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Дата: 24 марта 1998 (1998-03-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Talk with NASA scientists Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Interested in any of the following? * live webchats about Mars with NASA experts: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/interact.html * an email service in which NASA experts answer your individual questions: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/ask/question.html * archives of answers to previously asked questions about Mars: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/ask/ * biographies of NASA experts and stories about their work days: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/team/ * background sections and Mars mission information: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/background/ * a Mars photo gallery: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/photos/ These resources are open to anyone without cost. To get involved, visit the Mars Team Online web site at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/ and jump in. This popular Sharing NASA project involves NASA's current and future missions to Mars. The Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft took off in November and reached the orbit of Mars on September 11, 1997 to begin an orbital mission that will provide detailed mapping and weather information. The Mars Pathfinder spacecraft blasted away in December and landed on the Red Planet on July 4, 1997. The micro-rover Sojourner has wandered its way around the Martian terrain, returning a wealth of new science data. By participating in the Mars Team Online project, you can join the Mars team in their exploration of the Red Planet! The project was originally designed for students and teachers, but we've found that adults are also particularly interested, especially in the email question and answer service. Our other Sharing NASA projects also allow anyone from the general public to share in the excitement of NASA's authentic scientific and engineering pursuits, like flying the shuttle, spacecraft explorations of distant planets, and space-based life sciences research. The focus of these projects is the enthusiastic people of NASA. For these other projects, see http://quest.arc.nasa.gov [If you would like more information about Sharing NASA or Mars Team Online, please remove "DESPAM" from the email address when you reply to this post. I'll be happy to field any questions. Or just email me to let me know that you found this information useful.] Dan Helfman Mars Team Online http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/ Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 марта 1998 (1998-03-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: WDC-A R&S Launch Announcement 12924: UFO F/O F8 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... COSPAR/ISES WORLD WARNING AGENCY FOR SATELLITES WORLD DATA CENTER-A FOR R & S, NASA/GSFC CODE 633, GREENBELT, MARYLAND, 20771. USA SPACEWARN 12924 COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM NUMBER SPACECRAFT INTERNATIONAL ID (CATALOG NUMBER) LAUNCH DATE,UT UFO F/O F8 1998-016A 25258 16 MARCH 1998 ..JOSEPH H. KING, DIRECTOR, WDC-A-R&S. [PH: (301) 286 7355. E-MAIL: KING@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV 17 MARCH 1998, 14:50 UT] Dr. Edwin V. Bell, II _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ Mail Code 633 _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ NASA Goddard Space _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ Flight Center _/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ Greenbelt, MD 20771 _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ +1-301-286-1187 ed.bell@gsfc.nasa.gov NSSDC home page: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 марта 1998 (1998-03-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Spacecraft Carrying Human Hair and DNA Planned For Interstellar Flight Subject: Spacecraft Carrying Human Hair and DNA Planned For Interstellar Flight Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE National Contact: Charles Chafer Tel: 1 (800) 522-3217 E-mail: Celests@iah.com Local Contact: Jim Spellman Tel/Fax: (760) 379-2503 E-mail: WSpaceport @aol.com SPACECRAFT WITH HUMAN HAIR AND DNA PLANNED FOR INTERSTELLAR FLIGHT Companies expect to reap $225 million in privately financed venture (Houston, TX) -- March 17 -- A new U.S. commercial space project is planning to launch samples of human hair from as many as 4.5 million people worldwide on a trajectory to Jupiter and beyond. The project's backers hope to make up to $225 million from people who will pay $50 each to have their DNA-laden hair launched on a spacecraft to be flung by Jupiter's gravity out of the solar system into interstellar space. Called "Encounter 2001," the spacecraft is scheduled to be launched in 2001 as a payload on a Ariane 5 rocket launched from Kourou Space Center in French Guiana. The lower "blub" portion of each hair, which contains the most DNA, will be processed by a laboratory in California already gearing up to preserve the DNA in millions of hair samples. "Individuals will be charged $50 to submit hair samples along with their pictures and small messages for launch," said Charles Chafer, president of Encounter 2001. Mr. Chafer is also president of the Celestis Foundation affliiated with Celestis, Inc., the same company that has made a business of launching symbolic portions of cremated remains of humans into orbit as a "space burial." The other partner in the Encounter 2001 venture is AeroAstro, a company experienced in building small innovative spacecraft. Participants will be able to launch up to six strands of hair along with digitized pictures and short messages. Hair from people's pets will not be allowed. "This is for humans only," Chafer stated. "The mission would be preceded by radio telescope