations and extend the continuous biological record with two Earth Observing System (EOS) spacecraft, Terra, launched in December 1999, and Aqua, scheduled for launch later this year. This constellation of EOS satellites allows U.S. scientists to examine practically every aspect of Earth's atmosphere, oceans and continents from space in an unprecedented way.
The new biological record benefits ongoing studies of desertification and changes in growing-season lengths by joining an existing 20-year record of land plant productivity based on observations from meteorological satellites with the new generation of spacecraft instruments. These records will compliment ongoing observations obtained on land and at sea.
"SeaWiFS not only adds finer detail to our observing capability, it supplies essential continuity between data records that is critical to long-term monitoring of changes in the biosphere," says biogeochemist James Randerson of the California Institute of Technology, a co-author of the study.
Scientists also are using the biological record from SeaWiFS to monitor the health of coral reefs, track harmful "red tides" and algae blooms, and improve global climate models.
This research was conducted by NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a long-term research effort dedicated to studying how human-induced and natural change affects our global environment.
Additional information is available on the Internet at:
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/earth/environ/carbon/carbon.htm
TWO SPACECRAFT WATCH A TOWERING INFERNO ON IO
Two NASA spacecraft jointly observing Jupiter's moon Io this winter captured images of a towering volcanic plume never seen before and a bright red ring of fresh surface deposits surrounding its source.
Combined information from images taken by the Cassini and Galileo spacecraft indicates the new plume is about the same size -- nearly 400 kilometers or 250 miles high -- as a long-lived plume from Io's Pele volcano. Pele's plume and ring are also seen in the new images.
The images and further information about them are available online from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pictures/jovianmoons , from the web sites of the Cassini Imaging Science team at the University of Arizona, Tucson, at http://ciclops.lpl.arizona.edu/ and from the University of Arizona's Planetary Image Research Laboratory, at http://pirlwww.lpl.arizona.edu/Galileo/Releases/ .
The new plume originates from a volcanic feature named Tvashtar Catena near Io's north pole. Scientists were astounded to discover so large a plume so near the pole, because all active plumes previously detected on Io have been over equatorial regions and no others have approached Pele's in size, said University of Arizona planetary scientist Dr. Alfred McEwen.
Galileo might pass right through the Tvashtar plume in August, if the plume persists until then. The spacecraft will be flying over that part of Io at an altitude of 360 kilometers (224 miles). Material in the plume is tenuous enough to present little risk to the spacecraft, and passing through it could give an opportunity to analyze the makeup of the plume, said Dr. Torrence Johnson, Galileo project scientist at JPL.
Cassini is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL manages Cassini and Galileo for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
March 28, 2001
KINKS IN SUN'S WAVES UNRAVELED
Kinks in the Sun's magnetic field have puzzled scientists since they first started studying the solar wind, and now researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., have found the reason: they are caused by the evolution of a type of magnetic wave called Alfven waves.
Scientists measured sudden changes in the Sun's magnetic field with the magnetometer instrument on the Ulysses spacecraft, which is orbiting the Sun's poles at a distance between Jupiter and Mars. Ulysses has been studying the Sun since 1990 and has just finished studying the south pole of the Sun at solar maximum, a time of great activity.
"Over the poles of the Sun, we saw abrupt decreases in the magnetic field," said JPL's Dr. Bruce Tsurutani, a co- investigator on the magnetometer instrument on Ulysses. "We did not know what they were, because we had never seen anything like it before. Now we know that the disturbance is caused by Alfven waves."
Scientists expected to find that either the field magnitude remained the same, though the angle changed, or that the magnitude changed, with no fields threading across the structure, said Tsurutani. Instead, they found that the ends of Alfven waves always have both rotational and tangential characteristics.
Like the movements of a plucked guitar string, Alfven waves travel down the magnetic fields that emanate from the Sun. Disturbances in the Sun's magnetic field, which is embedded in the solar wind, travel through space to eventually cause auroras on Earth. The high-energy particles from the solar wind become trapped in the Earth's magnetic field and come down into the atmosphere near the Earth's north and south magnetic poles. The highly-charged particles then collide with oxygen and nitrogen in Earth's atmosphere and emit light, forming the aurora.
Tsurutani also studied polar plumes, long trails from the base of the Sun. The plumes form in the Sun's polar regions, the upper and lower 30-degree latitude regions, and where these plumes occur, the magnetic field isn't kinked, but instead forms long, thin, straight tubes. This means that the Alfven waves don't operate in these regions, though scientists don't yet know why.
"Ulysses was able to find that the Sun's polar plumes stretch out past the orbit of Mars and maybe farther," said Tsurutani. "What's fascinating is how these plumes can be so thin and so long at the same time." A plume could be 100 times wider than it is long. The European Space Agency's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) noted these polar plumes in 1996.
Alfven waves are named for Hannes Alfven, a Swede who in1942 discovered the waves, for which he was later awarded the Nobel Prize.
Tsurutani discussed his findings this week at the European Geophysical Society's 26th annual meeting, joined by his colleagues on the study, Dr. Carlos Galvan, Dr. John Arballo, Dr. Regina Sakurai and Dr. Daniel Winterhalter, from the Space Plasma Physics Element at JPL, Dr. Bimla Buti University of New Delhi and Dr. Gurbax Lakhina, director of the Mumbai Geomagnetic Observatory, Bombay, India.
Ulysses, launched in 1990, is a joint venture of NASA and the European Space Agency. JPL manages Ulysses for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. More information on the Ulysses mission is available at the JPL Ulysses website: http://ulysses.jpl.nasa.gov/ and ESA's Ulysses website, http://helio.estec.esa.nl/ulysses/ . JPL is managed by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena for NASA.
UNIQUE BLAST FROM THE PAST TOPIC OF NEXT SPACE SCIENCE UPDATE
One of the most important discoveries made by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in the past few years will be the subject of the next Space Science Update, scheduled for Monday, April 2, at 1 p.m. EDT, at NASA Headquarters. Called "Blast from The Past," the Update will feature a discussion of why this particular exploding star, seen at extreme distance from Earth, is causing a stir in scientific circles.
Panelists will be: * Dr. Adam G. Riess, astronomer, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), Baltimore, MD * Dr. Peter Nugent, staff scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, Berkeley, CA * Dr. Michael S. Turner is the Bruce V. and Diana M. Rauner Distinguished Service Professor and Chair of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago in Chicago, IL * Dr. Meg Urry, astronomer, STScI * Dr. Anne L. Kinney, Director of NASA's Origins Program, is panel moderator
The update will originate from the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St., S.W., Washington, DC, and will be carried live on NASA Television with two-way question-and- answer capability for reporters covering the event from participating NASA centers. NASA TV is broadcast on the GE2 satellite which is located on Transponder 9C, at 85 degrees West longitude, frequency 3880.0 MHz, audio 6.8 MHz. Audio of the broadcast will also be available by calling the Kennedy Space Center, FL, at 321/867-1220 and the event will be webcast live at: http://www.nasa.gov
ENDEAVOUR PREPARED TO DELIVER NEXT-GENERATION ROBOT ARM TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
When the Space Shuttle Endeavour flies to the International Space Station next month, it will carry a next- generation Canadian robotic arm to the orbiting research center. Canadarm2, a longer, stronger and more flexible cousin to the Canadian-built robotic armed used on the Shuttle, is a critical addition to the space station.
The new robotic arm is just one aspect of the mission scheduled to be discussed during a series of briefings April 9, beginning at 9 a.m. EDT at NASA's Johnson Space Center, in Houston, TX.
Endeavour and its seven-member crew are set to begin the 11- day STS-100 mission April 19. It should be the most complex and intricate space robotics operation ever conducted. Canadarm2 is the centerpiece of Canada's contribution to the International Space Station and the robotic arm has a unique ability to switch ends as it works, "inchworming" along the station's exterior.
The arm's operation aboard the station is crucial to the continued assembly of the orbiting complex. The mission also will carry the second Italian Space Agency-developed logistics carrier to the station, a module named Raffaello, that will include more research equipment than any previous station flight.
The briefings are currently planned to be broadcast live on NASA Television, located on satellite GE-2, transponder 9C, at 85 degrees West longitude, vertical polarization, with a frequency of 3880 MHz, and audio of 6.8 MHz. The briefings will feature question-and-answer capability from participating NASA centers.
However, NASA TV program plans could change. Launch of the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft, currently scheduled for April 7, could move to April 9 if delayed by weather or other factors. If so, coverage of that launch will preempt other NASA TV programming and could result in some of the STS-100 preflight briefings not being broadcast live.
Should this conflict arise, NASA TV will cover the 2001 Mars Odyssey launch and will join the STS-100 preflight briefings after Odyssey's separation from its launch vehicle. The STS- 100 preflight briefings would still be available to media present at the Johnson Space Center and the briefings will be replayed frequently later in the day in their entirety on NASA TV.
Following the briefings, round-robin interviews with the crew members will be held for reporters at the Johnson Space Center and media who make advance arrangements to participate by telephone. Media wishing to participate in the crew interviews must fax their requests to the Johnson Space Center newsroom at 281/483-2000 no later than 6 p.m. EDT April 4.
STS-100 PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFINGS Monday, April 9 (all times shown are EDT)
9 a.m. International Space Station Overview Tommy Holloway, Manager, International Space Station Program Bob Cabana, Deputy Program Manager, International Operations
10 a.m. STS-100 Mission Overview Phil Engelauf, STS-100 Lead Flight Director John Curry, Lead International Space Station Flight Director, STS-100 Floyd Booker, STS-100 Launch Package Manager
12 p.m. STS-100 Space Walks Overview Jeff Patrick, Lead STS-100 Extravehicular Activity Officer
1 p.m. Canadarm2 Overview Chris Lorenz, Manager, Mission Operations, Canadian Space Agency Steve MacLean, Canadian Space Agency Astronaut
3 p.m. STS-100 Crew News Conference Kent Rominger, Commander Jeff Ashby, Pilot Chris Hadfield, Mission Specialist 1 (Canadian Space Agency) John Phillips, Mission Specialist 2 Scott Parazynski, Mission Specialist 3 Umberto Guidoni, Mission Specialist 4 (European Space Agency) Yuri Lonchakov, Mission Specialist 5 (Russian Aviation and Space Agency)
Image Title: Galileo and Cassini Image Two Giant Plumes on Io Catalog #:PIA02588 Target Name: Io Is a satellite of: Jupiter Mission: Cassini Galileo Spacecraft/Mission: Cassini Orbiter Galileo Orbiter Instrument: Solid State Imaging Product Size: 1100 samples x 900 lines Produced By: University of Arizona Creation Date: 2000-05-31 Full-Res TIFF: PIA02588.tif (1 Mbytes)
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/PIAGenCatalogPage.pl?PIA02588
Original Caption Released with Image:
Two tall volcanic plumes and the rings of red material they have deposited onto surrounding surface areas appear in images taken of Jupiter's moon Io by NASA's Galileo and Cassini spacecraft in late December 2000 and early January 2001.
A plume near Io's equator comes from the volcano Pele. It has been active for at least four years, and has been far larger than any other plume seen on Io, until now. The other, nearer to Io's north pole, is a Pele-sized plume that had never been seen before, a fresh eruption from the Tvashtar Catena volcanic area.
The observations were made during joint studies of the Jupiter system while Cassini was passing Jupiter on its way to Saturn. The two craft offered complementary advantages for observing Io, the most volcanically active body in the solar system. Galileo passed closer to Io for higher-resolution images, and Cassini acquired images at ultraviolet wavelengths, better for detecting active volcanic plumes.
The Cassini ultraviolet images, upper right, reveal two gigantic, actively erupting plumes of gas and dust. Near the equator, just the top of Pele's plume is visible where it projects into sunlight. None of it would be illuminated if it were less than 240 kilometers (150 miles) high.These images indicate a total height for Pele of 390 kilometers (242 miles). The Cassini image at far right shows a bright spot over Pele's vent. Although the Pele hot spot has a high temperature, silicate lava cannot be hot enough to explain a bright spot in the ultraviolet, so the origin of this bright spot is a mystery, but it may indicate that Pele was unusually active.
Also visible is a plume near Io's north pole. Although 15 active plumes over Io's equatorial regions have been detected in hundreds of images from NASA's Voyager and Galileo spacecraft, this is the first image ever acquired of an active plume over a polar region of Io.The plume projects about 150 kilometers (about 90 miles) over the limb, the edge of the globe. If it were erupting from a point on the limb, it would be only slightly larger than a typical Ionian plume, but the image does not reveal whether the source is actually at the limb or beyond it, out of view.
A distinctive feature in Galileo images since 1997 has been a giant red ring of Pele plume deposits about 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) in diameter. The Pele ring is seen again in one of the new Galileo images, lower left. When the new Galileo images were returned this month, scientists were astonished to see a second giant red ring on Io, centered around Tvashtar Catena at 63 degrees north latitude. (To see a comparison from befor the ring was deposited, see PIA-01604 or PIA-02309.) Tvashtar was the site of an active curtain of high-temperature silicate lava imaged by Galileo in November 1999 and February 2000 (image PIA-02584). The new ring shows that Tvashtar must be the vent for the north polar plume imaged by Cassini from the other side of Io! This means the plume is actually about 385 kilometers (239 miles) high, just like Pele. The uncertainty in estimating the height is about 30 kilometers (19 miles), so the plume could be anywhere from 355 to 405 kilometers (221 to 252 miles) high.
If this new plume deposit is just one millimeter (four one-hundredths of an inch) thick, then the eruption produced more ash than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington.
NASA recently approved a third extension of the Galileo mission, including a pass over Io's north pole in August 2001. The spacecraft's trajectory will pass directly over Tvashtar at an altitude of 360 kilometers (224 miles). Will Galileo fly through an active plume? That depends on whether this eruption is long-lived, like Pele, or brief, and it also depends on how high the plume is next August. Two Pele-sized plumes are inferred to have erupted in 1979 during the four months between Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 flybys, as indicated by new Pele-sized rings in Voyager 2 images. Those eruptions, both from high-latitude locations, were shorter-lived than Pele, but their actual durations are unknown. Before its August flyby, Galileo will get another more-distant look at Tvashtar in May.
It has been said that Io is the heartbeat of the jovian magnetosphere. The two giant plumes evidenced in these images may have had significant effects on the types, density and distribution of neutral and charged particles in the Jupiter system during the joint observations of the system by Galileo and Cassini from November 2000 to March 2001.
These Cassini images were acquired on Jan. 2, 2001, except for the frame at the far right, which was acquired a day earlier. The Galileo images were acquired on Dec. 30 and 31, 2000.Cassini was about 10 million kilometers (6 million miles) from Io, ten times farther than Galileo.
More information about the Cassini and Galileo joint observations of the Jupiter system is available online at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/jupiterflyby .
Cassini is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Galileo and Cassini missions for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.
Jupiter Radiation Belts Harsher Than Expected
Radiation belts very close to Jupiter would zap any future spacecraft there even more severely than previously estimated, new measurements by NASA's Cassini spacecraft indicate.
The harshest radiation is within about 300,000 kilometers (about 200,000 miles) of the giant planet, closer in than NASA's Galileo orbiter has yet ventured and safely 300 times closer than Cassini's nearest approach when it passed Jupiter three months ago on its way to Saturn.
Cassini's Italian-made main antenna, through which the craft communicates with Earth and will radar-map Saturn's moon Titan, was used during the Jupiter flyby in a listen-only mode, pointed toward Jupiter. It caught details of the radiation belts' natural radio emissions not discernible from Earth or any earlier spacecraft, said Dr. Michael Janssen, team leader for the radiometer instrument. The quality of results is encouraging for radar research at Saturn, he said.
"We got some surprises," said Dr. Scott Bolton, a physicist for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "This has implications not only for understanding the physical processes in the radiation belts, but also for designing any spacecraft for future exploration close to Jupiter." Preliminary results from these radio-science investigations were presented today at meetings of the European Geophysical Society in Nice, France.
High-energy electrons, traveling at nearly the speed of light in spirals shaped by the magnetic field enveloping Jupiter, beam out radio emissions called synchrotron radiation. Synchrotron radiation is not the type that could damage spacecraft, but it provides information about the high-energy electrons emitting it, which are the potential hazards.
Earth-based radio telescopes have mapped some wavelengths of synchrotron emissions from Jupiter's radiation belts, and scientists have used that information to model the belts and estimate their potential to damage spacecraft. But the shortest wavelengths, emitted only by the highest-energy electrons in the belts, get lost in hundred-fold stronger, non-synchrotron radio emissions from heat in Jupiter's atmosphere.
As it flew past Jupiter, Cassini had a better angle for distinguishing atmospheric emissions from radiation belt emissions, though the task was still challenging. The craft had to rock back and forth to scan across the target area several times, then roll 90 degrees and scan back and forth again, to recognize the synchrotron radiation by its trait of polarization.
