Space News for February 4, 2002
Astronomy
ESO Releases New Images of Saturn and Io
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| Image credit: ESO |
The European Southern Observatory released stunning new images of the planet Saturn and its moon Io on Friday - the sharpest ever taken by a ground observatory. The photographs were taken using the ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, which rivals the Hubble Space Telescope in image clarity. This is an almost perfect view of Saturn, taken when the planet's rings were tilted towards the Earth.
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Feb 4, 2002, 8:36pm
Space Flight
Spacecraft Image Volcano Disaster From Orbit
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| Image credit: NASA |
Three NASA spacecraft chronicled the devastation that occurred when the Nyiragongo volcano in Congo erupted on January 17th. The eruption killed more than 100 people and forced hundreds of thousands to evacuate the area. These newly released images were created using data taken from a space shuttle radar mapping mission, Landsat photographs, and the Terra spacecraft.
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Feb 4, 2002, 8:23pm
Space Flight
Computer Glitch Troubles Station
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| Image credit: NASA |
The crew of the International Space Station scrambled to restore power this morning when a computer on a Russian module of the station stopped working. The computer glitch knocked out the station's guidance system and prevented its solar wings from pointing at the Sun to generate power. NASA officials said that the crew was in no danger, but lost several hours from their packed work schedule.
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Feb 4, 2002, 7:32pm
Space Flight
Second Launch of H-2A Successful
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| Image credit: NASDA |
The Japanese Space Agency (NASDA) celebrated the second launch of its next generation rocket, the H-2A, on Monday from the Tanegashima Space Center. Although the liftoff went smoothly at 0245 GMT (9:45 EST Sunday), ground control lost contact with one of the mission's payloads - the DASH probe designed to test an atmospheric re-entry system. The rocket was originally expected to launch on Friday, but was held back because of weather problems.
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Feb 4, 2002, 7:10pm
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