Universe Today - December 13, 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 13, 2000 - Issue #356 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 ************************************** A note from Fraser... Help Universe Today broadcast a lunar eclipse to the world! On January 9th, 2001, there will be a total lunar eclipse visible from all of Europe, and most of Africa and Asia. Because it's in the Winter, and not everyone will get clear skies, I'm organizing a network of cameras to broadcast the eclipse over the Internet, so everyone can see this eclipse - no matter if you have clouded skies or live outside the eclipse area. I'm looking for more volunteers to help out. It's not too hard, you just need to the following: - to live in an area that will see the eclipse (Europe, Africa, or Western Asia) - have some method of capturing images, a digital camera or video camera - a website to post the images - a connection to the Internet to transfer the images to your website If you're interested in helping out, please reply to this newsletter, or drop me a note at mailto:fraser@universetoday.com, and I'll add you to the list. If you know anyone who might be able to help, please pass this information along. I could really use your help. Thanks, Fraser Cain Publisher Universe Today ************************************** -- UNIVERSE TODAY STORY SUMMARY -- * Chinese Announce Manned Spaceflight Plans * Cassini Snaps More Images of Jupiter * Ariane Rocket Delayed by Satellite Problem * German Firm Planning to Send Ordinary People into Space CHINESE ANNOUNCE MANNED SPACEFLIGHT PLANS ------------------------- Although China has been working on a manned spaceflight program for several years, including the launch of an unmanned capsule last year, there have been no specifics released about the future of the program. Officials from the Chinese Space Agency finally announced that they will send an astronaut into space within the next 5 years, as well as launch 30 commercial satellites. Internet Coverage: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/china_space001213.html http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/12/13/space.china.reut/index.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/502780.asp Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/chinese.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/spaceexploration.html Related Books: http://www.universetoday.com/html/books/spaceexploration.html CASSINI SNAPS MORE IMAGES OF JUPITER ------------------------- The Cassini spacecraft, enroute to Saturn, took even more images of Jupiter, including some of the Great Red Spot. NASA also built a timelapse movie based on a series of photos taken by the probe, to show the cloud movements on Jupiter. Cassini will get its closest to Jupiter at 10 million kilometres on December 30th before swinging past on its way to Saturn. Original Source: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2000/csjupadv001211.html Internet Coverage: http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/12/12/jupiter.pics/index.html http://www.cosmiverse.com/space121303.html http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/13jupio/ Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/cassini.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/missions.html Related Books: http://www.universetoday.com/html/books/jupiter.html ARIANE ROCKET DELAYED BY SATELLITE PROBLEM ------------------------- The launch of Ariane flight 137 carrying a Turkish Eurasiasat 1 satellite was put on hold yesterday, after the satellite manufacturer requested additional checks to make sure the satellite was working properly. In order to perform the checks, the satellite was removed from the rocket, and returned to the S3 preparation building. A new launch date hasn't been set. Original Source: http://press.arianespace.com/cgi-bin/pbcgi60.exe/press/u_ariane/f_pr?00289 Internet Coverage: http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/12/12/space.ariane.reut/index.html Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/ariane.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/satellites.html Related Books: http://www.universetoday.com/html/books/satellites.html GERMAN FIRM PLANNING TO SEND ORDINARY PEOPLE INTO SPACE ------------------------- A German television production company, Brainpool TV, announced that it has reserved 7 slots on Russian Soyuz rockets to send winning contestants from a series of gameshows up to space station Alpha. The flights are currently expected to take place between 2002 and 2008, and the company is looking for contestants for the show, currently called "Space Commander". Out of 60,000 expected contestants, 600 will be chosen to compete in events that test intelligence, fitness, and social skills, with 7 winners being sent to the station. Original Source: http://www.space-commander.com/news.php3 Internet Coverage: http://www.msnbc.com/news/500645.asp http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tourism-00b.html Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/spacestation.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/spacestations.html Related Books: http://www.universetoday.com/html/books/spacestations.html ************************************************ Space-related sites... SETI Link - http://members.aol.com/setilink links to organizations searching for intelligent life outside of our solar system. Planetmeister Productions - http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/hall/5614/ Home of the Hubble Gallery Vol 1 CD-ROM. Amateur Astronomers from KROSNO - http://www.free.polbox.pl/w/wacekm/Ptmaeng.html Krosno Branch of the Polish Amateur Astronomers Society Celestial Wonders - http://digilander.iol.it/gualdoni a collection of film images of the most beautiful objects of our universe, taken through a Takahashi FS-102 apo refractor. Gruppo Astrofili di Padova - http://scuolaworld.provincia.padova.it/astrofili Site of the Amateur Astronomer Group in Padova (Italy). Our activities goes from public lectures and exposition in our planetarium and in over the county's schools, to practical training courses in our observatory. Encyclopaedia Galactica - http://www.astro.utu.fi/~rareko Coordinate conversions, encyclopaedia, images, and more... Astronomy Unit, Queen Mary, University of London - http://www.maths.qmw.ac.uk/Astronomy/ one of the UK's premier centres for research and postgraduate education. Astronomy at Wykeham Primary School - http://www.wykeham.havering.sch.uk/seclipse.htm Space science work conducted at Wykeham Primary School. Royal Society of South Africa - http://www.uct.ac.za/org/rssa aiming to further all aspects of science by promoting the exchange and development of scientific ideas and knowledge Leicester University's Educational Guide to Space and Astronomy - http://www.star.le.ac.uk/edu Aimed at all ages, the guide covers astronomy and space exploration past, present and future. ------------------------- To unsubscribe from this newsletter, just reply with only the subject line "UNSUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER. All contents copyright (c) 2000 Universe Today |