"Cassini, with its fabulous antenna, has been able to anchor the high-energy end of the electron spectrum from Jupiter's radiation belts for the first time," Bolton said.
Concurrent Earth-based measurements of radio emissions from Jupiter added context for interpreting the Cassini radiometric measurements. Scientists took readings at several wavelengths using the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array of radio telescopes near Socorro, N. M. And students at 25 middle schools and high schools in 13 states used a large dish antenna near Barstow, Calif., by remote control from their classrooms to monitor changes in Jupiter's emissions from week to week. The students' work, coordinated by a partnership of JPL's Deep Space Network and the Lewis Center for Educational Research, Apple Valley, Calif., helped rule out the possibility that Cassini's measurements happened to be made when emission levels were either unusually high or unusually low.
Cassini's measurements indicate that the highest-energy electrons are sparser than anticipated. That's not good news for spacecraft designers, though. Explaining the known levels of longer-wavelength synchrotron radiation without having as many of the highest-energy electrons as expected means estimates must be increased sharply for the number of electrons with slightly lower energy levels. Those electrons are still plenty energetic enough to fry electronic equipment. The increase in their numbers is many times greater than the decrease in numbers of highest-energy electrons, compared to the earlier estimates, so the net result is a more hazardous environment than previously estimated, Bolton said.
No approved NASA missions are currently planned for venturing as close to Jupiter as the region with the heightened estimates of radiation hazard, he said. The moon Europa, target of NASA's next planned mission to the jovian system, is about twice as far from planet. Europa is nevertheless in a hazardous enough radiation environment that the Europa Orbiter mission is being designed with substantial shielding and durable electronics. The new measurements by Cassini carry direct implications for potential closer-in exploration, such as Discovery mission proposals for orbital studies of Jupiter's atmosphere and internal structure.
The only spacecraft that has experienced the full blast of the radiation belts so far is the Galileo atmospheric probe, which passed through them quickly before plunging into Jupiter's atmosphere in 1995. The Galileo orbiter, which released that probe, will end its seven-year tour around Jupiter with a dive into the atmosphere in 2003. It has already endured more than three times the radiation exposure it was built to withstand.
The recent radio observations help with understanding how Jupiter's radiation belts work, as well as what hazards they present, Bolton said. "We would like to know more about their potential interactions with the atmosphere and with the rings," he said. Jupiter's radiation belts provide a useful comparison for better understanding of Earth's radiation belts, too.
Cassini is a cooperative mission of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. Additional information is available at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/ . JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages Cassini and Galileo for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.
BRIEFING WITH FIRST STATION CREW SET FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 30
Back from four and a half months in space, the first International Space Station crew members will discuss their flight, a mission that brought the orbiting science complex to life, during a press briefing beginning at 11:40 a.m. EST Friday, March 30.
International Space Station Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Soyuz Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev will participate in the press conference at the NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX. The briefing will be carried live on NASA Television and questions will be taken from media at participating NASA centers across the country.
Shepherd, Gidzenko and Krikalev were launched to the new, uninhabited International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakstan, Oct. 31, 2000. They returned to the Kennedy Space Center, FL, March 20, aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery after spending 141 days in space, 136 of them aboard the station. During the Expedition One mission, the complex was visited by three Space Shuttle missions and the space station more than doubled in size and power with the installation of giant solar arrays and the Destiny Laboratory module.
NASA TV is broadcast on satellite GE-2, transponder 9C, C- Band, located at 85 degrees West longitude. The frequency is 3880 MHz. Polarization is vertical and audio is monaural at 6.8 MHz.
On rusty-red Mars, a curious deposit of gray-colored hematite (a mineral cousin of common household rust) could hold the key to the mystery of elusive Martian water.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast28mar_1.htm?list448368
ATLANTIS ASTRONAUTS LAND AT THE WEST WING
It was a Texas reunion of sorts at the White House today as the crew of STS-98 and their families got an opportunity to spend some time with the President of the United States.
NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin and Mission Commander Kenneth Cockrell, a native of Austin, TX, led the rest of Cockrell's Space Shuttle Atlantis crewmates into the Oval Office for a meeting with President George W. Bush, the former Texas Governor.
Administrator Goldin and the crew presented the President, who is a former fighter jet pilot, with a blue NASA flight jacket.
During STS-98 in January, Commander Cockrell, Pilot Mark Polansky, and Mission Specialists Tom Jones, Marsha Ivins and Bob Curbeam, carried out one of the most important missions yet to the International Space Station, carrying the U.S. Destiny Laboratory Module to the orbiting research post. The crew also completed three spacewalks, relocated a docking port and delivered supplies and equipment to the Expedition One crew living aboard the space station. After today's White House visit, the crew went to Capitol Hill to meet with a number of Congressional leaders.
This trip to the Washington, DC area is a homecoming for astronauts Jones, Curbeam and Ivins, who were all born in Baltimore, MD. Earlier this week, all five crewmembers received an enthusiastic reception at the Maryland Science Center, where they met with hundreds of young students to talk about their experiences in space and the importance of a good education.
Next week, astronauts Jones and Curbeam plan to help the Baltimore Orioles launch a new baseball season by throwing out the first pitch at Camden Yards as part of the team's opening day celebration.
Images from today's White House visit are available on the Internet at: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/images/paoimages/sts_98/98_whitehouse/
March 28, 01
Extremely intense radiation from newly born
Extremely intense radiation from newly born, ultra-bright stars has blown a glowing spherical bubble in the nebula N83B. A new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image has helped to decipher the complex interplay of gas and radiation in a star-forming region of a nearby galaxy.
More at: http://spdext.estec.esa.nl/hubble/news/index.cfm?oid=26615
March 27, 01
NASA'S FIRST EARTH SCIENCE UPDATE: NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE BIOLOGICAL RECORD OF EARTH
NASA's first Earth Science Update features the first continuous global observations of the biological engine that drives life on our planet. The research is part of a study published in this week's issue of Science.
Scientists looked at the first three years of daily observations of ocean and land plants from the Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) mission. The data being gathered addresses issues such as where carbon goes and how much carbon is fixed by Earth's plants. Researchers will discuss how carbon is distributed between the land and the ocean and how carbon distribution has changed over time.
The update will be held at 2 p.m. EST, Wednesday, March 28, in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. SW, Washington, DC. It will be moderated by Dr. Mary Cleave, Deputy Associate Administrator for Earth Science, NASA Headquarters. Other participants include: * Dr. Michael Behrenfeld, Oceanographer, Goddard Space Flight Center * Dr. Gene Carl Feldman, Oceanographer and SeaWiFS Project Manager, Goddard Space Flight Center * Paul Falkowski, Professor II, the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences and the Institute of Geological Sciences at Rutgers University * Jorge L. Sarmiento, Professor of Geosciences at Princeton University
The briefing will be carried live on NASA Television with two- way question-and-answer capability for reporters covering the briefing from participating NASA centers. NASA TV is broadcast on satellite GE-2, transponder 9C, at 85 degrees West longitude, vertical polarization, frequency 3880 MHz, audio of 6.8 MHz. More information about SeaWiFS is available on the Internet at:
http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov:80/SEAWIFS.html
NASA TO DISCUSS EXPEDITION TWO PROGRESS
The second crew to live and work aboard the International Space Station has hit the ground running with activation and checkout of advanced communications systems, robotic workstations and scientific experiments housed in the Destiny Laboratory.
NASA mission managers will discuss the initial days on orbit of Expedition Two crew members, Russian Commander Yury Usachev and American Flight Engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms, during a mission status briefing Wednesday, March 28 at 2 p.m. EST. Lead Flight Director Rick LaBrode and Increment Scientist John Uri will review the first full week of the crew's work aboard the station and will preview future activities.
The briefing, originating from NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, will be carried live on NASA Television and will feature multi-center question-and-answer capability from participating NASA centers.
NASA TV is available on GE-2, Transponder 9C at 85 degrees West longitude, vertical polarization, with a frequency of 3880 MHz, and audio of 6.8 MHz.
COLLIDING SOLAR ERUPTIONS PACK POWERFUL MAGNETIC PUNCH
Fast-moving solar eruptions are overtaking and devouring their slower kin. The cosmic collisions apparently create strange radio fireworks that can be heard by astronomers.
Using the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft from NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), the team linked the radio outbursts to images of the solar eruptions, known as Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs).
Solar eruptions directed toward Earth are potentially harmful to advanced technology, including communications and power systems, and this cannibalistic behavior may result in longer magnetic storms. These collisions change the speed of the eruption, which is important for space weather prediction because it alters estimated arrival time of Earthbound coronal ejections.
"Coronal Mass Ejection cannibalism is the most violent form of interaction between CMEs," said Dr. Natchimuthuk Gopalswamy, lead author of a research paper presented today during a meeting of the European Geophysical Society in Nice, France. "This happens when a slow CME is expelled before a fast one from the same general region on the Sun. The fast CME simply gobbles up the slow CME, resulting in a single CME beyond the region of interaction."
Gopalswamy, a research professor with The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, is stationed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. He presented the research with his colleagues from Goddard, Catholic University and the Naval Research Laboratory.
Coronal mass ejections are clouds of electrified, magnetic gas, weighing billions of tons, ejected from the Sun and hurled into space at speeds of 12 to 1,250 miles per second. Depending on the orientation of the magnetic fields carried by the ejection cloud, Earth-directed eruptions cause magnetic storms by interacting with the Earth's magnetic field, distorting its shape and accelerating electrically charged particles trapped within.
The researchers believe cannibal eruptions may be the source of "complex ejecta" CME clouds, larger and more complex in structure than typical eruptions. These traits cause complex ejecta CMEs to trigger protracted magnetic storms when they envelop the Earth.
Severe solar weather is often heralded by dramatic auroral displays (northern and southern lights), but magnetic storms are occasionally harmful, potentially affecting satellites, radio communications and power systems. Understanding what happens to ejection clouds on their way to Earth is important in assessing their impact on the near-Earth space environment.
Observations from SOHO's Radio and Plasma Wave experiment revealed occasional intense bursts of emission originating far away from the Sun. When Gopalswamy and his colleagues were searching for the source of these radio outbursts, they discovered the ejection interaction, which produces high- energy electrons and cause the radio outbursts. After the initial discovery, 21 cannibalistic ejections have been identified since April 1997. There may be even more events that aren't detected because they are less energetic and do not produce a radio outburst, according to the researchers.
"Collisions between CMEs may be more common than previously thought and may play a key role in determining the interplanetary traffic of CMEs," Gopalswamy added.
The astronomers expect an increased rate of ejection interaction during the current peak in the 11-year cycle of violent solar activity, called solar maximum, because more ejections are expelled in quick succession during a solar maximum. During solar minimum, only one ejection per every other day is common; during maximum, several ejections occur in a day.
The cooperative SOHO project is part of NASA's and ESA's Solar Terrestrial Science Program (STSP), comprising of SOHO and CLUSTER. SOHO was launched Dec. 2, 1995. The SOHO spacecraft was built in Europe, and instruments were provided by European and American scientists.
For images and background information on the Internet, see:
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/GSFC/SpaceSci/sunearth/cannibalcme.htm
CORRECTED RELEASE COLLIDING SOLAR ERUPTIONS PACK POWERFUL MAGNETIC PUNCH
Fast-moving solar eruptions apparently overtake and often devour their slower kin. This discovery was made by a team of astronomers working with tandem NASA spacecraft.
Strange radio fireworks were first heard by the team using NASA's Wind spacecraft. The link to the cosmic collisions came when researchers linked the timing of the radio outbursts to images of solar eruptions consuming each other captured by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft from NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).
"Coronal Mass Ejection cannibalism is the most violent form of interaction between CMEs," said Dr. Natchimuthuk Gopalswamy, lead author of a research paper presented today during a meeting of the European Geophysical Society in Nice, France. "This happens when a slow CME is expelled before a fast one from the same general region on the Sun. The fast CME simply gobbles up the slow CME, resulting in a single CME beyond the region of interaction." Gopalswamy, a research professor with The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, is stationed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. He presented the research with his colleagues from Goddard, Catholic University and the Naval Research Laboratory.
Observations from Wind's Radio and Plasma Wave experiment revealed occasional intense bursts of emission originating far away from the Sun. When Gopalswamy and his colleagues were searching for the source of these radio outbursts, they discovered the ejection interaction, which produces high- energy electrons and cause the radio outbursts. After the initial discovery, 21 cannibalistic ejections have been identified since April 1997. There may be even more events that aren't detected because they are less energetic and do not produce a radio outburst, according to the researchers.
Fast-moving solar eruptions
Fast-moving solar eruptions that overtake and devour their slower-moving kin can trigger long-lasting geomagnetic storms --and dazzling auroras-- when they strike Earth's magnetosphere.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast27mar_1.htm?list448368
March 26, 2001
THE NEW AERIAL EXPLORERS: SELF-INFLATING SOLAR-HEATED BALLOONS
In the continuous quest to find cost-effective methods to explore the planets, NASA engineers have risen to the occasion by developing a variety of new balloon methods inspired by centuries-old, solar-heated hot-air balloons, as well as by conventional helium light-gas balloons.
For NASA, balloons are of considerable interest as a means of lowering spacecraft to a planet's surface, delivering instruments to various altitudes and performing aerial photography and other forms of remote-sensing science. Balloons can also potentially conduct explorations faster and cover greater distances than conventional ground-based planetary explorers.
"Solar-heated balloons can descend more slowly than heavier parachutes to drop off a payload, and yet they can rise again after the drop-off. They offer us bonus science because they can take off repeatedly during daylight hours, and land in hard-to- reach terrain," said Jack Jones, technical monitor for balloon activities at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Our inspiration comes from the centuries-old Montgolfiere balloons named after the two French Montgolfier brothers who flew the first hot-air balloon by burning a pile of wool and old shoes in 1783."
Other balloons use ammonia, which evaporates with solar heat, and causes inflation of the balloon. Helium balloons can also potentially be used and can fly for several weeks, which is much longer than the one-day flights of the solar heated balloons. The helium balloons tend to be heavier and more complicated since they must be stronger and carry their own high- pressure compressed gas cylinders for in-flight filling. All of these balloons can be used to explore the atmosphere and large areas of a planet's surface. "Thus far, most of our work has concentrated on balloon deployment testing in Earth's upper atmosphere, which simulates deployment in the cold, thin atmosphere like that of Mars," said Jones.
Engineers in JPL's Mechanical Systems Engineering and Research Division are also developing a variety of aerovehicles to explore other solar system bodies, such as Venus, Saturn's moon Titan, and the outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune). The aerovehicles include balloons designed to enable scientific exploration by either hovering over or soft landing on planetary bodies. Another class of inflatable drag devices, called ballutes, may someday be used to decelerate a spacecraft's speed to allow insertion into orbit.
In addition to solar-heated balloons, hot-gas balloons also look promising for Jupiter and Saturn, while balloons on Uranus and Neptune can capture light, high-altitude gas to float in the heavier atmosphere below the methane clouds. These balloons may be able to study the gas planets' internal energy sources and atmosphere.
On Venus, a combination helium-and-water or steam balloon may be used to make repeated descents to the hot, scalding surface with re-ascents to the upper, cooler clouds and perhaps help define what caused Earth's twin to have such a hot, greenhouse atmosphere. And on Titan, a helium-filled "aerover" may be able to fly like a blimp and then land as an amphibious rover to explore that moon's strange frozen surface and liquid hydrocarbon lakes or seas.
More information on JPL's balloon activities is available at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/adv_tech/balloons/summary.htm
JPL's planetary balloon activities are funded by the NASA Mars Exploration Office and the NASA Cross Enterprise Program. Managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, JPL is the lead U.S. center for robotic exploration of the solar system.
Current News From Mars Society-& Convention
Full: NASDA Report From Japan for March 27, 01
March 26,01
NASA AND NIMA BEGIN JOINT REVIEW OF MARS POLAR LANDER SEARCH ANALYSIS
NASA and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) today said researchers from the two agencies will continue a joint review of the initial results of NIMA's search for the missing Mars Polar Lander. This analysis is extremely challenging, and has thus far produced no definitive conclusions.
NIMA researchers used high resolution imagery from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, now in orbit around the Red Planet, in their effort to locate the lander and its components, including a protective aeroshell, heat shield and parachute.
One of the principal challenges in locating the missing lander using images from the orbiter is that the Mars Polar Lander is only somewhat larger -- about six and a half feet across -- than the smallest objects the orbiter's camera can see on the surface of Mars.
In an initial analysis, NIMA researchers reviewed and assessed features seen in several images that they believe could be indicative of the lander and its protective aeroshell. An alternative view presented by NASA is that these features could be noise introduced by the camera system, so further work between NASA and NIMA will be conducted to address differences of interpretation.
Both agencies intend to continue working together on the analysis of these images and of additional images of the landing site, which will be collected later this year.
