Universe Today - December 9, 1999 |
|
the U N I V E R S E T O D A Y Space Exploration News From Around the Internet, Updated Every Weekday. December 9th, 1999 - Issue #135 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 ************************************** SpaceWatch: DEEP SKY How can a star look brighter when there's another one in the way? It's called mircolensing and it's just one speciality of this week's guest, Princeton astronomy professor and acting director of New Mexico's Apache Observatory, Ed Turner. He'll join Michael and Andy for a discussion of this fascinating phenomenon and all his other research interests, including quasars and the fate of the Mars Polar Lander! Don't miss this brand new DEEP SKY! http://www.spacewatch.com/admin/deepsky/main.html ************************************** -- UNIVERSE TODAY STORY SUMMARY -- * As Hope Fades, Speculation Heats Up * When Will Humans Go To Mars? * New Theory on the Origins of Uranus and Neptune * Another Day, Another Delay with Discovery * Japan Abandons its H-2 Program AS HOPE FADES, SPECULATION HEATS UP ------------------------- Now that the major opportunities to communicate with the missing Mars Polar Lander have come and gone, NASA is beginning to investigate what could have gone wrong. The ideas are flying fast and furious: the thrusters didn't work properly; the various segments didn't detach properly; it landed on a boulder and fell over. We may have to wait a few generations to find out for sure, when humans visit the Red Planet. http://abcnews.go.com/ABC2000/abc2000science/marspolar_speculation991208.html http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/mars-polar99-99s.html WHEN WILL HUMANS GO TO MARS? ------------------------- The loss of the recent Mars missions has done little to hold our eagerness to send humans to Mars. Most experts, however, believe a manned mission will happen sometime between 2011 and 2020, and by 2050 it's likely we will have an active base on Mars. http://abcnews.go.com/ABC2000/abc2000science/marstravel991208.html NEW THEORY ON THE ORIGINS OF URANUS AND NEPTUNE ------------------------- A recent study from Queen's University used computer simulations to determine that Uranus and Neptune could have a different origin that previously believed. The researchers believe the two outermost gas giants formed their cores near the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn, and then the gravitational interactions caused them to drift out to their current position. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/planets991208.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_555000/555473.stm http://cnn.com/1999/TECH/space/12/08/space.planets.reut/index.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/344098.asp http://www.chron.com/content/interactive/space/astronomy/news/1999/solarsys/991209.html http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/extrasolar-99za.html ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER DELAY WITH DISCOVERY ------------------------- Today's delay in the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery on its mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope is... a dented propulsion pipe. This latest discovery will push the launch back at least a day, more if it turns out the pipe will need to be replaced. The earliest it will launch now is Sunday, Dec. 12th. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/shuttle991207.html http://cnn.com/1999/TECH/space/12/08/shuttle.delay/index.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/330873.asp http://www.flatoday.com/space/explore/stories/1999b/120999e.htm http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/shuttle-99l.html http://www.spaceviews.com/1999/12/08e.html JAPAN ABANDONS ITS H-2 PROGRAM ------------------------- After a failed launch last month, the Japanese government has decided to completely abandon its flagship H-2 rocket program. At the same time, it also announced that the launch of the H-2's successor, the less expensive H-2A, would be pushed back a year. http://cnn.com/1999/TECH/space/12/08/space.japan.reut/index.html ************************************** Space News from SpaceDaily.com for today Mars: Where To Now http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/mars-polar99-99s.html Jupiter: Destroyer Of Worlds http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/extrasolar-99za.html Taiwan Defends Long-Range Missile Plans http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/china-99z.html Discovery Grounded Again http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/shuttle-99l.html Japan Delays First H2A Launch http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/h2-99i.html Solving The Mystery Of the Ice Giants http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/uranus-99c.html Cooking Carbon In The Bigbang http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/bigbang-99o.html Earth Size Radio Scope Spys Supernova http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/supernova-99d.html Is Baby Bopp An Only Child http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/comet-99d.html Detecting Black Hole Debris Via X-ray Emissions http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/xmm-99c.html In Search Of Sunlight http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/earth-99h.html To unsubscribe from this newsletter, just reply with only the subject line "UNSUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER". All contents copyright (c) 1999 Universe Today |