Universe Today - August 24, 2000 |
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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. August 24, 2000 - Issue #295 http://www.universetoday.com info@universetoday.com An HTML version of this newsletter including pictures is available at: http://www.universetoday.com/html/misc/today.html ************************************** -- UNIVERSE TODAY STORY SUMMARY -- * Hubble Spies Brown Dwarfs in a Stellar Nursery * Debris from Chinese Rocket Discovered * Tito Begins Training for Mir Mission * Russians Modify Spacestation Component to Boost Revenues HUBBLE SPIES BROWN DWARFS IN A STELLAR NURSERY ------------------------- Using the Hubble Space Telescope to peer deep into the heart of a nearby stellar nursery, astronomers have discovered a swarm of brown dwarfs. Inside the Orion Nebula's Trapezium cluster, which is located 1,500 light years from Earth, the team discovered 50 of the brown drawfs, which are gaseous objects with masses so low their cores never became hot enough to fuse hydrogen and shine steadily. Original Source: http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/2000/19/pr-photos.html Internet Coverage: http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/08/23/hubble.brown.dwarves/index.html http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0008/24hstbrown/ http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=2455 Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/hubble.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/astronomy.html DEBRIS FROM CHINESE ROCKET DISCOVERED ------------------------- An experiment designed to detect space dust picked up the debris cloud from a Chinese Long March rocket that detonated earlier this year. This is the first time that scientists have been able to match up particles with the breakup of a specific satellite. The detector, SPADUS, was launched on board an unclassified Air Force satellite early last year, and during its first year it recorded 195 impacts with debris - mostly man-made. The cloud of particles (and larger pieces of metal) that hurtle around the Earth at thousands of kilometres/hour are creating increasing hazards for spaceflight. Original Source: http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/00/000823.long-march-4.shtml Internet Coverage: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/debris-00b.html http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0008/24argosdebris/ http://www.spaceviews.com/2000/08/23b.html Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/satellites.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/satellites.html TITO BEGINS TRAINING FOR MIR MISSION ------------------------- Businessman Dennis Tito passed an important milestone on the road to his upcoming voyage aboard the Russian Mir spacestation; he received his medical certificate from a panel of doctors clearing him physically for the flight. Tito will now spend time at Star City, the Russian cosmonaut training centre, to prepare for the 7-10 day flight, which is still scheduled for mid 2001. Original Source: http://www.mirstation.com/news_news14.html Internet Coverage: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0008/24titotrain/ http://www.flatoday.com/space/explore/stories/2000b/082400d.htm Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/mir.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/spacestations.html RUSSIANS MODIFY SPACESTATION COMPONENT TO BOOST REVENUES ------------------------- Russia has decided it will modify an upcoming segment for the International Space Station so it will include multimedia equipment for various business projects. Co-developed by Russian RKK Energia and US SpaceHab, the "Enterprise" module was originally planned just to provide docking and cargo space, but the revised plans will help the module generate revenue for the developers. Internet Coverage: http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/08/23/russia.spacestation.ap/index.html http://www.flatoday.com/space/explore/stories/2000b/082300station.htm Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/spacestation.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/spacestations.html ------------------------- To unsubscribe from this newsletter, just reply with only the subject line "UNSUBSCRIBE !*EMAIL*!". All contents copyright (c) 2000 Universe Today |