The Mars Polar Lander was lost during its attempted landing on Mars, Dec. 3, 1999. Within two weeks, NASA began obtaining high resolution images of the intended landing site using the camera onboard the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor in an attempt to locate the lander on the Martian surface. No sign of the Mars Polar Lander was found in the NASA searches. In an independent search, starting about the same time, NASA and NIMA began working together to analyze images of the planet's surface.
NIMA, a Combat Support Agency of the Department of Defense and a member of the National Intelligence Community, provides imagery intelligence and geospatial information in support of national security objectives. Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, NIMA operates major facilities in northern Virginia; Washington, DC; and St. Louis, MO.
OSCARS GO GLOBAL WITH INTERNATIONAL INTRODUCTION FROM SPACE
It may not exactly be the big break they were looking for, but the Expedition Two crew onboard the International Space Station made its Hollywood debut during Sunday night's Academy Awards ceremony, which was seen by an international television audience of nearly 800 million viewers.
The 73rd annual Oscars started with a weightless space station introduction of this year's host - actor, comedian and writer, Steve Martin - albeit only a life-sized likeness. American astronaut Susan Helms, flanked by her crewmates, Russian Commander Yury Usachev and fellow astronaut Jim Voss, gave the show's master of ceremonies a proper send-off.
"The Academy Awards is one of the few events that you know the entire world watches," said NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin. "When producers of the Oscars' ceremony approached us, we thought it was an excellent opportunity to expose a global audience to the important work being done by NASA and its international partners in orbit on the International Space Station."
"The pace up there is incredible. The crew works so hard and is so dedicated," added Goldin. "It was nice to be able to offer them a chance to relax for a moment and have a little fun with the rest of the world."
Producers from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have a history of closely guarding details of the opening ceremony, and this year's program was no different. The introduction, shot in the near zero-gravity of space, was taped last week during the STS-102 mission that delivered the members of the Expedition Two crew to their new home.
For the next five months, the crew will open the space-based research outpost for business, beginning scientific work, checking out a new Canadian-supplied robotic arm and installing a new airlock designed for both U.S. and Russian spacesuits.
Additional information on the International Space Station, Expedition Two, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is available on the Internet at:
http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov http://www.oscar.org
March 26, 01
FINAL CREW MEMBERS NAMED TO HUBBLE OVERHAUL MISSION
Three astronauts have been named to complete the STS-109 crew already in training for a mission that will feature five spacewalks to upgrade NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in late 2001. The space walking astronauts will install an a powerful new camera, a more efficient set of solar arrays, a new power control unit and a device to mechanically cool an infrared science instrument.
Scott Altman, (Cmdr., USN), a two-time shuttle veteran, will command the STS-109 mission. He will be joined on the flight deck by pilot Duane Carey, (Lt. Col., USAF), making his first space flight, and flight engineer Nancy Currie (Lt. Col., USA, Ph.D.). Currie has three previous space flights to her credit.
They join the previously assigned crew members, payload commander John Grunsfeld, James Newman, Richard Linnehan and Michael Massimino.
STS-109 will mark Altman's first flight as Commander, having previously flown as pilot on STS-90 in 1998 and STS-106 in 2000. Currie, who brings extensive experience as flight engineer and robotic arm operator, flew on STS-57 in 1993, STS-70 in 1995, and STS-88 in 1998. A space rookie, Carey was selected as an astronaut in 1996.
Grunsfeld has flown three times, STS-67 in 1995, STS-81 in 1997, and STS-103 in 1999 when he performed two spacewalks to service the Hubble Space Telescope. Newman, veteran of three space flights, STS-51 in 1993, STS-69 in 1995, and STS-88 in 1998, has conducted four previous spacewalks. Linnehan flew on STS-78 in 1996 and STS-90 in 1998. Massimino is a member of the 1996 astronaut class.
A complete list of all astronauts and their biographical data can be found on the Internet at the following website:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/bios/
This Week on Galileo March 26 - April 1, 2001
The spacecraft executes two engineering activities this week. On Monday, the spacecraft makes a small turn, or attitude adjustment maneuver, which is used to keep the communications antenna pointed towards Earth. On Friday, there is a routine maintenance activity of the propulsion system.
This week will see the conclusion of the tape playback of the magnetospheric survey data that was acquired as the spacecraft travelled outbound from the December encounter with Jupiter and its moons. When that is complete, a second pass through the recorded data will begin. When playing back data from the tape recorder after one of its close encounters, Galileo employs a two-pass data return strategy. The first time through the tape, some high priority observations are returned, and small samples or highly compressed versions of data from other observations are usually taken. This gets important data to the scientists as soon as possible. Also, since the data are processed and filtered on board the spacecraft before they are transmitted to Earth, this gives the scientists the opportunity to react to any unusual data that they might see, and change the way the data are processed the second time they are played back, enhancing the information content.
A second pass through the tape also gives scientists a chance to play back data which were lost in transmission the first time. This can happen because of minor technical glitches at the ground communications antennas, or, more usually, because of bad weather at the site, which can interfere with the signal. After a journey of 800,000,000 kilometers (500,000,000 miles) through space from Jupiter, the last few miles through the Earth's atmosphere can be the most treacherous to a radio signal.
This week's second pass through the tape mostly contains data from the Photopolarimeter Radiometer (PPR), the Solid State Imager (SSI), and the Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS). PPR is playing back data from its Ganymede eclipse observation. SSI is returning data from its Ganymede eclipse aurora observation, its color observation of Ganymede's polar cap boundary, and its observation of the strike/slip fault region of Ganymede called Dardanus Sulcus. NIMS is filling in gaps and returning additional wavelength data from its regional Ganymede map.
For more information on the Galileo spacecraft and its mission to Jupiter, please visit the Galileo home page at one of the following URL's: http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo
First European workshop on Exo/AstrobiologyMarch 23, 2001
Event 21-May-2001 > 24-May-2001 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ First European Workshop on Exo/Astrobiology Meeting registration and hotel reservation info (PDF document) ESRIN home pageThis is the first of an intended series of workshops
aimed at bringing together European scientists to review the
status of Exo/Astrobiology and develop future plans and perspectives.
Organizers: European Exobiology Network and ESA ESA/ESRIN, Frascati (near Rome) Italy http://www.estec.esa.nl/conferences/01C17/index.html
March 22
NASA NAMES FUTURE SPACE STATION EXPEDITION CREWS
As the Expedition Two crew gets settled aboard the International Space Station, American crew members for future space station missions have begun formal training to meet launch dates, beginning in 2002.
The 14 astronauts, six assigned to primary crews and eight assigned to backup crews, will join a corps of expedition astronauts and cosmonauts previously named to the first four International Space Station expeditions. Russian members of these new expedition crews will be formally announced in the near future.
"These assignments signal that the space station is ready for long-term operations," said Charlie Precourt, the chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. "We have an outstanding corps of highly qualified astronauts who will complete assembly and take the station into a new era of scientific research in space."
The Expedition Five crew will consist of astronaut Peggy Whitson (Ph.D.) and two Russian cosmonauts, one of whom will be the mission commander. This will be Whitson's first space flight. She was selected as an astronaut in 1996 after serving in a number of research positions at Johnson. Astronaut Scott J. Kelly (Lt. Cmdr., USN), who flew on STS- 103 in 1999, will serve as Whitson's backup.
Kenneth Bowersox (Capt. USN) will command the Expedition Six crew that includes astronaut Donald Thomas (Ph.D.) and a Russian cosmonaut. Bowersox will be taking his fifth trip to space, having flown on STS-50 in 1992, STS-61 in 1993, STS-73 in 1995, and STS-82 in 1997. Bowersox also trained as a backup crew member to Bill Shepherd on the first expedition crew. Thomas, another veteran astronaut, flew in space on STS-65 in 1994, STS-70 in 1995, STS-83 in 1997, and STS-94 in 1997. Carlos I. Noriega (Lt. Col., USMC) is the backup commander to Bowersox, and Donald Pettit (Ph.D.) will back up Thomas. Noriega flew on STS-84 in 1997 and STS-97 in 2000, and Pettit is a space rookie.
American astronaut Ed Lu (Ph.D.) along with a Russian commander and flight engineer make up the Expedition Seven crew. Lu will take his third trip to space, having flown on STS-84 in 1997 and STS-106 in 2000. Paul Richards, also aboard the STS-102 mission, will serve as a backup to Lu.
Astronaut Michael Foale (Ph.D.), serving as commander of Expedition Eight, will have William McArthur (Col., USA) and a Russian cosmonaut as flight engineers. Foale has flown in space five times, including a long-duration stay aboard Mir in 1997. He served as a member of STS-45 in 1992, STS-56 in 1993, STS-63 in 1995, STS-84 and STS-86 on his trip to Mir, and STS-103 in 1999. McArthur will be taking his fourth trip into space, having flown on STS-58 in 1993, STS-74 in 1995, and STS-92 in 2000. Leroy Chiao (Ph.D.) is training as backup commander for Foale, and John Phillips (Ph.D.) will be McArthur's backup. Chiao is a space veteran with three missions, STS-65, STS-72, and STS-92, and Phillips is currently training for his first flight, STS-100, scheduled to launch in April 2001.
A list of all astronauts and cosmonauts in training at Johnson, along with their biographical data, can be found on the Internet at:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/
NASA ADMINISTRATOR RECOGNIZED FOR OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP IN MINORITY HIGHER EDUCATION
Recognized as one of the visionary leaders in involving Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) and other minority serving institutions in innovative science, technology and research, NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin will be honored with the Federal Leadership Award by the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO).
The award is presented to leaders in the federal government who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in advancing Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other minority serving institutions in their efforts to educate the nation's next generation of scientists and engineers.
NAFEO is an advocate for 118 of the Nation's historically and predominatly black colleges and universities. Its mission is to champion their interests through the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of federal and state government and to articulate the need for a system of higher education where race, ethnicity, socio-economic status and previous educational attainment levels are not determinants of either the quantity or quality of higher education.
"I am pleased to be honored by an organization that champions equal opportunity efforts in higher education," said Administrator Goldin. "I can assure you that the Agency's commitment and support for HBCU's and other minority serving institutions of higher learning will remain steadfast as we strive to further the Nation's agenda in science and technology."
The Administrator will accept the award tonight at NAFEO's 26th Annual Conference at the Hilton Washington Hotel, Washington, DC. "It is a special pleasure for NAFEO to honor NASA's exemplary leadership in securing numerous opportunities for the students, faculty, as well as alumni of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities to contribute to the Nation's aeronautic and space programs," said Henry Ponder, CEO and President, NAFEO.
During the last nine years, NASA has established significant partnerships with HBCU's, such as the University Research Centers at Minority Institutions, the NASA/NAFEO Louis Stokes Professional Leadership program and training programs that provide students, majoring in NASA-related fields, with scholarships, fellowships and discipline- related internships. These partnerships have resulted in the establishment of new doctorate programs at various HBCU's in physics, mechanical engineering, atmospheric sciences and environmental science and engineering
"The new millennium will present numerous opportunities to lead and participate in an explosion of scientific and technological achievements. We at NASA want to provide the opportunity for HBCU's, especially students and faculty at HBCU's, to contribute to the Agency's mission," said George Reese, Associate Administrator for NASA's Office of Equal Opportunity Programs.
Additional information on the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education and NASA's commitment to education can be found on the Internet at:
http://www.nafeo.org/ http://education.nasa.gov/
March 23, 2001
Solar power collected in space and beamed to Earth could be an environmentally friendly solution to our planet's growing energy problems.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast23mar_1.htm?list448368 March 22, 2001
Mir destroyed in fiery descent @ CNN
NASA IMAGE REVEALS GIANT CHIP OFF THE ANTARCTIC ICE BLOCK
There appears to be a new crack in the Antarctic's icy armor. The massive iceberg-to-be was captured by a NASA satellite that's also tracing hidden continental features that shape the future of the world's largest ice sheets.
Landsat 7, a cooperative mission between NASA and the United States Geological Survey, Reston, VA, completed its second annual continent-wide mapping of Antarctica last month. With its capability to see features as small as 15 meters (50 feet) across, Landsat 7 provides the most detailed observations available of the remote continent, many parts of which have never been mapped at this resolution before.
"This multi-year archive of Landsat 7 images is an invaluable investment in research on Antarctica," says glaciologist Robert Bindschadler of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, a member of the Landsat 7 science team. "We only have one chance to capture today's changes on this dynamic continent, and with this targeted mapping strategy, we're committed to doing that." NASA plans to conduct annual Antarctic surveys.
On January 16 Bindschadler, during his daily review of new Landsat 7 images of Antarctica, noticed a striking feature on the Pine Island Glacier: a thin crack more than 25 kilometers (15 miles) long, stretching more than two-thirds of the way across the glacier. There was no crack in a previous image 10 months earlier.
To get a fix on when the fracture had formed and how fast it was growing, Bindschadler contacted colleagues working with other earth-observing sensors -- two instruments onboard NASA's Terra satellite, the Canadian Space Agency's Radarsat, and the European Space Agency's radar imager. By comparing observations from different dates, the researchers were able to estimate the growth rate of the crack and when it had formed.
"Most of this crack formed very rapidly, in less than five weeks," says Bindschadler. "Right now it is growing much more slowly, at about 13 meters (40 feet) a day. My prediction is that the crack will result in the calving of a major iceberg in probably less than 18 months."
Landsat 7 was launched by NASA in April 1999 and began routine scientific observations in June 1999. Images are archived, processed, and distributed by the U.S. Geological Survey, which is also responsible for day-to-day operations of the satellite.
Landsat 7 passes over the continent 16 times a day in its nearly pole-to-pole orbit, taking an average of 300 images each week during the Antarctic summer (November to February) when the surface is best illuminated with sunlight.
This year's collection of images promises to reveal a wealth of new surface features due to a change in the spacecraft's observing schedule. In previous years, Landsat took images of the surface as it approached the pole, but this year for the first time images were taken after the spacecraft passed by the pole. The new viewing angle changed the patterns of shadows on the uniform, white surface, exposing subtle differences in surface topography.
When the two years of Antarctic images taken at different sunlit angles are combined, researchers will not only have an unprecedented view of the ice surface, they will also be able to infer the hidden topography of the continental bed below. Features visible on the ice are shaped by the contours and roughness of the underlying surface as the ice slowly moves across it.
This Landsat 7 project is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, an interdisciplinary research program dedicated to improving our understanding of the Earth System and how it is changing due to both natural and human-induced processes.
Images to illustrate this story are available on the Internet at: http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/earth/environ/antarctic/pineisland.htm
March 21, 2001
THE STAR, NOT THE INSTRUMENT, WAS ON THE BLINK
When a star tracker on NASA's Galileo spacecraft temporarily lost a star being used as a reference point for monitoring the spacecraft's attitude, engineers suspected an aberration in the equipment, not in the star.
After all, this particular star is one of the 50 brightest in the sky, brighter than the North Star. And it wasn't listed -- at least not yet, when Galileo stopped recognizing it for about eight hours last June -- among the thousands of stars known to vary in brightness. It is Delta Velorum, in the southern-hemisphere constellation Vela, the sail. "I spent about a week working on it, and concluded the star scanner wasn't broken, but perhaps the star was," said Paul Fieseler, an engineer for the Galileo project at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Galileo was never intended to make discoveries about distant stars while it orbits Jupiter, studying that planet and its surroundings. But combining information from the spacecraft's star tracker with careful observations by amateur astronomers in South America and Africa has led to a scientific report, published by the International Astronomical Union, that Delta Velorum does indeed vary in brightness.
"Variable stars are common, but it's been a surprise that a star so bright could be variable without anybody reporting it before," said Fieseler. He co-authored the report with amateur astronomer Sebastian Otero of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and astronomer Christopher Lloyd of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in England.
Fieseler wanted to figure out why the star tracker acted as if Delta Velorum had disappeared. The star is one of about 150 bright ones the tracker is programmed to recognize by their brightness and their position in relation to other bright stars. He quickly checked that Delta Velorum wasn't listed as a variable star, then tried to determine why the star scanner wasn't working right.
"We were at a loss to understand what happened, but the problem didn't happen again, so we just went on to other things," said Fieseler. He did, however, send an e-mail to the American Association of Variable Star Observers, letting that network of amateur and professional astronomers know about the incident. He also found data from a few hours in November 1989 when the instrument measured a brief dip in the same star's brightness.
Through various forwardings, Fieseler's message reached Otero, who likes to check the sky for errors and omissions in catalogues of stars' apparent brightness. Otero had noticed a one-night dimming of Delta Velorum in 1997, and had checked it frequently since then, observing it dim three additional times. He contacted Fieseler in October about his observations.
"I had almost forgotten about the whole thing when I got this e-mail from Argentina," Fieseler said.
Otero and Lloyd used the information from Galileo, as well as Otero's observations, to calculate the rhythm of the dimming events. They predicted the next two, at 45-day intervals. Several amateur astronomers in South America, Africa and Australia, watched Delta Velorum and confirmed the accuracy of the predictions.