transmissions beamed from Earth -- radioing, in effect, 'Here we come, ready or not' -- to any intelligent lifeform in deep space that might take an interest in the hair/DNA mission," Chafer said. Those transmissions are to start as early as Dec. 31 and will include the names of those who have paid to participate. The Encounter 2001 limited-liability corporation formed by Celestis and AeroAstro hopes to realize $75-225 million. Initial maket studies by the project indicate 1.5-4.5 million people worldwide could pay to participate in the flight. The group last week signed a contract with a major international advertising firm to run a series of ads across the U.S. starting in April to obtain more precise market data. "Spacecraft development and launch costs are extimated at $10-12 million and the Encounter 2001 project has already secured the $500,000 in financing," said Jim Spellman, one of the West Coast representatives for the Houston-based Celestis, Inc. "No additional financing will be required if public response equals our expectations. A final decision to proceed with the project is set for later this year, and spacecraft fabrication is expected to begin the first part of 1999." The French space agency (CNES), and the European Space Agency's (ESA) Arianespace consortium will use an Ariane 5, Europe's new heavy-lift space booster to launch the Encounter 2001 spacecraft into an elliptical geosynchronous transfer orbit along with one or two communications satellites unrelated to the deep space mission. Following launch, the Encounter spacecraft would orbit the Earth for weeks or months waiting for an optimum trajectory to Jupiter. The spacecraft's escape engine would be fired when the Earth and Jupiter come into proper alignment, requiring two years to reach Jupiter where the planet's gravity would fling it on a trajectory out of the solar system. "Encounter 2001 is the first opportunity for all of us to reach out beyond our solar system with our dreams, thoughts, and essence," said Mr. Chafer, who is also the president of Encounter 2001. "It's only appropriate that as new and innovative ways for public participation in spaceflight are developed, Celestis offers them." In April 1997, Celestis launched the cremated remains of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, 1960's pop icon Timothy Leary and 22 other individuals into Earth orbit using a Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) "Pegasus XL" rocket. It was released over the Canary Islands from a converted L-1011 jumbo jet that is based at Meadows Field/Kern County Airport in Bakersfield, California. On February 10, an OSC "Taurus" rocket rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force base in Santa Barbara County, Calif. placing the remains of 30 more individuals aboard the Celestis-02 spacecraft into Earth orbit. Another mission, Celestis-03, is planned for late July from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard another OSC "Pegasus XL" rocket. Once in space, the same stage that carries the Celestis spacecraft and the rocket's primary payloads separate and enter Earth orbit. Neither the capsules nor the ashes ever escape into space; the capsules remain attached to the final stage. The cremated remains launched on Celestis flights will stay on orbit between 18 months and 10 years before they re-enter the atmosphere and harmlessly vaporize. At a cost of $4,800 per person, Celestis services are comparable to most conventional funeral services. "With the 'Earthview Commemorative Spaceflight,' our Celestis mission is a secondary payload on a typical commercial space flight. Therefore, we will not contribute to orbital pollution," Chan Tysor, president of Celestis, Inc. said. "Eventually, those satellites will re-enter the atmosphere. . .blazing like a shooting star in final tribute." A portion of the proceeds -- including the Encounter 2001 project -- goes to the Celestis Foundation which contributes to entrepreneurial space enterprises, educational organizations, and other charities which promote a positive future on Earth. For a video replay of the previous Celestis "Founders' Flight" and "Celestis-02" launches, point your Internet web browser to: http://www.celestis/com/ More information on Celestis and Encounter 2001 is available from Celestis, Inc. at 1 (800) ORBIT-11. Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 марта 1998 (1998-03-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: STARDUST Update - March 13, 1998 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... STARDUST Status Report March 13, 1998 Ken Atkins STARDUST Project Manager The live video feed from the high bay assembly area at Lockheed Martin Astronautics is now on the Stardust website (http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/construction.html) for public viewing. The images are currently being updated every 2 minutes. For orientation, the scene shows the gray propellant tank sitting in front of the three (vertical) black side-panels. These side panels are mounted on the ground handling "strongback" supports. The strongback provides a foundation for handling and moving the spacecraft during assembly. There are two electronic boxes visible above and slightly left of the tank. These boxes are the power control assembly (PCA) and the Command and Data Handling (C&DH) unit. These are the central "heart" of the spacecraft that power and communicate with the other units that will be appearing in the scene as time goes on. We welcome you to the Assembly, Test and Launch Operations (ATLO) activities. Hope you enjoy watching hardware that will actually fly to the comet come together as a spacecraft. [Editor's note: the camera used for the live video feed is used in the ATLO testing and is often moved around within the assembly area. The view may not always be on the spacecraft. ] The ATLO activities continued to make excellent progress this