Universe Today - September 6, 1999 |
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the U N I V E R S E T O D A Y Space Exploration News From Around the Internet, Updated Every Weekday. September 6th, 1999 - Issue #91 http://www.universetoday.com info@universetoday.com To unsubscribe from this newsletter, just reply with only the subject line "UNSUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER". An HTML version of this Newsletter is available at: http://www.universetoday.com/html/misc/today.html ************************************** Special Note: My Internet access was down for several days so I was unable to update Universe Today. It's back now, so enjoy three day's worth of space stories. Fraser Cain Publisher ************************************** Space News from SpaceDaily.com for today Linear Aerospike Engine Ready For Testing http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/rlv-99s.html Range Modernization Reduces Launch Costs http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/launchers-99o.html Wide Area Augmentation System Passes Final Testing Milestone http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/waas-99a.html Iridium Dials Wrong Numbers http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/iridium-99g.html Sandia and General Atomics Develop New Synthetic-Aperture Radar http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/radar-99c.html Space Key To Precision Missions and National Missile Defense http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/milspace-99f.html ************************************** -- UNIVERSE TODAY STORY SUMMARY -- * Polar Lander Fine-Tunes Flight Path * Black Hole Collision Modeled * As Solar Maximum Approaches, Expect Disruption * Australian Fossil Aids Search for Martian Life * Cassini Captures Moon Images as It Passes Earth * Extrasolar Starquakes Discovered * 64 Cases of Wiring Failure * Hubble Captures Galaxy Quartet * Jupiter's Moons Gather Significant Dust * Korean Satellite Launches * Prospector Crash Didn't Create a Dust Cloud POLAR LANDER FINE-TUNES FLIGHT PATH ------------------------ The Mars Polar Lander fired its manoeuvring engines for 30 seconds to make a minor flight correction on its way to the Red Planet. The lander increased its velocity by 2.3 meters per second, and will actually arrive an hour earlier than planned at Mars' South Pole on December 3rd. http://www.astronomynow.com/breaking/9909/01mpl/index.html http://www.spaceviews.com/1999/09/01b.html BLACK HOLE COLLISION MODELED ------------------------ Physicists at the Albert Einstein Institute are working on a computer simulation of what would happen in the grazing collision of two black holes. They hope to use the simulation to predict the kinds of gravitational waves they should detect when such a collision actually happens. http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/gravity-99a.html AS SOLAR MAXIMUM APPROACHES, EXPECT DISRUPTION ------------------------ Solar activity follows a predictable 11-year cycle, and the next peak will happen in mid-2000 and last for a year or two. With more satellites in orbit than ever before, researchers are concerned that the constant stream of solar ejecta will interfere with their sensitive instruments. http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/01/solar.flares/index.html http://explorezone.com/archives/99_09/01_solar_activity.htm AUSTRALIAN FOSSIL AIDS SEARCH FOR MARTIAN LIFE ------------------------ Chemical traces of fossilized bacteria over 3.46 billion years old have been found in rocks from Australia. Researchers hope to use these remnants as a way to research the possible evolution of life on Mars by comparing the structure of the fossils to those found in the meteor that supposedly contains fossils of Martian life. http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/03/space.fossil/index.html http://explorezone.com/archives/99_09/02_ns_mars.htm http://www.msnbc.com/news/308087.asp CASSINI CAPTURES MOON IMAGES AS IT PASSES EARTH ------------------------ During its flyby of the Earth, NASA had an opportunity to test Cassini's imaging system - they pointed it at the moon and captured a detailed series of images. Cassini was approximately 80 minutes away from its flyby, and 377,000 kilometres away from the moon when it took the pictures. http://www.astronomynow.com/breaking/9909/02cassini/index.html http://explorezone.com/archives/99_09/02_cassini_moon.htm http://www.spaceviews.com/1999/09/04c.html EXTRASOLAR STARQUAKES DISCOVERED ------------------------ Declared a launch failure when its cooling hydrogen leaked, the Wide-Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) satellite has found a new lease on life. Using its secondary telescope astronomer Dr. Derek Buzasi has discovered the first starquakes on a star other than the sun. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_436000/436479.stm 64 CASES OF WIRING FAILURE ------------------------ NASA technicians inspecting the space shuttle fleet have found a tremendous number of wire defects on all of the shuttles. 38 have been found on the Endeavour and 26 on the Discovery. The inspectors have 100 miles of wiring to explore on the fleet. Their next launches have been delayed until the repairs are complete. http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/03/shuttle.repairs/index.html http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/090599/shuttles.sml http://www.msnbc.com/news/299583.asp http://www.spaceviews.com/1999/09/04b.html HUBBLE CAPTURES GALAXY QUARTET ------------------------ Using the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, the Hubble Space Telescope recently captured striking images of a quartet of galaxies known as the Hickson Compact Group 87. The galaxies orbit one another, over a timespan that takes hundreds of millions of years. http://www.astronomynow.com/breaking/9909/02hubble/index.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/284079.asp JUPITER'S MOONS GATHER SIGNIFICANT DUST ------------------------ During close flybys of the various Jovian moons, the Galileo spacecraft picked up increased levels of microscopic particles of dust crashing into its ionisation dust detector. The velocity of the dust is low, eading researchers to believe they originate from the moons themselves - a constant hail of dust impacting the surface and being ejected back into space. http://www.astronomynow.com/breaking/9909/04galileo/index.html KOREAN SATELLITE LAUNCHES ------------------------ A Korean Koreasat 3 telecommunications satellite was launched on board an Ariane 42P rocket from the European launch site at Kourou in French Guiana. The launch was delayed one day because of a minor technical glitch which was resolved in time for a smooth lift-off Sunday. http://www.astronomynow.com/breaking/9909/05arianev120/index.html http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/ariane-99l.html http://www.spaceviews.com/1999/09/04a.html PROSPECTOR CRASH DIDN'T CREATE A DUST CLOUD ------------------------ After first proposing a crash-landing of the Lunar Prospector spacecraft into the Moon's South pole in search of water, professor David Goldstein from the University of Texas announced that no dust cloud had been created. This lack of dust doesn't completely rule out the search for water after the explosion, however. http://www.spaceviews.com/1999/09/05b.html To unsubscribe from this newsletter, just reply with only the subject line "UNSUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER". All contents copyright (c) 1999 Universe Today |