Delta Velorum was previously known to be a multiple star, a tight grouping of at least five stars. The pattern of dimming indicates that what had been seen as the brightest individual member of the group is actually two stars of similar brightness orbiting each other and periodically coming in front of each other, according to Otero, Fieseler and Lloyd. When either one eclipses the other, the total brightness declines by about 30 percent. Such mutually eclipsing binary stars are one of the common types of variable stars. Galileo's star tracker knew how to recognize Delta Velorum at its usual brightness, but when the brightness dipped, that dot of light no longer fit the programmed criteria, Fieseler said. If the instrument had not lost the star, Fieseler wouldn't have been looking for an explanation and Galileo would not have added a star's variability to its list of discoveries.
Two factors may explain why nobody appears to have noticed this star's variability before Otero. The amount of change in brightness is small enough that it is difficult to gauge by eye, and the change happens only during a few hours every 45 days.
More information about Galileo, which has been orbiting Jupiter since 1995, is available at http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov . JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.
Staying Cool on the ISS
In a strange new world where hot air doesn't rise and heat doesn't conduct, the International Space Station's thermal control systems maintain a delicate balance between the deep-freeze of space and the Sun's blazing heat.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast21mar_1.htm?list448368
SUCCESSFUL X-40A TEST FLIGHT GIVES MAJOR BOOST TO NASA'S X-37 PROGRAM
The X-40A glided to the runway at Edwards Air Force Base in ß California, its nose wheel set down smoothly, and the test vehicle rolled to a gentle stop, but no pilot exited the craft, for there was no pilot. The X-40A flew itself, guided by its on-board systems.
"It was truly a beautiful sight, and cause for celebration," said Susan Turner, NASA's X-37 program manager at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL.
The X-40A's free flight and landing was conducted as part of the X- 37 program, intended to reduce the risk of flight-testing the X-37, not from 15,000 feet like the X-40A, but from low Earth orbit. The X-37 is an experimental re-entry vehicle that will enable NASA to test advanced technologies in the harsh environment of space and in returning through Earth's atmosphere.
This first successful test of the X-40A by NASA was a big step forward for the X-37 program. Its primary objective was to validate the vehicle's Computed Air Data Systems (CADS), which also will be used in the flight control system of the X-37.
"Our initial review of the test shows the vehicle's performance matched our predictions nearly perfectly," said Turner.
This flight also demonstrated the kind of teamwork that will be needed for NASA to develop a second generation, reusable launch vehicle capable of replacing today's space shuttle. The Boeing Company, NASA's partner in X-37, made major modifications to the X- 40A, which was on loan from the U.S. Air Force, which also participates in the X-37 program. The test was conducted by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA, with the cooperation of Edwards Air Force Base. And the X-37 was lifted into the sky and released by a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter provided by Fort Rucker, AL.
The X-37 program consists of three phases of flight-testing: The X- 40A free-flight series is phase one; phase two begins with X-37 unpowered flights; and phase three will be the orbital test flights.
"Incremental testing is a cost-effective approach to designing an experimental spacecraft," said Turner. "By leveraging an existing asset -- the X-40A -- we obtain valuable information that enhances the likelihood of mission success for the X-37.
"Upcoming free flights will push the envelope further. Each time, we'll change some of the test variables of the X-40 to check the vehicle's controllability and maneuverability in a different flight situation. The results will help us determine our safety parameters when we fly the X-37."
A second free-flight test of the X-40A is scheduled for early April. The objectives are the same as the first flight; however, engineers will modify control variables to see how the vehicle responds.
The X-40A test vehicle was built in 1998 for the Air Force by The Boeing Company at its Seal Beach, CA, facility. It has a fuselage length of 22 feet (about 6.7 meters), a wing span of 12 feet (about 3.65 meters) and weighs about 2,600 pounds (about 1179 kilograms). It is an 85-percent-scale version of the X-37.
The X-37 government team, led by Marshall, includes NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA; Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX; Kennedy Space Center, FL; Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD; Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA; Dryden Flight Research Center and the Air Force Flight Test Center, both at Edwards Air Force Base in Edwards, CA; and the Space and Missile Systems Center and the Air Force Research Laboratory in Albuquerque, NM. The X-37 industry team is led by Boeing at Seal Beach, CA.
After all, this particular star is one of the 50 brightest in the sky, brighter than the North Star. And it wasn't listed -- at least not yet, when Galileo stopped recognizing it for about eight hours last June -- among the thousands of stars known to vary in brightness. It is Delta Velorum, in the southern-hemisphere constellation Vela, the sail.
"I spent about a week working on it, and concluded the star scanner wasn't broken, but perhaps the star was," said Paul Fieseler, an engineer for the Galileo project at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Delta Velorum was previously known to be a multiple star, a tight grouping of at least five stars. The pattern of dimming indicates that what had been seen as the brightest individual member of the group is actually two stars of similar brightness orbiting each other and periodically coming in front of each other, according to Otero, Fieseler and Lloyd. When either one eclipses the other, the total brightness declines by about 30 percent. Such mutually eclipsing binary stars are one of the common types of variable stars.
Galileo's star tracker knew how to recognize Delta Velorum at its usual brightness, but when the brightness dipped, that dot of light no longer fit the programmed criteria, Fieseler said. If the instrument had not lost the star, Fieseler wouldn't have been looking for an explanation and Galileo would not have added a star's variability to its list of discoveries.
eas: Most of their time is spent frozen in the outer reaches of the solar system. But when these balls of ice and dust, which we know as comets, decide to make an appearance, the spectacle is often grandiose. This is mainly caused by their warming up as they approach the Sun. Astronomers then have a chance to investigate comets closely, including at X-ray wavelengths, as XMM-Newton did at the end of January 2001.
More at: http://sci.esa.int/content/news/index.cfm?aid=23&cid=45&oid=26438
NEW SCANNER HELPS THE SEARCH FOR SHUTTLE TILE FLAWS
NASA workers who face the critical and often tedious task of evaluating damage to the space shuttle's protective thermal tiles now have some high-tech help in the form of a new portable, digital inspection system.
Engineers from NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, and the Boeing Co., Huntington Beach, CA, delivered a hand-held laser scanner earlier this month to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, FL, for evaluation.
The shuttle's thermal tiles protect the orbiter and its crew from temperatures ranging from minus 250 degrees Fahrenheit in space, to nearly 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit during the superheated reentry. After each flight, every one of the more than 24,000 tiles that cover the shuttle's surface must be inspected. "Tests at Ames and at Kennedy have demonstrated the scanner's ability to measure surface flaws on thermal-protection tile and blanket samples," said Ames senior project engineer Joseph Lavelle.
The scanner uses a digital camera and lasers in a measurement technique called laser triangulation and is the first step toward the development of an Electronic Inspection and Mapping System (EIMS) that could aid the evaluation of the shuttle's Thermal Protection System (TPS).
"This new scanner, along with the rest of the EIMS currently in development at Kennedy, could increase the accuracy and reliability of our damage measurements," said Suzy Cunningham, Kennedy's TPS project manager. "The system could make the inspection process more efficient, which could eventually reduce vehicle turn-around time. Tile inspection is a very time-consuming process."
The hand-held instrument is a 5-by-9-inch box that, when placed over a tile, measures flaws within a 3-by-3-inch area. The scanner sends the data to a laptop computer. The software locates and characterizes the damage and generates a 3-D image, indicating the size and depth of the flaw.
The system also contains a database of tile fabrication and maintenance information for every tile on the orbiter being measured. The latest TPS information and updates for each of NASA's four shuttles can be downloaded from a computer as required.
"A major challenge has been reducing the size of the system so it fits into small areas, such as those around the scaffolding that surrounds the orbiter during its post-landing maintenance," noted Lavelle. "With input from Kennedy engineers and United Space Alliance (USA) technicians, we have been very aggressive about making the scanner smaller."
The software also offers USA technicians various repair options. "Our California developers are writing software that integrates systems developed by Ames, Boeing Florida Operations at Kennedy, and Boeing-Huntington Beach," said Claudia Silverman, Boeing project manager at the Huntington Beach facility. "We are proud of the product and the team effort."
Lavelle said this electronic inspection technology also may have applications in other fields, such as integrated circuit inspection and in any manufacturing process that requires high accuracy.
"With the first phase of this project completed, we have already seen tremendous teamwork between NASA's field centers and the contractors," added Cunningham. "This is a clear indication of the cooperation we'll see as we develop a complete system."
Images of the scanner are available on the Internet at:
http://amesnews.arc.nasa.gov/releases/2001/01images/scanner/scanner. html http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/captions/hotpics.htm
ROCKET, PLEASE "PHONE HOME"
Imagine a day when self-diagnostic tools allow future rockets to phone home with vital information about their condition, location and performance. NASA engineers hope that day comes sooner than later and believe the technology could replace expensive ground systems, reducing the cost of space flight.
The "Flight Modem," being developed at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA, allows a rocket or any other flight vehicle to communicate with ground controllers without the traditional and costly equipment typically associated with flight missions.
"Accessing space is costly, and it represents a major impediment for both government and industry exploration and research," said Jay Pittman, Advanced Range Technology Initiative (ARTI) engineer at Wallops. "The flight modem and innovations like it could reduce or even eliminate some of the costs associated with ground-based tracking-systems operations and maintenance."
The Flight Modem, located aboard the rocket, basically acts like a cell phone and places a call, through orbiting satellites, to ground controllers. The modem can relay the position of the rocket and may one day also provide information on the performance and health of the vehicle and its payload.
A prototype system, costing less than $2,500 and based on off-the- shelf components, was flown in early February aboard a Nike-Orion suborbital rocket from Kiruna, Sweden. At launch, the modem, which weighed less than three pounds, phoned home via the Globalstar Communications satellite constellation. Engineers are now analyzing the system's performance.
"This is really a breakthrough for us," said Dwayne Morgan, lead engineer on the Flight Modem. "The data looked even better than we hoped. What this means is that it may be possible to track and communicate with our launch vehicles on demand, at very low systems and mission operations costs."
"Our goal in ARTI is to revolutionize the way we support tracking and commanding an in-flight expendable launch vehicle. The performance of the Flight Modem prototype system during the first flight test showed we are on the right track," Morgan said.
Pittman said, "When perfected, the Flight Modem could become a pervasive presence in aircraft and launch vehicle activities and the basis for development of applications that haven't even been thought of yet. We could imagine science or even commercial aircraft 'phoning in' data for analysis from anywhere in the world and from any kind of platform. The cost is so low and the concept so simple it is hard to predict where and how this technology will be used."
Additional information on the Flight Modem and the Advanced Range Technology Initiative can be found on the Internet at:
http://www.wff.nasa.gov/~fltmodm/
http://thinh.gsfc.nasa.gov/arti/arti4.htm
March 20, 2001 REGIONAL WINNERS NAMED IN STUDENT-BUILT ROBOT COMPETITION
Last weekend, students from Southern California, Central California and Arizona had the opportunity to rub metal, burn rubber and duke it out against the world's finest student- built robots during a regional competition held March 15-17 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.
The robots took part in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Southern California Regional Competition, where 47 robots and nearly 2,000 high school students engaged in all the thrills of competition. FIRST is a non-profit organization whose mission is to generate an interest in science and technology.
The championship team alliance, made up of five teams representing the region, will work together in the national competition.
"This program pulls the blinds up and kids are exposed to other careers they may not have considered before. The students learn a valuable lesson: to work as a team toward a common goal," said Rob Steele, robotics engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and mentor to the student team at Hope Chapel Academy, Hermosa Beach, Calif.. "In some respects, it's like working on a mission, where each person works on one part or component toward one common goal: mission success. In this case, all five robots worked together to get the job done."
The championship team alliance is: Bellarmine College Preparatory, San Jose, Calif. Hamilton High School, Chandler, Ariz. Hope Chapel Academy, Hermosa Beach, Calif. Mira Costa, Manhattan Beach, and Redondo Union High School, Redondo Beach, Calif. Newbridge High School, Los Angeles, Calif.
The regional is one of 13 competitions around the country in which more than 530 teams will compete in a national robotics competition at Walt Disney World's EPCOT Center in Orlando, Fla., April 5-7.
Nationwide, NASA has awarded 100 sponsorships to high schools and locally, JPL has awarded 24 teams with sponsorships to help competitors in the Southern California regional contest. Results are at http://www.usfirst.org/2001comp/CA1/results.html .
The following 10 JPL-sponsored teams took awards at the regional competition (all are in California unless otherwise noted):
- Team Spirit: Cactus High School, Glendale, Ariz. - Sportsmanship: South High School, Bakersfield - Leadership in Control: Van Nuys High School, Van Nuys - Highest Rookie Seed: Granada Hills High School, Granada Hills - Rookie All-Star: Hart High School, Newhall - "It Takes Heart" Judge's Award: Dorsey High School, Los Angeles - Regional Finalists: South High School, Bakersfield Taft High School, Woodland Hills Hope Chapel Academy, Hermosa Beach JPL is sponsoring three teams to go to the nationals: Hope Chapel Academy, Hermosa Beach; Archer School for Girls and King Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science, both in Los Angeles. More information on FIRST is available at: http://technology.jpl.nasa.gov/announcements/first.html
Managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, JPL is the lead U.S. center for robotic exploration of the solar system.
March 20, 2001
DEEP SPACE 1 LOADS UP FOR TREK TO COMET
NASA's Deep Space 1 spacecraft, sailing through the solar system today, has taken delivery of a new cargo: the latest software for its ambitious encounter with Comet Borrelly this September.
After successfully finishing its primary mission in 1999 as a testing ground for important new technologies, NASA approved a risky bonus mission to Comet Borrelly for Deep Space 1. There the spacecraft will take black-and-white pictures, use infrared pictures to find out the nature of the comet's surface, measure and identify the gases coming from the comet, and measure the interaction of solar wind with the comet. To take pictures of the comet, Deep Space 1 must upgrade its software's pointing system to turn the spacecraft from a testbed for advanced technologies to a chronicler of Comet Borrelly.
"Deep Space 1's previous version of software, which was transmitted to the spacecraft eight months ago, has proven itself during the surprisingly successful flight through the solar system since then, but now we're giving the probe a new assignment," said Dr. Marc Rayman, the project manager. "And in order to prepare for this exciting and daring comet encounter, the software needs to be upgraded."
The spacecraft team will be checking the software, radioed to Deep Space 1 throughout the week of March 5. The first check came when the team actually received a signal from the spacecraft after it shut the main computer off and restarted it. Since the software sent by the team works well, the spacecraft sent a signal indicating it is healthy. Now engineers are giving the spacecraft's new software a thorough physical checkup.
"The process of transmitting the new software to the spacecraft, rebooting the on-board computer to begin running it, verifying that the spacecraft is working properly with the new software and restoring the craft to its cruise configuration, all when the spacecraft is 318 million kilometers (197 million miles) away, is a complex and tricky operation, " said Daniel Eldred, the Deep Space 1 mission manager.
The new software contains capabilities that will be needed when the spacecraft gets to Borrelly. The new commands will include lessons that Deep Space 1 learned in its 1999 encounter with asteroid Braille about the behavior of the spacecraft when it gets close to a solar system object.
The spacecraft carries a device, part of the successful new technology system, which holds two cameras. One uses a conventional charge-coupled device detector, the other a new technology detector. The test camera, though performing its initial tests successfully, wasn't equipped to deal with the very dark object that Braille turned out to be. Small bodies like asteroids and comets are still a mystery. Since they're so small and distant, their exact size and shape can't usually be determined from Earth. Deep Space 1 plans to use its tried- and-true CCD camera to try to snap photos of Borrelly. The team will send commands to the new software to stop using the test camera and start using the CCD camera, which will take a larger picture with more light.
In late 1999, after the successful end of its primary mission, Deep Space 1 lost its star tracker, and the spacecraft had to be reconfigured to use the photographic camera to orient itself by the stars around it. In order to take pictures of Borrelly, the camera can't align the spacecraft and snap photos of the comet at the same time. Instead, the spacecraft will have to rely on its fiber-optic gyroscopes to help maintain its orientation. But the gyros are not accurate enough by themselves, so the new software will try to correct for those inaccuracies. The new software is designed to help the camera stay pointed at the comet's nucleus during the 15 minutes that the camera will attempt to observe the comet. Deep Space 1 was launched in October 1998 as part of NASA's New Millennium Program, which is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA.
Deep Space 1 completed its primary mission testing ion propulsion and 11 other advanced technologies in September 1999. NASA extended the mission, taking advantage of the ion propulsion and other systems to target a chancy but exciting encounter with the comet in September 2001. More information can be found on the Deep Space 1 Home Page at http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/ds1/ .
March 19, 01
eas:
Geophysicists attending next week's General Assembly of the European Geophysical Society in Nice won't just be discussing the latest scientific research about the Earth. They will also be turning their attention to other bodies within our solar system and the missions Europe is sending to explore them.
More information at: http://sci.esa.int/
NASA ASTROBIOLOGY INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES NEW TEAMS
NASA has selected four new teams to become part of the agency's Astrobiology Institute (NAI), a national and international research consortium that studies the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life on Earth and in the universe.
