Universe Today - November 26, 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. November 26th, 1999 - Issue #128 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 ************************************** -- UNIVERSE TODAY STORY SUMMARY -- * Hubble Repair Mission Pushed Back * Nests of Galaxies Unveiled By Hubble * New Methods of Measuring Gamma Ray Bursts * Chinese Space Capsule is Almost Russian Made * Polar Lander Team Trains for Landing * Engineers Find More Problems with Discovery * Pakistan Plans New Satellite Launch * India Plans to Test New Cryogenic Engine * Galileo Prepared for Io and Europa Flyby * Another Team Detects Extrasolar Planet * JPL Director Describes the Future of Space Exploration * Proton Rockets Won't Launch Before March HUBBLE REPAIR MISSION PUSHED BACK ------------------------ The launch date for the Hubble Space Telescope repair mission has been pushed back to December 9th - three days back from the most recently planned date. The delay is because of a new set of wiring problems found on the space shuttle Discovery. http://www.astronomynow.com/breaking/9911/22shuttle/index.html http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9911/22/shuttle.01.ap/index.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/330873.asp NESTS OF GALAXIES UNVEILED BY HUBBLE ------------------------ Before its fourth gyro failed, rendering the space telescope inoperative, Hubble researchers were able to view detailed images of a class of galaxies called ultra-luminous infrared galaxies. Several have been found to contain giant nests of up to five galaxies. http://www.astronomynow.com/breaking/9911/22hubble/index.html http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9911/22/hubble.galaxies/index.html http://www.spaceviews.com/1999/11/23a.html NEW METHODS OF MEASURING GAMMA RAY BURSTS ------------------------ NASA astronomers have discovered properties of gamma ray bursts which allow the distance of these massive explosions to be more accurately measured. The gamma bursts release different levels of energy: high and low. By measuring the difference in their wavelength, the researchers believe they can determine the luminosity and distance. http://www.astronomynow.com/breaking/9911/23grbursts/index.html http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9911/25/gamma.rays/index.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/329383.asp http://www.spaceviews.com/1999/11/24c.html CHINESE SPACE CAPSULE IS ALMOST RUSSIAN MADE ------------------------ The Chinese Space Agency's historic maiden flight of its unmanned Shenzhou space capsule was heralded as a success. But recent photographs of the scorched return vehicle show it's basically a reverse engineered Russian Soyuz capsule. This isn't surprising considering Russia's have been providing the Chinese with technology and surplus equipment for over a decade. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_534000/534960.stm http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/china-99r.html POLAR LANDER TEAM TRAINS FOR LANDING ------------------------ With the December 3rd arrival of the Mars Polar Lander close approaching, the team of engineers have been preparing themselves for this tense time. They spent the last week training for the entry, descent and landing of the spacecraft. With the recent loss of the Climate Orbiter, everyone is working to make sure that nothing goes wrong this time. http://www.astronomynow.com/breaking/9911/24mpl/index.html ENGINEERS FIND MORE PROBLEMS WITH DISCOVERY ------------------------ Workers preparing Discovery the repair mission of the Hubble Space Telescope learned that they need to replace a leaky quick disconnect valve on Auxiliary Power Unit No. 3. This will take two days to complete, which pushes the launch back to end of its launch window, but it still could launch by the 9th. http://www.astronomynow.com/breaking/9911/24shuttle/index.html PAKISTAN PLANS NEW SATELLITE LAUNCH ------------------------ Pakistan has big plans to get into the space race with the construction of its second locally-built satellite: the Badr-2. The satellite is due to launch in March 2000 on board a Russian Zenit-2 rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome. http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9911/24/pakistan.satellite.reut/index.html INDIA PLANS TO TEST NEW CRYOGENIC ENGINE ------------------------ An Indian-built experimental cryogenic rocket engine will be tested later this year at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Center in Thiruvananthapuram. Under development for seven years, its designers claim the engine will be the most efficient in the world when it goes into operation in 2001. http://cnn.com/TECH/space/9911/24/india.space.ap/index.html GALILEO PREPARED FOR IO AND EUROPA FLYBY ------------------------ The Galileo spacecraft will make its closest approach to Jupiter's Io today, when it passes only 300 kilometers above the moon's surface. This will be after a close approach to one of Jupiter's other moons, Europa, when it passes 8,642 kilometers away. http://www.astronomynow.com/breaking/9911/24shuttle/index.html http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/galileo-99o.html ANOTHER TEAM DETECTS EXTRASOLAR PLANET ------------------------ A second team of astronomers have validated the discovery of renowned planet hunters Geoffrey Marcy and Paul Butler who claimed they had visual evidence of a planet orbiting a distant star. This new team from the US and Switzerland said they to were able to detect the dimming of the star HD 209458 as the planet orbited around it. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_534000/534855.stm JPL DIRECTOR DESCRIBES THE FUTURE OF SPACE EXPLORATION ------------------------ At a recent lecture at the American Astronautical Society's annual meeting, Edward Stone, the director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab described the future of space exploration. He described constellations of communications satellites and outposts that enable robotic explorers to spend much longer exploring planets. http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/112599/spaceexplore.sml http://www.msnbc.com/news/337041.asp PROTON ROCKETS WON'T LAUNCH BEFORE MARCH ------------------------ With the loss of 2 out of 4 recent Proton launches, the Russian Space Agency has decided to ground the fleet until it can complete upgrades on the second stage of the booster engine. This new delay will push the launch of the Zvezda module for the International Space Station until after the upgrade has been completed. http://www.spaceviews.com/1999/11/25a.html ************************************** Space News from SpaceDaily.com for today Marshall's New Era in Space Transportation http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/future-99j.html NASA Brings Terra Back To Earth http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/terra-eo-99a.html A Heart Of Cold Hard Iron http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/earth-99g.html Shenzhou: The Fun’s just beginning http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/china-99s.html Cutting The Clatter In Space http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/iss-99o.html China's Spaceship Is Mainly Russian http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/china-99r.html To unsubscribe from this newsletter, just reply with only the subject line "UNSUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER". All contents copyright (c) 1999 Universe Today |