Universe Today - September 29, 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 29th, 1999 - Issue #103 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 ************************************** What goes up must come down, and if you're an Apollo astronaut, hopefully, what lands will take off again, so you can go home. Floyd Bennett the guest on SpaceWatch.com's weekly live Internet TV show, "Mission Control, Over" made sure of it. As Chief of NASA's Lunar Landing Analysis Branch, he selected lunar landing sites, designed touchdown trajectories, and oversaw the Apollo 11-17 descents and ascents from the control room. In gratitude, the Apollo 15 astronauts named a moon mountain near their landing site after him. Check it out: http://www.spacewatch.com ************************************** Space News from SpaceDaily.com for today India Reveals Ambitious Satellite Program http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/india-99d.html LockMart Readies Defense Weather Sat http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/dmsp-99a.html X-33 Aims For Vehicle Rollout Q1 2000 http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/rlv-99w.html Keeping A Straight Back In Space http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/spacemedicine-99a.html ************************************** -- UNIVERSE TODAY STORY SUMMARY -- * Astronomers See Gravity Wobbles from Exosolar Planets * Chandra Images Crab Nebula Pulsar * Pioneer 10 Makes a New Discovery * Panels Investigate Orbiter Accident ASTRONOMERS SEE GRAVITY WOBBLES FROM EXOSOLAR PLANETS ------------------------ Although the star system Upsilon Andromedae was discovered to have multiple planets in the spring of 1999, astronomers have been able to observe the star actually wobble back and forth in the sky because of the gravitational effect of the planets. This has allowed the team to calculate the mass of the planets with a high degree of accuracy - the largest has 10 Jupiter masses. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_459000/459889.stm CHANDRA IMAGES CRAB NEBULA PULSAR ------------------------ The Chandra X-ray observatory continues to impress with its latest images taken of the Crab Nebula - a supernova remnant. The image shows brilliant ring around a pulsar at the nebula's center, and provides astronomers with more information about how a pulsar reacts with the nebula around it. http://www.astronomynow.com/breaking/9909/28chandra/index.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_460000/460567.stm http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/28/crab.nebula/index.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/316778.asp http://www.spaceviews.com/1999/09/28a.html PIONEER 10 MAKES A NEW DISCOVERY ------------------------ Even after it's left the solar system, Pioneer 10 is still continuing to provide astronomers with valuable research. Researchers have calculated that an object's gravity changed the spacecraft's trajectory for 25 days - they're still working on calculating the upper limits of its mass. Pioneer 10 was launched in 1972, and is currently 11 billion kms from the Earth. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_460000/460095.stm PANELS INVESTIGATE ORBITER ACCIDENT ------------------------ NASA has formed three panels to investigate the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter, after it disappeared early Thursday. The panels will consist of a review board appointed by NASA managers; a peer review board to investigate the technical failure; and an independent review panel. The space probe cost $125 million. http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9909/28/mars.update/index.html To unsubscribe from this newsletter, just reply with only the subject line "UNSUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER". All contents copyright (c) 1999 Universe Today |