After a highly competitive peer-review process, teams from Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing; the University of Rhode Island (URI), Kingston; the University of Washington (UW),Seattle; and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA, today were notified of their selection.
These new teams of researchers will bring specialized expertise to the Institute, allowing its members to more deeply investigate the diversity of life inhabiting extreme environments on Earth and to develop analytical models to search for habitable planets outside our Solar System.
The MSU team, led by Dr. Michael Thomashow, will examine low- temperature Earth analogs to possible life on Mars and Europa by analyzing genetic material and proteins of bacteria from the Arctic and Antarctic permafrost. Data from the gene- expression analysis will be important for understanding the biology of "hitch-hiker" microbes traveling through space on meteorites and other bodies.
The University of Rhode Island Team, led by Dr. Steven D'Hondt, will examine the deep biosphere of the Earth and the "extremophile" communities that thrive in this extreme environment. This research will include developing bio- geochemical markers for life for use on future astrobiology missions.
The new team based at UW will address a broad series of important areas in astrobiology, ranging from biogeochemistry of the earliest life on Earth to the formation, evolution and potential for life on planets outside our Solar System. This team is led by Dr. Peter Ward.
Dr. Victoria Meadows will lead the JPL team, which will conduct research on recognizing the biospheres of extrasolar planets. The results of her team's work are expected to directly influence the development of future space missions such as Terrestrial Planet Finder, which will look for habitable planets around other "Suns."
With today's additions, the NAI represents a partnership between NASA and 14 major national and three international research institutions to promote, conduct and lead integrated, multidisciplinary astrobiology research and to train a new generation of researchers in the discipline of astrobiology. The NASA Astrobiology Institute, with Central Offices at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, was founded in 1997.
More information on NAI is available on the Internet at:
http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/
March 19, 2001
Stardust Team Develops Technique to Keep Camera Clear
In December, Stardust, the mission to Comet Wild 2 to capture dust particles and return them to Earth, cleared a coating that was clouding its camera optics by applying heat. Today, team members are investigating the reappearance of the coating, which is similar to the frost on a car windshield, and they plan to use the same heating technique again to clean up the optics.
The camera is designed to guide Stardust to its encounter with Comet Wild 2 in 2004 and is still capable of meeting its objectives. As Stardust passed by Earth last January, it snapped pictures of the Moon with excellent resolution and similar pictures will be acquired of the comet during the Wild 2 flyby. Engineers deduced that the clouding of the lens might be due to a substance that evaporates and settles, clinging to the coldest parts of the camera.
"We believe that the heating option will give us back our improved sensitivity performance and reduced scattered light, thereby providing excellent images at Comet Wild 2," said Stardust project manager Tom Duxbury of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. A longer period of heating may clean the optics permanently. If not, heat will be applied again as the spacecraft gets closer to the comet.
The mission will bring back more than 1,000 dust particles from the coma, the cloud of dust and gas that surrounds a comet. Stardust's Cometary and Interstellar Dust Analyzer (CIDA), provided by the Max-Planck-Institut fur extraterrestrische Physik of Garching, Germany, will capture comet dust, study its composition, and transmit the data back as the spacecraft flies through space. A dust flux monitor, provided by the University of Chicago, will measure the comet particle count and size during the encounter.
During the latest imaging sessions, the filter wheel, which allows imaging in different colors of light, was found to be stuck in one position, the optical navigation position, which uses a clear filter. This could be due to any of several possible situations, such as a faulty power supply, a shorted coil or a locked wheel. The imaging at the comet will only be minimally affected since the camera will continue to take black and white pictures of an object that probably has very little color. The primary objectives of the camera, which guide the spacecraft to the comet and take images of the comet nucleus, will still be carried out in full.
Stardust, a part of NASA's Discovery Program of low-cost, highly focused science missions, was built by Lockheed Martin Astronautics and Operations, Denver, Colo. is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. The Principal Investigator is astronomy professor Donald E. Brownlee of the University of Washington in Seattle. More information on the Stardust mission is available at http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html.
This Week on Galileo March 19 - 25, 2001
This week's major scheduled activity is a routine maintenance of the on-board tape recorder, which occurs on Friday. On Thursday, a new set of commands will be loaded into the spacecraft computers. These commands will govern the activities of the spacecraft between March 24 (Saturday) and May 22.
This week's playback begins with the final set of observations taken by the Solid State Imaging camera (SSI) of the ring system of Jupiter. These pictures were taken on January 2, as Galileo was looking back at a receding Jupiter. From that vantage point, the Sun was behind the spacecraft, and the rings could be seen in the light that they reflected back towards the camera. When the Voyager cameras first observed the Jupiter ring system back in 1979, that spacecraft was in Jupiter's shadow, looking back in the direction of the Sun, and the rings were seen by the light that scattered in the forward direction by the tiny ring particles. By viewing the rings from these varying geometries, scientists learn about the size and other properties of the small grains that make up Jupiter's rings.
This week also sees the beginning of playback for another portion of the 14-week-long continuous magnetospheric survey conducted by Galileo as it passed through the depths of the system in December. The survey began in late Octover of 2000 and continued through early February of this year. The Fields and Particles instruments which participated in this observation were the Dust Detector, Energetic Particle Detector, Heavy Ion Counter, Magnetometer, Plasma Detector, and Plasma Wave instrument. The intent of the investigation was to provide continuous sampling as the spacecraft passed from the solar wind, through the outer reaches of the magnetosphere, into the inner portions near Jupiter, and then back out again. Since the ground communications antennas used to receive Galileo data must be shared among many space projects, the on-board tape recorder was used to store the data collected by the instruments approximately once per day, while the antennas were busy elsewhere. The data now being played back were recorded on the outbound leg of this orbit, beginning on January 1.
This survey was conducted in cooperation with the Cassini spacecraft, which was passing by Jupiter at the same time, on its way out to Saturn. This portion of the observation carried Galileo out through the magnetosheath, the bow shock, and into the solar wind, outside of the direct influence of Jupiter's powerful magnetic field. By studying this passage, scientists hope to learn more about how the planet's extensive and complex magnetospheric system changes with time. This type of study cannot be done from Earth, but must rely on the presence of instrumented spacecraft, such as Galileo and Cassini, which can immerse themselves in the environments that they measure.
2001 MARS ODYSSEY SET TO FIND OUT WHAT MARS IS MADE OF
When NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey launches in April to explore the fourth planet from the Sun, it will carry a suite of scientific instruments designed to tell us what makes up the Martian surface, and provide vital information about potential radiation hazards for future human explorers.
"The launch of 2001 Mars Odyssey represents a milestone in our exploration of Mars -- the first launch in our restructured Mars Exploration Program we announced last October," said Dr. Ed Weiler, Associate Administrator for Space Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC. "Mars continues to surprise us at every turn. We expect Odyssey to remove some of the uncertainties and help us plan where we must go with future missions."
Set for launch April 7 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, Odyssey is NASA's first mission to Mars since the loss of two spacecraft in 1999. Other than our Moon, Mars has attracted more spacecraft exploration attempts than any other object in the solar system, and no other planet has proved as daunting to success. Of the 30 missions sent to Mars by three countries over 40 years, fewer than one-third have been successful.
The Odyssey team conducted vigorous reviews and incorporated "lessons learned" in the mission plan. "The project team has looked at the people, processes, and design to understand and reduce our mission risk," said George Pace, 2001 Mars Odyssey project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA. "We haven't been satisfied with just fixing the problems from the previous missions. We've been trying to anticipate and prevent other things that could jeopardize the success of the mission."
Odyssey is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long- term robotic exploration initiative launched in 1996 with Mars Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor. "The scientific trajectory of the restructured Mars Exploration Program begins a new era of reconnaissance with the Mars Odyssey orbiter," said Dr. Jim Garvin, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program. "Odyssey will help identify and ultimately target those places on Mars where future rovers and landers must visit to unravel the mysteries of the Red Planet".
NASA's latest explorer carries three scientific instruments to map the chemical and mineralogical makeup of Mars: a thermal- emission imaging system, a gamma ray spectrometer and a Martian radiation environment experiment. The imaging system will map the planet with high-resolution thermal images and give scientists an increased level of detail to help them understand how the mineralogy of the planet relates to the landforms. The part of Odyssey's imaging system that takes pictures in visible light will see objects with a clarity that fills the gaps between the Viking orbiter cameras of the 1970s and today's high-resolution images from Mars Global Surveyor.
Like a virtual shovel digging into the surface, Odyssey's gamma ray spectrometer will allow scientists to peer into the shallow subsurface of Mars, the upper few centimeters of the crust, to measure many elements, including the amount of hydrogen that exists. Since hydrogen is mostly likely present in the form of water ice, the spectrometer will be able to measure permanent ground ice and how that changes with the seasons.
"For the first time at Mars we will have a spacecraft that is equipped to find evidence for present near-surface water and to map mineral deposits from past water activity," said Dr. Steve Saunders, 2001 Mars Odyssey project scientist at JPL. "Despite the wealth of information from previous missions, exactly what Mars is made of is not fully known, so this mission will give us a basic understanding about the chemistry and mineralogy of the surface."
The Martian radiation environment experiment will be the first to look at radiation levels at Mars as they relate to the potential hazards faced by future astronauts. The experiment will take data on the way to Mars and in orbit around the Red Planet. After completing its primary mission, the Odyssey orbiter will provide a communications relay for future American and international landers, including NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers, scheduled for launch in 2003.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. Principal investigators at Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and NASA's Johnson Space Center will operate the science instruments. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, CO, is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations will be conducted jointly from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, and Lockheed Martin.
BRIEFING SCHEDULED TO DISCUSS SOYUZ TAXI CREW TRAINING AT JOHNSON SPACE CENTER
NASA managers will present the status of crew training at the Johnson Space Center for a scheduled April Soyuz taxi flight to the International Space Station at a press briefing tomorrow afternoon.
NASA today met with four cosmonauts and a European Space Agency astronaut who will serve as the prime and backup crews for the scheduled Soyuz taxi flight to the International Space Station. Dennis Tito, an American businessman who has entered into a contract with the Russians to fly on this taxi flight, was also present.
During an initial meeting this morning at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, mission managers discussed the Soyuz crews' schedule for the week. NASA also planned to meet with Tito to discuss administrative and legal arrangements as well as future training that would be necessary in order for him to fly to the orbiting station.
Last week, following a meeting of the space station partnership in Moscow, NASA and other international partners from Canada, Europe and Japan, informed the Russian Aviation and Space Agency they recommended against Tito's flight to the space station in April due to the intense period of operations that will occur during the next several months. During this period, the presence of a non-professional crewmember who is untrained on all critical station systems, is unable to respond and assist in any contingency situation which may arise, and who would require constant supervision, would add a significant burden to the Expedition and detract from the overall safety of the International Space Station.
NASA fully supports the commercialization of the International Space Station, provided that the safety and operational integrity of the vehicle and crew are maintained at all times. To that end, NASA and the other international partners are in the process of establishing criteria for selection, training and certification of non-professional station crewmembers on the International Space Station on a commercial basis. However, based on incomplete crew criteria and unresolved operational and legal considerations, there is not enough time to prepare Tito for a safe Soyuz flight to the station in April.
The Russian Soyuz commander objected to Tito not being included in crew training and elected not to participate in today's sessions. NASA and the other space station partners are continuing a dialogue with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency on this matter.
Tuesday's press briefing will originate from the James E. Webb Auditorium at 3:30 p.m. EST at NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street, SW, Washington, DC, and will be carried live on NASA Television with two-way question and answer capability for reporters covering the event from participating NASA centers.
NASA TV is broadcast on GE2, transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 85 degrees West longitude. The frequency is 3880 MHz. Polarization is vertical and audio is monaural at 6.8 MHz.
March 16, 01
March 16, 2001
ICE PROBE REVEALS FIRST-EVER IMAGES DEEP WITHIN ANTARCTIC STREAMS
Scientists have had their first inside look at ice layers, frozen debris and a surprising channel of water deep beneath an Antarctic ice stream, thanks to an ice probe designed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Plunged more than 1,200 meters (more than 3,900 feet) down four boreholes drilled in the West Antarctic ice sheet, JPL's probe paves the way for the development of technology capable of withstanding extreme environments on Earth and other planets.
The Antarctic Ice Borehole Probe Project, a collaborative effort of scientists at JPL and the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, looked into the dynamics of the West Antarctic ice sheet. The Antarctic ice sheet, equal in size to the United States and Mexico combined, holds a potential treasure trove of information related to the geological history of this frozen continent and the mechanisms by which ice flows from this area to the oceans. Studies show that significant changes in glacier melting and flow rates could have a considerable impact on global sea levels.
"This project fits into the bigger picture of planetary studies," said Dr. Frank Carsey, JPL's principal investigator on the project. "It provides us with some understanding of how to observe what goes on deep in ice caps -- Earth's ice caps, Martian ice caps and ice caps on Europa." Europa is an ice-covered moon of Jupiter.
The glaciological investigation took place at Ice Stream C, an area in the West Antarctic ice sheet where 150 years ago the ice suddenly stopped flowing in one area in the lower part of the stream. This so-called "sticky spot," currently flowing at a rate of 2 meters per year (about 6 feet), greatly differs from its neighboring streams, flowing at approximately 400 meters (1,300 feet) per year.
Equipped with two cameras and lights, JPL's ice probe revealed what appears to be a basal water system, or series of water channels at the base of the ice stream. In places, this water-filled cavity measured approximately 1.4 meters deep (4.6 feet). Based on previous calculations, researchers expected the depth of a water basal cavity to be only in the millimeter range.
To the researchers' surprise, they also found rock and other debris embedded in the ice much higher than expected. It was believed that frozen debris would be found no higher than two meters (almost seven feet) off the base of the ice stream. In contrast, the visual data shows frozen debris some 26 meters (85 feet) off the base, which has yet to be explained.
A layering effect in the ice was also uncovered by the probe. Though not yet fully understood, it is thought that, upstream, ice and gravel have frozen onto the base of the ice sheet. With the ice streams constantly moving, water may slide under debris-laden layers, lifting them up, allowing the process to repeat.
"The layered information will turn out to be very interesting," said Carsey. "These layers tell us about processes upstream." By analyzing these ice layers, researchers may learn how ice streams flow and stop flowing.
The team's findings open up the doors to further glaciological research. "With the probe, we have now left the dark ages," said Hermann Engelhardt, Caltech's principal investigator on the project.
JPL hopes to advance the probe's technology in the next year or two, adding biological sensors to search for evidence of life in the Antarctic ice sheet and eventually on other planets. Microbes are known to reside under mountain glaciers, where it is warmer and there are nutrients from impurities found between water crystals.
"These locations are very old places. Some, such as on Mars, are hundreds of millions of years old," said Carsey. The base of a planet's polar cap chronicles the planet's climate and can reveal much about its history and biology, he said.
Images of the team's findings are available at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pictures/iceprobe .
The Antarctic Ice Borehole Probe Project is a collaborative effort of JPL and Caltech, supported by NASA, Washington D.C., and the National Science Foundation, Arlington, Va. The ice probe was developed by JPL, a division of Caltech.
NASA ADMININISTRATOR MARKS DR. GODDARD'S VISION
The following is a statement by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin regarding the 75th anniversary of Dr. Robert H. Goddard's first successful liquid-fueled rocket launch.
"Once publicly ridiculed for his vision to boldly expand the frontier of space, Dr. Robert Goddard inspired a new generation of explorers on this date in 1926. Dr. Goddard initially expressed interest in rockets in 1899, when he was just 17 years old. By 1915, he had developed the detailed mathematical theory of rocket propulsion and proved rocket engines could produce thrust in a vacuum, making space flight possible.
"Dr. Goddard's first work on rockets made little impression on the scientific community and government leaders. Only through modest subsidies and leaves of absence from his university duties was he able to sustain his lifetime of devoted research and testing.
"At the time of his death in 1945, Dr. Goddard held 214 patents in rocketry, and in memory of this brilliant innovator, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center was established in 1959 in Greenbelt, Maryland.
"Dr. Goddard once said every vision is a joke, until the first man accomplishes it. NASA honors his vision through our continued leadership in aerospace technology and Earth and Space sciences. We work each day to expand knowledge of our planet and its environment, the solar system and the universe. This Agency is committed to future excellence in scientific investigation, the advancement of education, the safe development and operation of space systems, and in providing the inspiration for the next generation of rocket scientists."
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/75th/history.htm
March 15, 2001
TWO ASTEROIDS JOIN BLARNEY STONE AS IRISH ROCK LEGENDS
Two asteroids have been given Irish names in time for St. Patrick's Day.
Discovered in July 1987 by famed asteroid hunter and planetary astronomer Eleanor Helin of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., the asteroids have been officially christened by the International Astronomical Union and honor Irish contributions to astronomical research.
