Space News for April 9, 2002
Space Flight
Atlantis Blasts Off
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| Image credit: NASA |
The space shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Cape Canaveral this morning, carrying seven astronauts and headed for the International Space Station. Liftoff occurred at 2044 GMT (4:44pm EDT), four days late because of a leaky fuel line on the shuttle's launch pad. The shuttle is expected to dock with the station on Wednesday, and astronauts will begin the first of four spacewalks to install a new truss that will serve as a backbone for the station.
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Apr 8, 2002, 4:00pm
Science
New Evidence Raises Hopes of Life on Mars
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| Image credit: NASA |
Scientists believe there may be chlorophyll, a substance used by plants to extract energy from sunlight, located near the landing site for the 1997 Mars Pathfinder mission. Scientists analyzed the spectral signature of the area surrounding Pathfinder's landing site. Although the researchers have stressed that their findings are preliminary, they believe they've found two areas that appear to contain chlorophyll - it could be significant, or it just could be a patch of coloured soil.
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Apr 5, 2002, 6:18pm
Astronomy
Hubble Gets Back to Work
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| Image credit: NASA |
After three weeks of tests, NASA controllers have given the newly upgraded Hubble Space Telescope a clean bill of health. Initial tests are largely complete; however, calibrations of the observatory's instruments are expected to continue for another two months. Routine science observations have now resumed using the telescope's Imaging Spectrograph and the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2.
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Apr 5, 2002, 6:09pm
Astronomy
Asteroids Could Be Double Previous Estimates
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| Image credit: ESA |
Asteroids in our solar system could be more numerous than previously thought according to a new survey done using the European Space Agency's Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). The ISO's survey indicates that there are between 1.1 million and 1.9 million asteroids larger than 1km in the main asteroid belt, located between Mars and Jupiter. This result is roughly double the number of asteroids estimated by previous surveys using other observatories.
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Apr 5, 2002, 5:53pm
Space Flight
New Strategy for Deflecting Smaller Asteroids
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| Image credit: NASA |
A planetary scientist from the University of Arizona believes that smaller asteroids could be moved out of collision paths with the Earth by changing how much sunlight they reflect. Given many years of lead time (decades or even centuries), a smaller asteroid could be covered in dirt, painted white, or covered with a solar collector. This would change the amount of heat the asteroid radiates into space, and cause its orbit to drift away from a killer trajectory.
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Apr 4, 2002, 4:44pm
Astronomy
Supernovas May Cause Gamma Ray Bursts
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| Image credit: ESA |
Gamma ray bursts are the most powerful explosions ever detected in the Universe, but astronomers have been uncertain what causes them. There are two theories: collisions between neutron stars, or supernova explosions from very massive stars. New data gathered by the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory have helped rule out the first, and maybe confirm the second. By analyzing the afterglow of a recent burst, astronomers were able to detect chemical elements which are found in supernovae.
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Apr 4, 2002, 7:26am
Space Flight
Fuel Leak Delays Atlantis Launch
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| Image credit: NASA |
Leaking fuel on the launch pad of the space shuttle Atlantis has forced NASA controllers to push back the launch - leaking ground equipment that supply the shuttle with liquid-hydrogen appear to be the culprit. Atlantis had been scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral at 2213 GMT (5:13pm EST), so when the cancellation was announced, the seven astronauts hadn't even suited up yet. NASA has yet to announce when the countdown will resume. (Source: AP)
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Apr 4, 2002, 7:11am
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