week. The Telecom subsystem testing of compatibility with the Deep Space Network (DSN) was completed very successfully. This success demonstrates the ability of the flight spacecraft to communicate from space through the worldwide system of antennas comprising the DSN. The flight pyro initiation unit (PIU) was delivered and has been installed on the spacecraft. This element of the electric power subsystem triggers the various releases and deployments during the mission (e.g. Sample Return Capsule (SRC) separation from the spacecraft.) The assembly of the flight Sample Return Capsule (SRC) was completed! It was placed in its "clean tent" or "glove box" environment and run through functional testing of the capsule and deployment of the aerogel collector. This was successful and the SRC has now been moved to the acoustics facility for testing today against environmental frequencies representative of the launch vehicle. For more information on the STARDUST mission - the first ever comet sample return mission - please visit the STARDUST home page: http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/ Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 марта 1998 (1998-03-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: SJI's Sky And Space Update - March 15, 1998 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... SAN JUAN INSTITUTE'S SKY AND SPACE UPDATE Summary information about the night sky and recent findings and events in solar system exploration and science. Updated every 2 weeks. LAST UPDATED: SUN. MAR. 15, 1998 Prepared by: Dr. Bruce Betts and Andre Bormanis OBJECTS TO LOOK FOR IN THE NIGHT SKY (MID-NORTHERN LATITUDES) MERCURY rises to greatest elongation -- some 19 degrees from the Sun -- on Mar. 16. Look for it in the west shortly after sunset. By the end of the month, Mercury will have faded in brightness to the point that it is not readily viewable. VENUS is visible in the low east-southeast in the pre-dawn sky, looking like an extremely bright star. It reaches greatest elongation (47 degrees from the Sun) on Mar. 27. MARS is very low in the southwest in the early evening. It looks like a dim yellowish-orange star. JUPITER reappears from its conjunction with the Sun low in the east just before dawn. Look for it to the lower left of Venus about half an hour before dawn. Just before dawn on the morning of Mar. 26, observers on the East coast of the U.S. may be able to glimpse Jupiter emerging from behind the dark limb of the Moon. SATURN is low in the west shortly after sunset. It looks like a yellowish star. SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE OBSERVERS: Planets located in the southern part of the sky for northern hemisphere observers will appear higher in southern hemisphere skies; those in the north will appear lower. THE MOON Last Quarter Moon occurs Mar. 20 at 11:38 p.m. PST (UT - 8 hours). New Moon occurs Mar. 27 at 7:14 p.m. PST. TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE REPORT SJI Program Development Assistant Andre Bormanis, and long-time SJI volunteer Dick Kenealy traveled to Aruba to witness the total eclipse of the Sun that occurred on Feb. 26. Both report spectacular views. At the southern tip of Aruba, totality lasted 3 minutes and 32 seconds. All five naked-eye planets were visible during the eclipse! Mercury and Jupiter were just a few degrees away from the Sun. Photos and a more detailed account of the eclipse will eventually be posted on the SJI web site. Other accounts of the eclipse can be found on the Sky & Telescope website, http://www.skypub.com, along with links to other eclipse-related websites. PLANETARY SPACECRAFT UPDATE LUNAR PROSPECTOR: Data from the Lunar Prospector spacecraft strongly suggest that water ice is abundant at both the north and south poles of Earth's Moon. Prospector's neutron spectrometer detected low concentrations of water ice across a significant number of polar craters. Due to the low angle of the Sun at the poles, parts of the floors of these craters are permanently in shadow. The ice crystals appear to be mixed into grains of lunar soil (regolith) that cover the crater floors. Mission scientists estimate that the total amount of ice detected ranges from 10 billion to 300 billion metric tons. The north pole contains twice as much ice as the south. The scientists theorize that ice has been deposited on the Moon over the last several billion years by comets crashing into the lunar surface. Just 30 billion tons of lunar ice would be able to support the water needs for a colony of 2000 people for 100 years, even without recycling. In addition to providing drinking and bathing water, the water could be broken down into its constituent hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The oxygen could be used for breathing, and the hydrogen could be used for rocket fuel. Lunar Prospector has also mapped the gravitational field of the Moon to great accuracy. This "gravity map" will be extremely useful for plotting the orbits of future lunar spacecraft, as well as for determining the structure of the Moon's interior. Lunar Prospector will continue to conduct its primary mission for the next ten months. Prospector's orbit will then be lowered to an altitude of just ten kilometers, allowing the spacecraft's instruments to gather even higher resolution data on the Moon's composition and gravity. More information about this mission can be found at the NASA website http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov. GALILEO: Analysis of images from the Dec. 16, 1997 Europa fly-by bolsters the theory that liquid water exists beneath the moon's icy surface. Galileo made its closest pass ever (200 kilometers) over Europa during this encounter. The images it obtained show evidence of slush on the Europan surface, along with ice cliffs as tall as America's Mount Rushmore, and plates of ice that have broken apart and moved around. The presence