One asteroid is named for the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland, which is active in the studies of near-Earth objects. The 10,502nd asteroid found, it is called ArmaghObs. Its official designation was 1987 OT.
Another, formerly 1987 QF6, was given the ancient Gaelic name for the town of Armagh, which St Patrick founded in 445 A.D. as "Ardmacha." The Armagh Observatory lies on the outskirts of the town.
Helin, the principal investigator of JPL's Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking program, (called NEAT), said that she has had a long association with the Armagh Observatory and she named the asteroids in part to honor that collaboration, and the observatory staff members who have made many contributions to asteroid research. "We've been working together since the early 70's, and I named an asteroid in 1975 for their distinguished Estonian-Irish astronomer E.J. Opik, who was a resident astronomer for 33 years," said Helin. "The asteroids were named to honor the rich heritage of the ancient city of Armagh, and noteworthy contributions from the 200-year-old observatory."
The asteroid names were published in the January 2001 Minor Planet Circular of the International Astronomical Union.
The NEAT project is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science. JPL is managed by the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif., for NASA.
March 15, 01
Chilly test for INTEGRAL's spectrometer-esa
15-Mar-2001 The centre of attention was not a fashion model. But, as in a haute-couture fashion house, it was being dressed for the big day. Nimble fingers cut and trimmed, and dazzling gold-coloured material was delicately pinned and attached. http://sci.esa.int/content/news/index.cfm?aid=21&cid=44&oid=26465
NASA scientists have combined starlight from the two largest telescopes
on Earth to form an extraordinary optical interferometer -- a powerful tool in the search for planets outside the solar system..
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast15mar_1.htm?list448368
NASA SATELLITE TRACKS HAZARDOUS SMOKE AND SMOG PARTNERSHIP
New research sponsored by NASA may soon help scientists do a better job of tracking pollution plumes around the world and help provide people more advance warning of unhealthy air.
Researchers have discovered that smoke and smog move in different ways through the atmosphere. A series of unusual events several years ago created a blanket of pollution over the Indian Ocean. In the second half of 1997, smoke from Indonesian fires remained stagnant over Southeast Asia while smog, which is tropospheric, low-level ozone, spread more rapidly across the Indian Ocean toward India.
This situation was exacerbated by El Nino, which had already increased the thickness of smog over the region. At the same time, additional smog from African fires streamed over the Indian Ocean and combined with the smog from Indonesia, creating an aerial canopy of pollutants.
Researchers tracked the pollution using data from NASA's Earth Probe Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) satellite instrument. "TOMS is the only satellite instrument that follows both smoke and smog, globally," said Anne Thompson, NASA Earth Scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. "The extreme pollution generated during the Indonesian fires was the first time we saw smoke move more slowly and in different directions from where smog moved." Although TOMS has been observing the atmosphere since 1978, new air-quality technologies added in 1997 enabled scientists to see the divergence of smoke and smog for the first time.
The different movement occurred because the pollutants were in different layers of the atmosphere. Heavier smoke particles stayed close to the region of the fires while smog moved more quickly and spread over a large area. "Typically, smog is seen coming from Africa because much more burning occurs there, but in 1997 the Indonesian plume was thicker due to the fires there," Thompson added.
Between July and November 1997, the emissions from the Indonesian fires caused considerable air pollution throughout the Southeast Asian region, including Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Hazardous particles found in smoke caused air- quality and health problems throughout the region including asthma, upper respiratory infections, decreased lung function, and eye and skin irritation.
Before the fires began in 1997, the El Nino and changing atmospheric patterns over the Indian Ocean, a pattern called the Indian Ocean Dipole, caused the ozone column to thicken, indicating that climatic factors play a major role. When scientists went back and looked at the 1980s El Nino events, they noticed the same behavior.
"However, we can detect no trend in smog ozone during the 1980s in the tropics, even though burning may have increased," said Thompson. "In some regions of the tropics, rising ozone precedes the burning period and in other regions, ozone levels don't rise as much as we would expect during the local burning season. Clearly, factors other than biomass burning exert a strong influence on tropical tropospheric ozone."
Since 1978, TOMS has eyed upper and lower level ozone in Earth's atmosphere. Since upper-level ozone in the stratosphere over the tropics is uniform, TOMS can subtract it out from its readings and calculate the smog in a "column" of atmosphere that stretches from the surface to the tropopause, more than 40,000 feet high.
A paper titled "Tropospheric Ozone and Biomass Burning," by Goddard's Anne Thompson and researchers at the University of Maryland; Science Systems and Applications, Inc.; and Hokkaido University of Japan, explaining the divergence of the pollutants, appears in the March 16 issue of Science.
This research was conducted by NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a long-term research effort dedicated to studying how human-induced and natural change affects our global environment. More information is available on the Internet at: http://toms.gsfc.nasa.gov/ http://metosrv2.umd.edu/~tropo/
GALILEO GETS ONE LAST FREQUENT-FLYER UPGRADE
The resilient Galileo spacecraft doesn't know when to call it quits. So, NASA has outlined the details of one last mission extension, which includes five more flybys of the Jovian moons before a final plunge into the crushing pressure of the giant planet's atmosphere.
Galileo has been orbiting Jupiter for more than five years and survived radiation exposure more than three times what it was built to withstand. Galileo's mission has previously been extended twice and during that time it has returned an enormous wealth of scientific information, including evidence of a sub-surface ocean on Jupiter's moon Europa.
"We're proud that this workhorse of a spacecraft has kept performing well enough that we can ask it to keep serving science a little longer," said Dr. Jay Bergstralh, acting director of solar system exploration at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
On May 25, Galileo should pass about 123 kilometers (76 miles) above the moon Callisto, the second largest of Jupiter's 28 known moons. The effects of Callisto's gravity will set up the space probe for a swing over both polar regions of the intensely volcanic moon Io in August and October.
Galileo will take pictures, measure magnetic forces, and study dust and smaller particles. Science goals include studying the extent of volcanism on Io, both in new and previously active sites; determining whether Io generates its own weak magnetic field; and gaining a better understanding of a doughnut-shaped ring, the so-called Io torus, that encircles Jupiter and contains electrically charged gases.
In 2002, having completed its imaging mission, Galileo will continue studies of Jupiter's massive magnetic field with seven instruments. In January, the orbiter will fly near the equator of Io.
In November, it will swing closer to Jupiter than ever before, dipping within about 500 kilometers (about 300 miles) of the moon Amalthea, which is less than one-tenth the size of Io and less than half as far from Jupiter. Scientists will use Galileo measurements to determine the mass and density of Amalthea. They will also study dust particles as Galileo flies through Jupiter's gossamer rings and seek new details of the magnetic forces and the densities of charged particles close to the planet.
Galileo's final orbit will take an elongated loop away from Jupiter. Then in August 2003, the spacecraft will head back for a direct impact and burn up as it plows into Jupiter's 60,000-kilometer-thick atmosphere. This final act was recommended by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences last June.
Galileo has already succeeded beyond expectations, and we have the opportunity to learn still more in coming months, but it is sad to see the end of the road up ahead," said Eilene Theilig, Galileo project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "Exposure from Jupiter's intense radiation belts has impaired some of Galileo's instruments, but it is still producing valuable scientific results."
The science program for the Galileo mission extension, which will cost $9 million, was recommended to NASA by a blue- ribbon panel of planetary scientists that met last July. "This mission extension accomplishes the highest priorities of the review panel in a cost effective way," said Paul Hertz, Galileo program executive at NASA Headquarters.
Galileo was launched Oct. 18, 1989, aboard NASA's Space Shuttle Atlantis. On Dec. 7, 1995, a probe released earlier from Galileo made measurements while dropping through Jupiter's upper atmosphere. Galileo's top scientific accomplishments include:
- Produced strong evidence that Europa has a melted saltwater ocean under the ice layer on its surface. The spacecraft has also found indications that Ganymede and Callisto also have layers of liquid saltwater. - Detailed the varied and extensive volcanic processes on Io, catching plumes erupting, fire fountains in process and lava flows expanding, among other observations. - Delivered a probe that made the first measurements of Jupiter's atmosphere from within the atmosphere. - Made the first close approach to an asteroid and made the first discovery of a satellite orbiting an asteroid. - Discovered the first internal magnetic field of a moon. Ganymede's intrinsic magnetic field actually creates a "mini- magnetosphere" embedded within Jupiter's vast magnetosphere. - Provided the only direct observation of Comet Shoemaker- Levy's impact into Jupiter.
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages Galileo for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.
More information about Galileo is available on the Internet at http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov/ .
(3/14/01)
March 14, 2001
AN ASTRONOMY FIRST: TELESCOPES DOUBLE-TEAM HAWAIIAN NIGHT SKY
Proving that two telescopes are better than one, NASA astronomers have gathered the first starlight obtained by linking two Hawaiian 10-meter (33-foot) telescopes.
This successful test at the W.M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea makes the linked telescopes, which together are called the Keck Interferometer, the world's most powerful optical telescope system. The project will eventually search for planets around nearby stars and help NASA design future space-based missions that can search for habitable, Earth-like planets.
"Successfully combining the light from the two largest telescopes on Earth is a fabulous technical advancement for science," said Dr. Anne Kinney, director of NASA's Astronomical Search for Origins program, which includes the Keck Interferometer project. "Using them in this way gives us the equivalent of an 85-meter (279-foot) telescope. This will open the possibility of obtaining images with much greater clarity then ever before possible."
"This is a major step in the creation of a whole new class of astronomical telescopes that will have an enormous impact on future knowledge," said Dr. Paul Swanson, the Keck Interferometer project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "Historically, breakthrough technologies like the Hale 5- meter (200-inch) and the Hubble Space telescopes have made discoveries way beyond the purpose for which they were originally built."
Monday night, March 12, starlight from HD61294, a faint star in the constellation Lynx, was captured by both Keck telescopes and transported across a sophisticated optical system across the 85 meters (275 feet) separating the two telescopes. In an underground tunnel that links the telescopes, the collected light waves were combined and processed with a beam combiner and camera. In order to properly phase the two telescopes, adaptive optics on both telescopes removed the distortion caused by the Earth's atmosphere. In addition, the optical system in the tunnel adjusted the light path to within a millionth of an inch.
Testing of the Keck Interferometer will continue for the next several months. Limited science operations, including the search for planets, are expected to begin this fall. Scientists around the world will soon be invited to propose studies they would like to conduct using the Keck Interferometer. Their proposals will undergo a formal review and selection process.
Since 1995, astronomers have discovered almost 50 planets orbiting other stars. With current technology, they can find very large, Jupiter-like planets, 300 times as massive as Earth, that are located close to their parent stars. Such planets are not likely to harbor life. The Keck Interferometer will be able to detect planets farther from their parent stars, which means their reflected light would be dimmer and harder to detect.
The unique pairing process will help pave the way for future interferometers in space, such as the Terrestrial Planet Finder, which will look for Earth-like planets. "This first light from the Keck Interferometer marks a dramatic step forward and will help us accomplish the ultimate goal of the Origins Program -- to search for signs of life beyond by examining the light from 'Earths' orbiting nearby stars," said Dr. Charles Beichman, the Origins chief scientist at JPL.
An interferometer uses multiple telescopes to gather light waves, then combines the waves in such a way that they interact, or "interfere" with each other. A similar phenomenon can be observed by throwing a rock into a lake and watching the resulting ripples, or waves. If a second rock is thrown into the water, the new set of waves either bumps up against the first set and changes its pattern, or it joins together with the first set, making larger, more powerful waves. In astronomy, the idea is to combine the light waves from the multiple telescopes to simulate a much larger telescope. This enables scientists to capture images of much smaller objects or to determine their size or position with much greater accuracy.
The development of the Keck Interferometer is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The W.M. Keck Observatory is funded by Caltech, the University of California and NASA, and is managed by the California Association for Research in Astronomy, Kamuela, Hawaii.
Additional information and images are available at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pictures/keck and http://origins.jpl.nasa.gov .
On the ground, the International Space Station would be an odd looking building -- but space is an odd place to live! Find out how space weather, orbital free fall, and the Space Shuttle's payload bay shapes the architecture of the ISS.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast14mar_1.htm?list448368
IO'S VOLCANOES ERASE ONE DATING METHOD BUT MAY PROVIDE ANOTHER
The amount of lava gushing from individual volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io dwarfs earthly comparisons, and the pace at which lava is repainting Io's surface suggests a novel technique for determining the relative ages of surface regions there.
The latest research about Io, much of it based on data from NASA's Galileo spacecraft, was reported Wednesday at the Lunar and Planetary Science conference in Houston, Texas.
Knowing the relative ages of surface features on a planet or moon is crucial for understanding the processes shaping that world. The favorite age gauge of planetary scientists is counting impact craters. The more impacts still showing, the older the surface. However, volcanoes are resurfacing Io so fast, not a single impact crater has been found there.
"It appears that the same process that destroys the traditional way of dating surfaces is going to provide a new way to date surfaces," said Dr. Dennis Matson, a research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "On Io, surface temperature can give us an indication of surface age."
Calculations of Io's total heat flow suggest that virtually everywhere on Io, even the oldest surfaces were produced by fresh lava so recently that they are still cooling off, Matson said. With some allowances for differences in composition and thickness of the flows, colder surface areas should be older surface areas.
"If we get this technique worked out, we look forward to combining it with other types of information to read the history of Io's surface," he said. "We hope to be able to tell whether lava flows that are far apart on the surface happened at approximately the same time." Some of the first calculations were reported Wednesday for how fast lava is being produced by individual volcanic features on Io. One thermally steady volcano that produces broad flow fields named Amirani and Maui churns out about 100 cubic meters (about 3,500 cubic feet) of lava every second, said Dr. Ashley Davies, a JPL volcanologist. That's about 200 times as productive as the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii. It's fast enough to overflow two Olympic size swimming pools every minute or three Houston Astrodomes every day.
Ionian volcanoes Monan, Tupan, Prometheus, Culann and Zamama each produce one-third to one-half as much lava as Amirani-Maui does, Davies calculates.
Estimates of the volume rate of an eruption are important for understanding what is happening under the surface and at the surface of each volcano. "Flow rate is tied to the source of the magma and the conduits the magma follows to the surface," Davies said. "It strongly influences how the lava landscape forms and how heat is lost from the lava as time passes."
The volume-rate estimates also help crosscheck estimates of the thickness of flows where Galileo's repeat flybys have provided information about how rapidly the flows increase in area. Davies used infrared spectral measurements from Galileo plus modeling of cooling rates to calculate surface coverage rates and eruption volumes. The calculations suggest typical lava-flow thicknesses on Io of one to two meters (three to six feet), he said.
Additional information about Galileo's observations of Io and other jovian moons since the spacecraft began orbiting Jupiter in 1995 is available online at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo . JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.
Chandra Reveals a Cosmos Teeming with Black Holes
For the first time, astronomers believe they have proof black holes of all sizes once ruled the universe. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory provided the deepest X-ray images ever recorded, and those pictures deliver a novel look at the past 12 billion years. Two teams of astronomers have presented images that contain the faintest X-ray sources ever detected, which include an abundance of active super-massive black holes. The images, known as the Chandra Deep Fields, were obtained during many long exposures over the course of more than a year. Data from the Chandra Deep Field South will be placed in a public archive for scientists. ( Full Story)
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(3/13/01)
2nd Space Walk Complete
Mission Specialists Andy Thomas and Paul Richards wrapped up the second spacewalk of STS-102 early this morning. The astronauts spent more than six hours preparing the outside of the International Space Station for arrival of its robot arm in April. They installed a platform for spare parts and inspected a probe that will measure the amount of electrical charge on the outside of the station. Now, the crew of STS-102 turns its attention to resuming joint operations with the space station crew. Tonight, Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd joins the rest of his crew on the shuttle. As the "captain of the ship" he is the last member of the Expedition One crew to leave. ( Full Story)
(3/12/01)
Second Space Walk Tonight
As Jim Voss became the International Space Station's most recent resident today, trading places with Expedition One crew member Sergei Krikalev, STS-102 Mission Specialists Paul Richards and Andy Thomas checked out the space suits they will wear for STS-102's second space walk, scheduled to begin at 11:47 p.m. EST tonight. Richards and Thomas will finish connecting cables on the lab cradle assembly--the mounting location for the station's robotic arm when it arrives next month--install an external stowage platform on the hull of Destiny, and hook up cables that will provide heater power to spare equipment that will be stored there. They will also place a pump and flow control subassembly that regulates ammonia coolant flow on the platform and inspect the floating potential probe that is designed to measure the electrical charge on the outside of the station. Watch the action live on NASA Television and NASA TV on the Web. ( Full Story)
Live Web Chat with El Niño Expert on Thursday
Oceanographer Dr. William Patzert of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, will discuss one of the planet's most powerful climate phenomena, El Niño, in a live interactive web chat on March 15. He will take questions about El Niño and its accompanying rains and floods and he will discuss current conditions in the Pacific. The two-hour Internet event will begin at 2 p.m. EST. The chat is part of a series sponsored by the NASA Oceanography program. To participate, follow the full story link. Click here to learn more about the El Niño/La Niña & Pacific Decadal Oscillation prior to the web chat. ( Full Story)
Station and Shuttle Crews Begin Work Together
Discovery docked with the International Space Station over the weekend and the crews immediately got to work. Two of the Station crew members, Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko, have changed places with Yury Usachev and Jim Voss. The astronauts have performed a space walk and installed the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module aboard the Station. A second spacewalk is scheduled for 11:47 p.m. EST tonight. Expedition One commander Bill Shepherd is working closely with newly arrived Expedition Two commander Usachev to ensure a smooth hand-off of responsibilities. Shepherd will officially change places with astronaut Susan Helms on Tuesday. This final crew exchange will mark the beginning of Expedition Two's four month mission aboard the orbiting outpost. ( Full Story)
March 12, 2001
NASA RESEARCH SIMULATES HOW COLD STARS STAY IN SHAPE In research with the potential to help study stars and improve space navigation, scientists have successfully used lasers to cool a cloud of lithium atoms sufficiently to observe unusual quantum properties of matter. Although current technology does not permit humans to travel to the stars, scientists can create a simulated star laboratory on Earth.
