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| Image credit: John Chumack |
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| Farewell Mars |
Aug 29, 2003 - It's been a couple of days since Mars made its closest approach so it's time for the news media to completely and utterly forget about it and move onto something new. The reality, though, is that Mars is going to remain bright and close for several months. It'll still incredible in many small telescopes well into September and even October. Even better than that, it will be visible higher in the sky at earlier times. Instead of waiting for it to rise through the murk at the horizon, you can just wait until it gets dark and then, bang, there it is.
If you tried to attend an event, I know everywhere was busy. I've heard stories of two-hour lineups just for a chance to look through a telescope. Yikes. Some astronomy clubs have chosen to organize their events in September, so take another look at my list of Mars 2003 events.
Fraser Cain
Publisher
Universe Today
P.S. I've had complaints from AOL subscribers that they aren't receiving the newsletter - I suspect some aggressive SPAM-filter. If you're on AOL, can you let me know if you're receiving this? |
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| Image credit: ESA |
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| How Huygens Will Land on Titan |
| Aug 29, 2003 - One significant event in the Cassini mission will be when the Huygens probe is deployed to Saturn's largest moon Titan in early 2005. A team of scientists from the European Space Agency recently tested how their probe will perform on the long drop through Titan's atmosphere by dropping a replica here on Earth. The mock-up was dropped from an altitude of 33 km on a balloon and it used a parachute to slow its return to Earth. ESA controllers use the descent time to calibrate the instrumentation that will communicate with the real Huygens probe when it makes its visit to Titan. |
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| Image credit: Space Imaging |
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| Brazilian Disaster Seen From Space |
| Aug 29, 2003 - Space Imaging's IKONOS satellite took a picture of the Brazilian rocket disaster aftermath on August 24, 2003. Two days before this picture was taken, a mistake with a prototype rocket's engines caused it to fire unexpectedly and explode on the launch pad - 21 people were killed and more injured. IKONOS took a picture of the Alcantara launch facility two years ago which shows the area before the disaster. |
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| Image credit: RSA |
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| Progress Supply Ship Launches for the Station |
| Aug 29, 2003 - An unmanned Progress 12 supply ship launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to deliver a new cargo of 2.7 tonnes of food, fuel and water to the International Space Station. The Progress lifted off at 0148 GMT Friday (9:48 pm EDT Thursday) and reached orbit 10 minutes later. The station's previous Progress, filled with trash, was undocked to make room for the new cargo ship and commanded to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and burn up. |
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