Universe Today - December 15, 1999

Universe Today - December 15, 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 15th, 1999 - Issue #139
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 --

* Discovery Countdown Begins
* Russian Space Agency Claims Y2K Readiness
* Sun Covered in Moss-Like Gas Formations


DISCOVERY COUNTDOWN BEGINS
-------------------------
The official countdown for the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery
has begun - the shuttle will blast off on its mission to repair the
Hubble Space Telescope on Thursday at 9:18pm from its pad in Cape
Canaveral. This countdown comes approximately two months
behind schedule.

http://cnn.com/1999/TECH/space/12/14/shuttle.02/index.html
http://www.msnbc.com/news/330873.asp
http://www.spaceviews.com/1999/12/14a.html


RUSSIAN SPACE AGENCY CLAIMS Y2K READINESS
-------------------------
A top official from the Russian Space Agency said that their Mission
Control center will be unaffected by the Y2K bug - that's because it
was checked for bugs and upgraded by early December. Just in case,
however, they're planning to have more technicians available for
the date rollover, to deal with any problems that occur. Mir,
also, is supposed to be Y2K ready.

http://cnn.com/1999/TECH/space/12/15/y2k.russia.ap/index.html


SUN COVERED IN MOSS-LIKE GAS FORMATIONS
-------------------------
It's called solar moss, but it only looks like the plant. In reality,
solar astronomers have discovered what they believe is the link
between the cooler main body of the sun, and the hot coronal loops
that cause solar flares. This solar moss is a spongy-looking mixture
of blobs of hot and cool gas that mark the areas coronal loops form.

http://www.discovery.com/news/briefs/brief2.html?ct=3857e621
http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/trace-99a.html

**************************************
Space News from SpaceDaily.com for today

LockMart To Launch NASA's Mission To Terr
http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/terra-eo-99b.html


Twisting With Plasma On A Magnetic Field
http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/plasma-99a.html

Trace Finds "Hot Moss"
http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/trace-99a.html

Stop Criticizing, Russia Warns Kazakhstan
http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/kazakhstan-99b.html

UAV Gets AutoLanding
http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/uav-99c.html

Invisible Aurora Hides Over Poles
http://www.spacedaily.com/spacecast/news/aurora-99a.html

To unsubscribe from this newsletter, just reply with only the
subject line "UNSUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER".

All contents copyright (c) 1999 Universe Today