The scientists, at Rice University in Houston, Texas, successfully simulated and photographed the process by which white dwarfs and neutron stars retain their size and shape, a mechanism called Fermi pressure. White dwarfs and neutron stars are dense, compact objects created when normal stars use up their fuel, cooling and succumbing to the forces of gravity.
"This not only increases our understanding of the basic laws of nature, but also lays the foundation for the development of far-reaching technologies for deep space navigation," said Dr. Kathie Olsen, acting associate administrator for Biological and Physical Research (BPR) at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Fermi pressure, named for Dr. Enrico Fermi, a Nobel Laureate prominent for his contributions in nuclear physics, has been theorized as the star stabilization mechanism that keeps white dwarfs and neutron stars from collapsing further. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory have observed such objects, but this is the first time Fermi pressure has been directly observed in an Earth laboratory. The research by the Rice team, led by Dr. Randall Hulet, was conducted under a grant from NASA's Biological and Physical Research Program through NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
"Many quantum effects have been theorized in the past 70 years, but only in the most recent years have scientists been able to create laboratory environments sophisticated enough to systematically test them," said Dr. Mark Lee, BPR fundamental physics discipline scientist. "We are really elated and proud that this newly established NASA program has yielded results of such high significance."
The successful observation of Fermi pressure in the laboratory is the first step toward other advances, including improvements in atomic clocks, the most accurate of timekeepers. New clocks could be designed using these ultra- cold atoms so that the atoms collide less frequently, which would lead to even greater accuracy. More precise clocks would help digital communications systems and improve deep space navigation.
"Experimenting with Fermi pressure may also lead to the creation of a new type of superfluid from lithium," said Hulet, physics professor at Rice University. Superfluids, in which atoms flow without friction, are quantum systems very similar to superconductors, which have zero resistance to electrical current flow. This new super-cold system of atoms could provide scientists a new testbed for theories of superconductivity and shows promise in solving some of the world's energy problems.
Hulet's team cooled lithium to less than one-fourth of a millionth of a degree above absolute zero. Absolute zero is the point at which scientists believe there can be no further cooling. At these ultra-low temperatures, the researchers were able to view and photograph two stable lithium isotopes, identical except for the number of neutrons they contain. They were thus able to demonstrate the star-stabilizing pressure. However, on Earth this type of research is hampered by gravity. The microgravity environment on the International Space Station, when it is completed, will eventually serve as an ideal location to study the transition to a superfluid.
Hulet co-authored the quantum experiment paper, which appears in the March 30 issue of the journal Science, with Rice University post-doctoral scientist Dr. Andrew Truscott, graduate students Kevin Strecker and Guthrie Partridge, and Dr. William McAlexander, now with Agilent Laboratories, Palo Alto, Calif. More information on the experiment and the BPR Fundamental Physics Program can be found at the following Web sites:
http://atomcool.rice.edu http://spaceresearch.nasa.gov http://funphysics.jpl.nasa.gov
Hulet's research was funded by NASA, the Office of Naval Research, the National Science Foundation, and the R.A. Welch Foundation. JPL manages the Fundamental Physics in Microgravity Research Program for NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research, Washington, DC. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
March 12, 2001 FREE LECTURES WILL DESCRIBE NASA'S DOUBLE-TEAMING OF JUPITER NASA is taking advantage of having two spacecraft near Jupiter to examine that planet and its surroundings in ways neither spacecraft could do alone, and one of the scientists who organized the campaign will describe it during free public lectures in Pasadena this month. The lectures will be held on the evenings of March 22 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and March 23 at Pasadena City College. JPL's Dr. Duane Bindschadler, chief of the spacecraft and sequence team for NASA's Galileo mission, will explain what the Galileo and Cassini spacecraft have been studying together during the past six months. He will describe recent findings and lingering questions about Jupiter's colorful atmosphere, diverse moons, faint rings and powerful magnetic field. The moons include Io, where mighty volcanoes rapidly repaint the surface, and Europa, where Galileo has found strong evidence for an ocean of saltwater under an icy crust. Galileo is in its sixth year of what was originally planned as a two-year mission in orbit around Jupiter. It is currently transmitting data collected during the joint campaign with Cassini. Cassini flew near Jupiter for a gravitational boost to reach Saturn. It passed closest to Jupiter in December and took dramatic images of Jupiter's swirling storms and other jovian wonders. Before coming to JPL in 1995, Bindschadler taught and conducted research in geophysics at the University of California, Los Angeles. A Wyoming native, he earned a bachelor's degree in physics at Washington University in St. Louis and a doctorate in geology from Brown University in Providence, R.I. "I enjoy trying to give people a sense of what space exploration is showing us about the amazing things that go on in the universe around us," he said. His lectures, "Galileo Millennium Mission: The Latest Results," will begin at 7 p.m. Parking and admission are free. Seating is first-come, first-served. Thursday's lecture at JPL will be in von Karman Auditorium, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena. Friday's Pasadena City College lecture will be in Voslow Forum, 1570 E. Colorado Blvd. More information on the von Karman lecture series can be obtained at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/lecture or by calling (818) 354-0112. For directions to JPL, see http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/tours/routes.html . JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
March 10, 2001
The End is Mir-Space station Mir, the heaviest thing orbiting our planet other than the Moon itself, will return to Earth around March 20th.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast10mar_1.htm?list448368
Analytical Graphics, Inc. to Assist in Mir Deorbit
MALVERN, PA-Representatives from Philadelphia-based Analytical Graphics, Inc., (AGI) have been invited to Moscow later this month to assist in deorbiting the aging Russian space station Mir. Now slated to make its final fiery ride to Earth in late March, the 130-ton space complex is the largest structure ever to be dropped from orbit.
AGI's Flight Services team will work with TsNIIMash, a leading institute associated with the Russian Aeronautics and Space Agency (Rosaviacosmos) to provide situational awareness of events during the deorbit. AGI's software product, Satellite Tool Kit® (STK), will use spacecraft position and orientation data, as well as timed events such as thruster firings, to create detailed and analytically accurate 3-D graphics. These images will be projected in the Russian mission control center and will show the space station as it moves along its flight path toward eventual break-up in the Earth's atmosphere.
"This is an unprecedented, historic event, and AGI is proud that our track record for analytical accuracy during past high-profile orbit-maneuver missions has won the confidence of TsNIIMash," says Paul Graziani, president and CEO of Analytical Graphics, Inc. "Any experience gained in this deorbit will help future reentry operations." In June 2000, AGI assisted in the reentry of NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO). Like Mir, the observatory was too large to burn up entirely in the atmosphere as it fell to Earth. NASA used STK to aid in planning a safe re-entry trajectory.
March 9, 2001
LIVE WEB CHAT WITH EL NINO-EXPERT DR.WILLIAM PATZERT
Oceanographer Dr. William Patzert, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., will discuss one of the planet's most powerful climate phenomenon, El Nino, in a live interactive web chat on March 15. He'll be taking questions about when we might expect the next one with its accompanying rains and floods and discussing the current conditions in the Pacific.
The two-hour Internet event will begin at 11 a.m. Pacific time (2 p.m. Eastern). The chat is part of a series sponsored by the NASA Oceanography web site. To participate, log on to:
http://oceans.nasa.gov/interactive.html
Dr. William Patzert has been a research oceanographer with JPL for more than 18 years. He is especially well known for his work with the TOPEX/Poseiden mission, a partnership between the United States and France to monitor global ocean circulation, discover the tie between the oceans and atmosphere, and improve global climate predictions. TOPEX/Poseiden's ability to measure sea-surface height has made it an invaluable tool for studying ocean events such as El Nino, its little sister La Nina and the much larger and longer-lasting ocean event called the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Before joining JPL, Bill was a faculty member at the University of California's Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. He completed his Ph.D. in oceanography at the University of Hawaii in 1972.
JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology.
Not all NASA adventures happen in space.
In this story a scientist describes his down-to-Earth encounters with poisonous snakes, charging elephants and more ... as he tested a high-flying satellite from the wilds of Africa.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast09mar_1.htm?list448368
March 8, 2001
POSTCARDS FROM JUPITER: NEW AURORA DETAILS SEEN
Bright auroras on parts of Jupiter where those shimmering glows have not previously been seen appear in new images taken from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope by University of Michigan scientists.
The images come from a joint study in December 2000 and January 2001 using both the Earth-orbiting Hubble and NASA's Cassini spacecraft, currently near Jupiter, to examine how Jupiter's aurora is affected by the solar wind, an outbound flow of particles from the Sun.
The new pictures of Jupiter's aurora are available online from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif, at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pictures/jupiter or from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, at http://www.sprl.umich.edu/CassiniHSTJupiterflyby .
"I've been observing Jupiter's aurora for 22 years and these images have provided an enormous amount of new and interesting data," said Dr. John T. Clarke, senior research scientist at the University of Michigan's College of Engineering and principal investigator for the Hubble observations. "We've just begun to study the data and have already found some new features, including bright aurora in places we've never seen them before."
While Hubble observes the aurora, a team of Cassini scientists led by University of Michigan's Dr. David Young, principal investigator for the Cassini plasma spectrometer instrument is measuring variations in the solar wind that might be causing the auroral fluctuations. "We know from earlier data that the solar wind has some control over the aurora, but this is the first chance we've had to study the connection up close," Young said. By learning more about Jupiter's aurora, scientists hope to gain better understanding of how Earth's aurora behaves and of ways the two planets differ.
Like Earth's aurora, often called the northern lights or southern lights, Jupiter's auroral glows occur at high latitudes. They frequently appear as ovals encircling Jupiter's magnetic poles. At both planets, auroras are useful indicators of conditions in the magnetic field surrounding the planet, since particles steered by the magnetic field toward the planet's poles are what stimulate the glow. In that sense, the aurora serves a TV screen displaying what's happening in the magnetic field. The axis of Jupiter's magnetic field is tilted from Jupiter's axis of rotation, so the auroral ovals seem to wobble around the rotational poles as the planet turns. One newly observed phenomenon is a series of fast fluctuations in brightness inside the southern oval, previously seen only in the north. These are known as "polar cap flares."
The new images also capture a distinct brightening inside the northern oval over the portion of the planet rotating toward the Sun. "We see the main oval, then all of a sudden we see a curtain of auroral emission start up on the dawn side, just poleward of the auroral oval," said University of Michgan's Dr. Hunter Waite, team leader for one of Cassini's scientific instruments and a co-investigator for the Hubble observations. Jupiter's "dawn storms" resemble certain auroral storms on Earth in that they persist for hours, but differ from them by appearing on the planet's dawn flank, instead of its night side.
Researchers are studying features of the aurora and examining possible relationships to how the solar wind affects Jupiter's magnetosphere, a vast environment of charged particles surrounding the planet under the influence of Jupiter's magnetic field. Just as Earth's auroras are triggered by disturbances in Earth's magnetic fields, auroras on Jupiter are linked to that planet's much greater magnetic field.
"We have collected more data in two weeks than we've amassed in several years." Waite said. "This new data helps us determine if our theories about how the aurora behaves are on target."
During a second phase of the joint study, after Cassini had passed Jupiter, Cassini took nightside pictures while Hubble captured dayside images. "It's a rare chance to view Jupiter from two vantage points simultaneously," Waite said. "As the planet rotates and the solar wind changes, we can collect images and solar wind data without interruption. That's something we've never been able to do before."
In addition to visible imagery, researchers collected ultraviolet and infrared images of the planet. The project involves collaboration between NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and several leading research universities, including University of Michigan, University of Arizona, University of Colorado and the California Institute of Technology.
"These joint observations are a welcome opportunity for collaboration with Hubble", said JPL's Dr. Linda Spilker, deputy project scientist for Cassini. "The ability to understand and model Jupiter's aurora is clearly enhanced with combined measurements from both Cassini and Hubble. The combined data sets are more valuable than either data set alone."
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). It is managed for NASA by the Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md. Cassini is a cooperative mission of NASA, ESA and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages Cassini for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.
STS-102, Mission Control Center Status Report # 01 Thursday, March 8, 2001 - 6:30 a.m. CST
Shuttle Discovery blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center at sunrise this morning to deliver a new resident crew to the International Space Station (ISS) as the third shuttle mission in less than four months began in flawless fashion.
Commander Jim Wetherbee, Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialists Andy Thomas, Paul Richards, Yury Usachev, Jim Voss and Susan Helms rocketed away from Launch Pad 39-B at 5:42 a.m. Central time, lighting up the crystal clear central Florida skies as they began their pursuit of the international complex. Usachev, Voss and Helms, who make up the second Expeditionary crew to the ISS, will replace Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev, who were in their 128th day in space and their 126th day aboard the Station as Discovery began its pursuit.
At the time of launch, the three Expedition One crewmembers aboard the ISS were passing over the south Pacific, about 1000 statute miles south of Perth, Australia. Shortly after Discovery reached orbit, a videotape of the Shuttle launch was uplinked to the Station crew on a laptop computer onboard.
Less than nine minutes after liftoff, Discovery's astronauts settled into orbit and went to work to prepare the Shuttle's systems for their planned 12-day mission. The first major task on the flight plan was to open Discovery's cargo bay doors prior to receiving a "go" for orbital operations from Ascent Flight Director Wayne Hale. The astronauts are expected to set up computers and flight deck gear before beginning an eight-hour sleep period at 10:42 a.m. Central time. The Shuttle crew will be awakened at 6:42 p.m. Thursday to begin its first full day in space.
With this morning's successful launch behind them, Discovery's astronauts will turn their attention to their chase of the International Space Station, performing several firings of the ship's jet thrusters over the next 40 hours to set up a docking with the outpost on Friday night just before midnight Central time. Over the ensuing week, the crew will perform two space walks outside the ISS as they help to outfit the recently installed Destiny research laboratory. The Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, built by the Italian Space Agency, will be attached to the ISS early next week, loaded with almost five tons of equipment, and systems and science racks for transfer to Destiny.
The Expedition crews will exchange places on the ISS in a three-step fashion, beginning with Usachev and Gidzenko swapping roles as Station and Shuttle crewmembers early Saturday within hours after docking.
Discovery is circling the Earth in excellent shape as it flies in an orbit inclined 51.6 degrees to either side of the Equator. The International Space Station continues to sail around the Earth with no significant systems issues being tracked by ISS flight controllers.
The next STS-102 mission status report will be issued this evening following the wakeup call to Discovery's astronauts from Mission Control.
March 7, 2001
HUBBLE SPIES ANCIENT STAR CLUSTERS WITH A VIOLENT PAST
A colorful image showing violent star formation triggered when two galaxies bumped into each other has been captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
In the image, the starburst galaxy M82 has a disturbed appearance caused by violent activity after an ancient encounter with its large galactic neighbor, M81. The image, taken by Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, designed and built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., is online at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pictures/wfpc .
The huge lanes of dust that crisscross M82's disk are another telltale sign of the flurry of star formation. Below the center and to the right, a strong galactic wind is spewing knotty filaments of hydrogen and nitrogen gas. More than 100 super star clusters -- very bright, compact groupings of about 100,000 stars -- appear as white dots sprinkled throughout the galaxy's central area. The dark area just above center is a huge dust cloud.
A collaboration of European and American scientists used these clusters to date the interaction between M82 and M81 to about 600 million years ago, when a region called M82 B (the bright area just below and to the left of the central dust cloud) exploded with new stars. Scientists have found that this ancient starburst was triggered by the encounter with M81. The results are published in the February 2001 issue of the Astronomical Journal.
This discovery provides evidence linking the birth of super star clusters to violent interaction between galaxies. These clusters also provide insight into the rough-and-tumble universe of long ago, when galaxies bumped into each other more frequently.
