Universe Today - October, 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. October 26th, 1999 - Issue #116 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 ************************************** Watch "MISSION CONTROL, OVER" on SpaceWatch What are your three favorite words if you’re Joseph Guy “Tibby” Thibodaux? Up, up, and away! Some jobs do take a rocket scientist: like starting NASA, for example. In 1958, Thibodaux was part of the core group that put the “space” in “space program” when the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) became NASA. Another hero of human spaceflight, LIVE on Mission Control, Over this week! Check it out: http://www.spacewatch.com ************************************** Space News from SpaceDaily.com for today Kompsat Arrives at Vandenberg http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/korea-99i.html Astrolink Attracts Half Billion Liberty Ticket http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/astrolink-99b.html Team ABL Completes Initial Software Segment For Raygun http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/laser-99g.html Building A Better Nut http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/nasa-99i.html Volcanoes and Water Don't Mix http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/mars-surveyor-99p.html ************************************** -- UNIVERSE TODAY STORY SUMMARY -- * Galileo's Io Images Released * NASA Reconsiders Mars Landing Spot * Dust Rings Could Be Used to Detect Planetary Systems * Gamma Burst Help Astronomers Explore Early Universe * Chandra Detects X-Ray Jet in Nearby Galaxy * Thruster Problem Won't Hamper NEAR's Mission GALILEO'S IO IMAGES RELEASED ------------------------ NASA has released the latest images of Io taken by the Galileo spaceprobe on its most recent pass of the moon. One photo shows a lava field near the center of an erupting volcano as Galileo passed only 670 kilometers above the surface. Because of the intense radiation around the moon, all of the Io encounters were scheduled at the end of the Galileo's mission. http://www.astronomynow.com/breaking/9910/22galileo/index.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_483000/483187.stm http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9910/25/space.io.reut/index.html http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/102499/galileo.sml http://www.spaceviews.com/1999/10/22d.html NASA RECONSIDERS MARS LANDING SPOT ------------------------ Recent photographs of Mars' polar regions by the Global Surveyor has forced the Mars Polar Lander team to reconsider locations to land their spacecraft. Initially thought to be gently rolling hills, the photographs have revealed a series of slopes and mesas. http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9910/22/downlinks/index.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/304520.asp DUST RINGS COULD BE USED TO DETECT PLANETARY SYSTEMS ------------------------ New theories of planetary system formation proposed by astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics predict that new systems will form into rings around stars before becoming planets. Recent photos of dust rings, such as that around the star HR 4796A support this theory. http://www.spaceviews.com/1999/10/23b.html GAMMA BURST HELP ASTRONOMERS EXPLORE EARLY UNIVERSE ------------------------ Astronomers at the University of Chicago believe that gamma ray bursts will help probe back to the beginning of the universe. Thought to be the most powerful explosions in the universe, the team believes they can detect gamma bursts older and further away than the most distant quasars - which are commonly used to measure the early universe. http://www.astronomynow.com/breaking/9910/24grb/index.html http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/102699/times_gammaray.sml CHANDRA DETECTS X-RAY JET IN NEARBY GALAXY ------------------------ The Chandra X-ray observatory helped to reveal incredible detail of Centaurus A, a nearby galaxy known for repeated X-ray explosions - it's suspected the galaxy contains a supermassive black hole at its center. One X-ray jet alone is the length of our own Milky Way galaxy. http://www.astronomynow.com/breaking/9910/25chandra/index.html http://www.discovery.com/news/briefs/brief3.html?ct=3815f63b http://explorezone.com/archives/99_10/26_chandra_centaurus.htm THRUSTER PROBLEM WON'T HAMPER NEAR'S MISSION ------------------------ During a routine trajectory correction maneuver, the NEAR spacecraft's thrusters burned 35-40% less than planned. This "underburn" caused the spacecraft to be slightly off-course. Flight engineers believe the problem was caused by errors in the software, and not with the actual thruster. They don't believe it will cause any problem to the spacecraft's mission. http://www.spaceviews.com/1999/10/25a.html To unsubscribe from this newsletter, just reply with only the subject line "UNSUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER". All contents copyright (c) 1999 Universe Today |