of slush and moving ice plates implies a warmer, possibly fluid layer of water recently existed, and may still exist, beneath the moon's surface. For more information on the Galileo mission, see http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo. THESE WEEKS IN SPACE HISTORY MAR. 18, 1965: Soviet Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov becomes the first man to "walk" in space. MAR. 25, 1655: Saturn's giant moon Titan was discovered by the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens. Titan features an atmosphere thicker than Earth's, comprised primarily of nitrogen. In the year 2004, the Cassini spacecraft will release a probe named in Huygen's honor to study the atmosphere and surface of Titan. MAR. 29, 1974: The U.S. Mariner 10 spacecraft becomes the first, and so far the only spacecraft to fly-by Mercury, closest planet to the Sun. Mariner 10 passed by Mercury three times, photographing a total of 54 percent of the planet's surface. RANDOM SPACE FACT The first experimental confirmation of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity was made during the total solar eclipse of May 29, 1919. During an eclipse, bright stars become visible. Einstein had predicted that gravity from the Sun would slightly bend the path of starlight passing close to the Sun. Astronomers tested this assertion by measuring the positions of several stars that appeared close to the Sun during the 1919 eclipse. The deviations in the observed positions of these stars due to the Sun's gravity matched Einstein's predictions. ********************************************************************** The San Juan Institute (SJI) is a non-profit corporation headquartered in San Juan Capistrano, CA with divisions there and in Tucson, AZ. SJI carries out research and education in planetary and Earth sciences and astronomy, with funding provided by government grants and private donations, which are always needed. Partial funding for the SSU has been provided by NASA's Solar System Exploration Division. San Juan Capistrano Research Institute Ph: 714-240-2010, Fax: 714-240-0482 31882 Camino Capistrano, Suite 107 Email: educate@sji.org San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675 Web site: http://www.sji.org Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 марта 1998 (1998-03-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Two Studies Will Refine and Expand Solar Monitoring Task Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Douglas Isbell Headquarters, Washington, DC March 19, 1998 (Phone: 202/358-1753) RELEASE: 98-47 TWO STUDIES WILL REFINE AND EXPAND SOLAR MONITORING TASK The Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, and the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder have been selected by NASA's Office of Earth Science to conduct parallel six-month definition studies of a new small satellite to monitor variations in the amount of radiant solar energy that reaches Earth. The precise measurements to be obtained by the Total Solar Irradiance Mission (TSIM) will help scientists better understand the relationship between the Sun's variable energy output and its effects on Earth's climate. The six-month feasibility studies will focus on the development of a preliminary system design and operations concept for the cost- capped $23 million mission. NASA has been measuring the total radiative output of the Sun from the unique perspective of space since the late 1970s. The current sensor being used is called the Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor (ACRIM). NASA has flown two ACRIM instruments, including the ACRIM-II instrument onboard NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite. A third ACRIM instrument is scheduled for launch aboard a dedicated small satellite in October 1999. TSIM will extend the broad data set gathered by the ACRIM series while exploring a new capability to measure solar irradiance in two discreet spectral bands. Once proven, this operationally oriented capability is a candidate for flight aboard future National Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite System missions being planned by a tri-agency partnership among NASA, the Department of Defense and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "TSIM will be developed in 36 months or less using the same key principles of 'faster, better, cheaper' spacecraft demonstrated by the agency's Discovery Program," said Dr. Ghassem Asrar, NASA Associate Administrator for Earth Science. "We hope to obtain an instrument payload that is lighter and more technologically advanced, yet provides an exciting additional capability that will give us new knowledge about our climate and why it varies." TSIM is part of NASA's Earth Observing System, a series of advanced remote-sensing satellites designed to provide simultaneous measurements of a broad range of physical, chemical and biological processes to enable researchers to study the Earth's land, oceans, air, ice and life as a total system. TSIM also will serve as NASAХs contribution to the joint small Science Satellite (SciSat) program with the Canadian Space Agency. NASA and Canada have committed to developing independent science research missions to be launched on a NASA-funded launch vehicle in December 2001, with shared data after launch. The two selected teams will document their analyses for NASA review by the end of 1998, with one team being selected to proceed with development. TSIM program management will be provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. -end- Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 марта 1998 (1998-03-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: NASA's TRACE Mission Set To Study The Sun's Turbulent Upper Atmosphere Subject: NASA's TRACE Mission Set To Study The Sun's Turbulent Upper Atmosphere Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Donald Savage Headquarters, Wa