M82 is located 12 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. The picture was taken Sept. 15, 1997. The natural-color composite was constructed from three exposures taken with blue, green and red filters.
The Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md., manages space operations for the Hubble Space Telescope for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Institute is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc., for NASA under contract with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Additional information about the Hubble Space Telescope is available at http://www.stsci.edu . More information about the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 is available at http://wfpc2.jpl.nasa.gov .
March 6, 2001 --
After Three Strikes, Is La Niña Out?
Last autumn scientists thought La Niña had faded, but recent NASA satellite images reveal La Niña-like conditions lurking in the Pacific for the third year in a row. Will they linger for a fourth? Some computer climate models predict La Niña will vanish in 2001 and that a weak El Niño could take its place.
A shift from La Niña to El Niño conditions would likely trigger more rainfall in California, where swelling rivers will increase the output of hydroelectric dams, providing the state with some much-needed electricity. Full story
March 5, 2001
Mission Objectives-Sit for March 8, 2001
Discovery's STS-102 (5A.1) flight is focused on outfitting the International Space Station (ISS), particularly the new U.S. laboratory, Destiny. It also will bring to the station the new Expedition Two crew, to replace the Expedition One crew which will come home on Discovery.
The crew transfer, the first for the station, is among the mission's top priorities. Expedition One Commander Bill Shepherd, Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev will be replaced by Expedition Two Commander Yury Usachev and Expedition Two flight engineers Susan Helms and Jim Voss.
The transfer will take place in a carefully orchestrated, one-at-a-time process that ensures three current members of the station crew will be able to come home, at any time during the switch, aboard the Soyuz spacecraft attached to the station. Expedition Two crewmembers officially join the station when they install their seat liners in the Soyuz.
Equipment transfer to the ISS and outfitting Destiny for the arrival of the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS), the space station's robotic arm scheduled to be launched on STS-100 (6A) no earlier than April, also is among the major priorities of Discovery's flight. Much of that equipment will be transferred from the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), a pressurized moving van module designed to be taken into orbit, attached to the space station, and then, after unloading, brought back to the orbiter's cargo bay for return to Earth.
The Italian-built MPLM, named Leonardo, will be attached to the nadir, or Earth-facing, berthing port of the Unity node. Before that can happen a docking port, Pressurized Mating Adaptor 3 (PMA 3), must be removed from that berthing port. It will be attached to an adjacent berthing port on Unity's left side.
Leonardo brings six systems racks to the station. Among them are two robotic workstation racks for control of the station's robotic arm and the four cameras mounted on it. Two are DC-to-DC Converter Units (DDCUs) which convert electrical power from the station's solar arrays to a form usable by station systems and experiments. One is the U.S. Lab Avionic 3 rack with components supporting both the Ku-Band communications system and the command and control system. The sixth is a Crew Health Care System rack.
The Ku-Band is used for high data rate communications, including downlink of television pictures. The command and control system is operated from the U.S. laboratory and controls the attitude or orientation in space of the station, using four 800-pound gyroscopes mounted in the Z-1 Truss of the ISS.
The PMA 3 move will be made during a space walk by Voss and Helms on Flight Day 4. The space walk will be preceded by transfer of a spacesuit and two Simplified Aids for EVA Rescue (SAFER) devices from the station to the shuttle shortly after docking on Flight Day 3.
Once outside Discovery's airlock, Voss and Helms will disconnect PMA 3 cables and then Mission Specialist Andy Thomas, operating the shuttle's robotic arm, will move it to its new location.
The space walkers subsequently will take the Lab Cradle Assembly from Discovery's cargo bay and install it atop Destiny. Its first application will be to support the Launch Deployment Assembly of the SSRMS. Later in the space walk they will take the Rigid Umbilical from the cargo bay and install it onto Destiny. It is designed to provide power, data and video links between the SSRMS and Destiny.
Leonardo is to be attached to the station on Flight Day 5 and the ISS crew will begin unloading it the following day. Hatches will be closed between the shuttle and the station in preparation for the mission's second space walk by Thomas and Mission Specialist Paul Richards. During that space walk they will take an External Stowage Platform from the cargo bay and install it onto Destiny, then hook up power cables for the orbital replacement units, spares, to be stowed on it. They will stow the first of those spares, a Pump and Flow Control Subassembly for ammonia coolant.
Among racks to be transferred by the ISS crew will be the Human Research Facility, the first scientific rack to be brought to the station. While it is significant in that it marks the beginning of major research capability on the station, its transfer is a lower priority than transfer of the six systems racks, the three resupply stowage racks and the four resupply stowage platforms from Leonardo-indeed it will be the last of the racks to be transferred. While the experiment rack will be activated and checked out, the Ku-Band and a communications outage recorder must be working to support data recording and downlink.
After transfer of the Human Research Facility, transfer of materials into Leonardo will begin. Such materials-batteries at the end of their designed lives, used filters, packing materials and garbage are examples-will be returned to Earth.
Other priorities include activation and checkout of transferred racks, operation of the IMAX camera by the station crew, a series of tests supporting station assembly, ISS reboost if adequate propellant is available and a fly-around of the ISS by the orbiter after undocking to photograph and videotape the station.
Crew Commander: James D. Wetherbee Pilot: James M. Kelly Mission Specialist 1: Andrew S.W. Thomas Mission Specialist 2: Paul W. Richards Mission Specialist 3: Sergei Krikalev Mission Specialist 3: James S. Voss Mission Specialist 4: William M. Shepherd Mission Specialist 4: Susan J. Helms Mission Specialist 5: Yuri P. Gidzenko Mission Specialist 5: Yury V. Usachev
Launch Orbiter: Discovery OV103 Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39B Launch Window: 2.5 to 5 Minutes Altitude: 122 Nautical Miles Inclination: 51.6 Degrees Duration: 11 Days 19 Hrs. 20 Min.
Vehicle Data Shuttle Liftoff Weight: 4,522,944 lbs. Orbiter/Payload Liftoff Weight: 198,507 lbs. Orbiter/Payload Landing Weight: 219,363 lbs. Payload Weights Leonardo 9,000 pounds (almost 4.1 metric tons) Software Version:
March 2, 2001
GONE WITH THE WIND BUT VISIBLE TO NASA RADAR
The history of sea islands in the Altamaha River delta on the coast of Georgia is revealed in this image produced from data acquired by the Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR), developed and operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The outlines of long-lost plantation rice fields, canals, dikes and other inlets are clearly visible, as are Rhett's and Butler's islands, names made famous by novelist Margaret Mitchell in "Gone with the Wind."
The image is available at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pictures/airsar .
The ability of imaging radar to detect vegetation canopy density, hydrological features and other topographic characteristics make it a very useful tool in landscape archaeology. More information about AIRSAR is available at http://airsar.jpl.nasa.gov . AIRSAR is part of NASA's Earth Enterprise program. JPL is managed by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
March 1, 2001
EVIDENCE SEEN FOR WET PAST ON GANYMEDE, JUPITER'S LARGEST MOON
Bright, flat terrain in long swaths on the surface of Jupiter's icy moon Ganymede may testify that water or slush emerged there about a billion years ago, say planetary scientists who have combined stereo images from NASA's Galileo and Voyager missions to examine provocative features on that moon.
This bright terrain, long since frozen over, lies uniformly in troughs about one kilometer (a little over a half mile) lower than Ganymede's older, darker, cratered terrain.
Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system and larger than the planet Mercury. The roles that volcanism and various forms of tectonics have played in molding its complex topography have been hotly debated over the years. But the newly created images, taking advantage of the large quantity of Voyager images and the higher resolution of Galileo's, point to volcanism as the main impetus behind the troughs.
"What we think we're seeing is evidence of an eruption of water on the surface of Ganymede," said Dr. William B. McKinnon, professor of Earth and planetary sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and co-author of the study published in Nature on March 1, 2001. "We see these long, smooth troughs that step down up to a full kilometer. They're really very much like rift valleys on the Earth and they're repaved with something pretty smooth. The material in the troughs is more like terrestrial lava in terms of its fluidity than relatively stiff glacial ice." He said the material is banked up against the edges of the walls of the trough and appears to have been more fluid than solid ice would have been, even if it were relatively warm ice. These features support the idea that they were created by volcanism.
The report's other authors are Dr. Paul Schenk of the Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, Texas; Dr. David Gwynn of the University of California, Los Angeles; and Dr. Jeffrey Moore of NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, Calif. Images from the report are available online from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pictures/jovianmoons .
The researchers used stereo imaging -- a method where three-dimensional objects are reproduced by combining two or more images of the same subject taken from slightly different angles -- to reconstruct the physical topography of Ganymede's terrains. Maps were then generated from the stereo images. "This is a new kind of stereo topographical information over hundreds of kilometers across Ganymede," McKinnon said. The images provide new clues about what happened on Ganymede long ago and how that moon reworks its older, darker material.
One trough extends an estimated 900 kilometers (about 600 miles), the approximate distance between St. Louis and New Orleans. "The long trough is probably a billion years old, but it's actually one of the younger volcanic features," McKinnon said. "It's the last gasp of the process that made the bright terrain."
According to McKinnon, the geological explanation for such long lanes of flatness is that they occurred by the extending and opening up of Ganymede's crust. And then that portion of the crust became flooded with some sort of lava. The high-resolution Galileo images show that material that flooded the lanes is "no less liquid than a slush," said McKinnon. "But it is not glacial ice, which would have big moraines and big round edges like a flowing glacier does."
Moreover, the images reveal depressions that resemble volcanic calderas along the edges of the bright terrains. On Earth, calderas are large, more-or-less circular craters usually caused by the collapse of underground lava reservoirs. "The caldera-like features make a pretty good circumstantial case for volcanism causing this topography," McKinnon said.
"We think these particularly bright terrains were formed by volcanism, which means that most or all the other bright terrains started out this way, and became fractured or grooved over time through tectonic forces."
Galileo has been orbiting Jupiter since 1995. Its 12 scientific experiments have enhanced researchers' understanding of Jupiter's atmosphere, large moons and vast magnetic field. It carried the first atmospheric probe to enter Jupiter's atmosphere. In other firsts, it was the first mission to discover a satellite of an asteroid (Ida's satellite Dactyl), the first to go into orbit around Jupiter, the first to make a close flyby of an asteroid (Gaspra), and the first to provide direct observations of a comet hitting a planet (Shoemaker-Levy 9). Galileo has also provided extensive information about active volcanism on the moon Io and the possibility of a subsurface ocean on the moon Europa. Later this year, it will make close approaches to the moons Callisto and Io.
The Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft each passed near Jupiter in 1979 and then explored more distant parts of the solar system. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Galileo and Voyager missions for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.
February 28, 2001 DEEP SPACE NETWORK TO HEAR LAST FROM FARAWAY NEAR The last data from the overachieving Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR Shoemaker) mission to asteroid Eros will be received today via NASA's Deep Space Network telecommunications system. A group of engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory stands by, monitoring final telemetry from this successful extended mission to map and understand the asteroid. NEAR Shoemaker was directed to a successful landing on the asteroid on Feb. 12. Today, the Deep Space Network, Earth's phone line to Eros, will hang up, marking the probable conclusion to the historic mission, which is managed by the Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md, for NASA. The Deep Space Network, managed by JPL for NASA, consists of large antennas at three complexes located in Goldstone, Calif., near Canberra, Australia, and near Madrid, Spain. Each complex houses several radio antennas of different sizes, including giant 70-meter (230-foot) telescopes, used to communicate with interplanetary. Antennas at Goldstone today received science data from the last NEAR experiment, spectrometry from the spacecraft's gamma ray instrument. This data will tell scientists about the surface and subsurface composition of asteroid Eros. NEAR's position on the asteroid precludes it from using its largest communications antenna, called the high-gain antenna. To receive the weaker signal from the low-gain antenna, the Deep Space Network is using its own largest antenna, the 70-meter dish. "The pass is going fine, we're locked on to the spacecraft's signal and we're getting good data back." said JPL's Allen Berman, the telecommunications and mission systems manager for NEAR. Telecommunications support of the mission were scheduled to end at 4 p.m Pacific Standard Time today, he said. Throughout NEAR's five-year mission, controllers at the Deep Space Network have provided every link between the spacecraft and Earth. The Deep Space Network has transferred information about the size, shape and gravity of the asteroid from the spacecraft to Earth, sent commands to make changes in the spacecraft's course, and maintained the contact for the exciting landing on Feb. 12. "We're the vehicle of getting those commands from the mission controllers at Applied Physics Lab to the spacecraft," said Berman. "Then we receive the science and engineering data from the spacecraft to Earth. We also generate navigational data -- the Deep Space Network continuously measures the velocity of the spacecraft through the Doppler shift imprinted in the signal. We extract that data, and send it to the JPL navigation team so that they can determine the orbit and develop maneuvers." The antennas rotate toward certain portions of the sky where engineers predict the signal will come from the spacecraft. Data, in the form of radio signals, is intercepted by the antennas, and sent via data processing equipment at the facility to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where navigators determine the exact position of the spacecraft. The Deep Space Network also provided all the ground communications for the NEAR mission between the Applied Physics Lab, JPL and worldwide Deep Space Network stations via voice and data networks. The NEAR spacecraft spent the last year in a low-altitude orbit of asteroid 433 Eros, a near-Earth asteroid that is currently 316 million kilometers (196 million miles) from Earth. During that time it collected 10 times more data than originally planned and completed all its science goals before attempting its descent to the asteroid. The Deep Space Network is managed and operated for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NEAR is managed by Applied Physics Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University for NASA. For mission updates, images and other information, see http://near.jhuapl.edu . JPL, a NASA center, is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Febuary 28, 2001
The End of an Asteroidal Adventure NEAR Shoemaker Phones Home for the Last Time Tonight at 7 p.m. (EST) NASA's Deep Space Network antennas will pull down their last Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission data, bringing to a close the first mission to extensively study an asteroid. NEAR, which was the first mission in NASA's Discovery Program of low-cost, scientifically focused space missions, and the first to land on an asteroid, has delighted astronomy neophytes and scientists alike. "NEAR has raised the bar," says Dr. Stamatios Krimigis, Space Department head at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., which built the spacecraft and managed the NEAR mission. "The Laboratory is very proud to have managed such a successful mission and worked with such a strong team of partners from industry, government and other universities. The team had no weak links and the result was an historic mission that surpassed everyone's expectations." "This mission has been successful far beyond what was in the original mission plan," says NEAR Mission Director Dr. Robert Farquhar of APL. "We got the first images of a C-class asteroid when we added a flyby of asteroid Mathilde in 1997; we added two low altitude series of passes over the ends of Eros this past October and January that gave us spectacular images from 2.7 kilometers above the surface; and we achieved the first landing of a spacecraft on an asteroid on Feb. 12. All this at no extra cost. When you talk about ' faster, cheaper, better,' this is what 'better' means." On Feb. 12 at 3:01:52 p.m. (EST), NEAR Shoemaker made a gentle, picture-perfect 3-point landing on the tips of two solar panels and the bottom edge of the spacecraft body. But the mission wasn't finished yet. Much to the amazement of the mission team and millions of observers around the world who were following the descent, the touchdown was so elegant that the craft was still operating and sending a signal back to Earth even after landing. Jumping at the chance to get "bonus science" from the spacecraft, which had already collected 10 times more data than originally planned, the mission team asked for and got a 10-day extension and then four more days of DSN antenna time, enabling NEAR Shoemaker to send back data through Feb. 28. The extension was granted to allow the gamma-ray spectrometer to collect data from an ideal vantage point about four inches from the surface. The spectrometer team quickly redesigned software and uploaded it to the spacecraft so they could begin collecting elemental composition readings. The results were spectacular. "This is the first gamma-ray experiment that has ever been done on the surface of a body other than Earth," says Dr. Jacob Trombka, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, Md., who heads the gamma-ray spectrometer team. "In fact, we can say it's the first feasibility study of how to design an instrument to be used on a rover that could select samples from the surface, look for the presence of water, or map the surface for the purpose of future mining." The gamma-ray spectrometer team was able to retrieve data for a period of seven days after the spacecraft landed. "Right now we know we have good data with strong signatures," Trombka says. "But it will take months to scrutinize what we've collected. What we're looking for is information that will help us more precisely classify Eros and determine the relationship between the asteroid and meteorites that have fallen to Earth." NEAR Shoemaker now rests silently just to the south of the saddle-shaped feature Himeros as the asteroid twists more and more away from the sun with each rotation, moving the southern hemisphere into its winter season and temperatures as low as minus 238 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 150 centigrade). Project Scientist Dr. Andrew Cheng of APL, says the glamorous part of the mission is over but now scientists can get down to studying the data, including the more than 160,000 detailed images taken by the spacecraft. "We solved mysteries, we unveiled more mysteries. Now we're sharing the amazing amount of data that we collected with scientists all over the world, to sort through and debate and hopefully to help us discover facts about Eros and our solar system that no one knows today." For more information on the NEAR mission, including a gallery of images, visit Web site: http://near.jhuapl.edu.
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