Universe Today - December 12, 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. December 12, 2000 - Issue #355 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 ************************************** Did you know that every week around 300 to 400 NEW SPACE JOBS are advertised throughout the industry? Subscribe to the free weekly Space Careers newsletter and be the first to know who is hiring in the space industry. http://www.spacelinks.com/SpaceCareers/newsletter.html?ut ************************************** -- UNIVERSE TODAY STORY SUMMARY -- * Endeavour Lands Safely * Three New Extrasolar Planets Discovered * Mir Entrepreneurs Hatch a New Strategy ENDEAVOUR LANDS SAFELY ------------------------- After an 11-day mission installing solar panels on space station Alpha, the space shuttle Endeavour landed safely in Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA was worried that rain or clouds would delay the landing, but good weather held up, and the shuttle touched down at 6:03pm EST (11:03pm GMT). The installation of the solar panels was the most complex stage of the station's construction so far. The next segment will be the American Destiny laboratory module, delivered on board Atlantis in January. Original Source: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/reports/sts97/STS-97-23.html Internet Coverage: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/shuttle001211.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1066000/1066403.stm http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/12/11/shuttle.land/index.html http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/121100/shuttle.sml Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/shuttle.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/nasa.html Related Books: http://www.universetoday.com/html/books/spaceshuttle.html THREE NEW EXTRASOLAR PLANETS DISCOVERED ------------------------- Astronomers using the 4-m Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) near Coonabarabran, Australia have discovered three new planets orbiting distant stars. The first is known as a "hot Jupiter", 84% the size of Jupiter, but extremely close to its star. The second lies in an almost Earthlike orbit, where liquid water could exist; however, it's also a Jupiter class planet, so almost certainly a gas giant. The third planet is almost twice the size of Jupiter, and orbits out past the distance of Mars from the Sun. Original Source: http://www.aao.gov.au/press/aatplanets_dec00.html Internet Coverage: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1065000/1065910.stm http://www.cosmiverse.com/space121203.html http://www.discovery.com/news/briefs/20001212/sp_newplanets.html http://www.spacedaily.com/news/extrasolar-00l.html Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/extrasolar.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/extrasolarplanets.html Related Books: http://www.universetoday.com/html/books/extrasolarplanets.html MIR ENTREPRENEURS HATCH A NEW STRATEGY ------------------------- Confidential sources reported to MSNBC that MirCorp is planning on changing its focus from 15-year old Mir, to the Russian elements of space station Alpha. This new strategy is necessary because the Russian space agency has decided to deorbit Mir in early 2001. MirCorp is expected to announce its revised strategy on Wednesday. Internet Coverage: http://www.msnbc.com/news/500903.asp Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/mir.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/russia.html Related Books: http://www.universetoday.com/html/books/mir.html ************************************************ Space-related sites... Black River Astronomical Society - http://junior.apk.net/~arstar50/BlackRiver.index.html An Ohio club for amateur astronomers from beginners to veterans. University of South Carolina - http://astro.physics.sc.edu Department of Physics and Astronomy UK Solar Physics Newsletters - http://www.shef.ac.uk/~uksp CSIRO Office of Space Science and Applications - http://www.cossa.csiro.au co-ordinates and conducts research in Earth Observation science. Science Mall-USA - http://store.yahoo.com/scimall-usa Earth and Space Science Study and Collector Sets: Moon, Mars, Asteroids, Stars, Meteorite Impact Craters, Volcanoes, Oceans, Chemistry, Periodic Table; Rare Samples, Space Mousepads, Books and Slides. Hames Gallery - http://www.hamesgallery.com Astronomical art on stretched canvas done in oil, acrylic and airbrush. Commissions accepted too. Moore Observatory - http://www.MooreObservatory.com James and Barbara Moore Observatory Port Charlotte Campus of Edison Community College. Offers Public Observing and Astronomy Courses. AstroArts - http://www.astroarts.com Monthly Calendar for Amateur Astronomer, Photo gallery, Products etc. Cosmic Images - http://www.netsync.net/users/ronccd This site displays recent lunar, planetary and deep space images taken at Kohl Observatory. Susquehanna Valley Amateur Astronomers - http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/2999/ located in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania Astronomical Society of Victoria - http://www.gsat.edu.au/astrovic Australia's largest amateur society going back to 1922 and based in Melbourne in south east Australia. ------------------------- To unsubscribe from this newsletter, just reply with only the subject line "UNSUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER. All contents copyright (c) 2000 Universe Today |