Universe Today - December 28, 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 28, 2000 - Issue #361 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 Okay, Universe Today is back now. It appears that all my news sources are back from their holiday breaks so you can expect regular updates from now on. I got a note from CNN Headline News about a series they're currently running called "2001: A Space Prophecy", where they're comparing technology presented in 2001: A Space Odyssey with our reality. It started on Dec. 26th and ends on Dec. 31 Here's their information on the series and viewing times: http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/12/21/part.one/ Hope you've had a great holiday. Fraser Cain Publisher Universe Today ************************************** -- UNIVERSE TODAY STORY SUMMARY -- * Russian Cyclone Rocket Goes Missing * Cassini Delivers Full Colour Movie of Jupiter * Power Failure Caused Problem on Mir * Asteroid Just Misses the Earth RUSSIAN CYCLONE ROCKET GOES MISSING ------------------------- Russian controllers lost touch with a Cyclone-3 rocket carrying 6 satellites shortly after launch from the Plesetsk military cosmodrome. Russian defense officials blame the rocket's Ukranian-built engines, which caused the rocket to crash into the Wrangel Island area in the Bering Strait. Space program officials have admitted that there could be some environmental damage if the rocket hit land. Internet Coverage: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1090000/1090487.stm http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/12/28/satellite.failure/index.html Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/russia.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/russia.html Related Books: http://www.universetoday.com/html/books/satellites.html CASSINI DELIVERS FULL COLOUR MOVIE OF JUPITER ------------------------- NASA scientists have built a 24-frame animation of Jupiter using a series of images taken by the Cassini spacecraft as it nears the giant planet. The animation shows the movement of cloud storms in bands across the planet, as well as the spinning Great Red Spot. Cassini will pass Jupiter at a distance 9.7 million kilometres on December 30th, before swinging past the planet on its way to Saturn. Original Source: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2000/csjupvidadv001227.html Internet Coverage: http://www.cosmiverse.com/space122805.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/508485.asp http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/28jupmovie/ 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 POWER FAILURE CAUSED PROBLEM ON MIR ------------------------- Russian commanders lost contact with the orbiting Mir spacestation earlier this week for a total of 20 hours before communications were restored early Tuesday. Mission flight director Vladimir Solovyev said the problem was caused by a sudden loss of battery power on the station. There were no astronauts aboard, so no lives were at risk from the power outage. Russia is preparing to deorbit the station in early 2001 to a remote area of the Pacific Ocean East of Australia. Internet Coverage: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1088000/1088202.stm http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/12/26/miles.debrief/index.html http://www.discovery.com/news/briefs/20001227/sp_ap_mir.html 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 ASTEROID JUST MISSES THE EARTH ------------------------- An asteroid capable of causing tremendous damage narrowly missed the Earth on Friday, when astronomers discovered it at the last minute. Although 50-metre wide Asteroid 2000 YA passed the Earth by a healthy 772,000 kilometres, that's only twice the distance from the Earth to the Moon - a narrow miss astronomically; had it hit the Earth, it would have carved out a hole a kilometre across. Internet Coverage: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1084000/1084476.stm http://www.cosmiverse.com/space122705.html Similar Stories: http://www.universetoday.com/html/topics/asteroids.html Related Sites: http://www.universetoday.com/html/directory/asteroids.html Related Books: http://www.universetoday.com/html/books/asteroids.html ************************************************ Space-related sites... Glenn's Astro Images - http://www.silcom.com/~gelliott/ Astro Images and observatory building MERGE - http://tierra.rediris.es/merge/merge.html Spanish website of meteorites and planetary geology Space Age Associates - http://www.astronist.demon.co.uk/index.html Current events SAHARAMET - http://members.aol.com/MeteoriteNews/CO3story/00Mar.html Meteorites Monthly News, discovery of 150kg carbonaceous chondrite, Saharan expeditions, CD-ROM and reference cards about meteorites. Ninfinger Productions: Scale Models - http://www.ninfinger.org/~sven/models/models.html Devoted to modeling spacecraft, rockets, and experimental aircraft. INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES - http://www.incredible-adventures.com Offering suborbital space flights, zero-gravity and high-altitude flights, cosmonaut training at Star City in Moscow, flights in the legendary MiG-29 fighter and much more! Néstor Raúl Anzola - http://ocean.st.usm.edu/~nanzola/uno.html Links in Science CCD Gallery of Frank Pfeifer - http://home.t-online.de/home/pfeifer.frank/homep1.htm Volkssternwarte Paderborn e.V. - http://www.AstroObsPb.de Paderborn Public Astronomical Observatory - Germany INTER-SOL Sunspot Observation Programme (ISP) - http://www.Inter-Sol.org of the Volkssternwarte Paderborn e.V. for amateurs and professionals ------------------------- To unsubscribe from this newsletter, just reply with only the subject line "UNSUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER. All contents copyright (c) 2000 Universe Today |