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Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Antarctica is not shrinking (Forwarded) Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... European Space Agency Press Release No 36-98 Paris, France 15 October 1998 ANTARCTICA IS NOT SHRINKING EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY SATELLITES PROVIDE NEW INSIGHT INTO RISING SEA LEVELS Antarctica is not shrinking, the European Space Agency ESA reveals today. This result of the ERS (European Remote Sensing) satellites is reported 16 October 1998 by an international team of scientists in the leading American magazine, SCIENCE (See note). But the same investigation provides evidence that one part of West Antarctica may be rapidly losing its ice to the ocean. The team of British, Dutch and American scientists, led by Professor Duncan Wingham at University College London, based their findings on ERS data collected over five years. The data reveal that most of the ice stored in Antarctica is very stable. The icy continent now looks an unlikely source of rising global sea level this century, making thermal expansion of the ocean due to global warming, and the shrinking of mountain glaciers, more likely causes. Prof. Wingham's team used ERS's radar altimeter instruments to determine if the thickness of the Antarctic Ice Sheet changed over the five-year period from 1992 to 1996. Transmitting over 4,000,000 radar pulses to the surface of the ice, and measuring the time taken for the echoes to return to the satellite, the average change of the height of 63 of the Ice Sheet was measured with an accuracy of 0.5 cm per year. The ice sheet has changed on average by less than 1 cm per year. Using previous measurements of changes in snowfall over the ice sheet, the team concluded that the interior of the Antarctic Ice Sheet had contributed only 1.7 cm to sea level rise this century. Sea level has risen 18 cm over the past 100 years. Previously the accuracy of data could have meant that Antarctica were responsible for a raise or lowering of global sea level by 14 cm in either direction. Speaking today on the importance of the research Professor Duncan Wingham said: "Scientists have never really understood the role that Antarctica has played in this century's rising sea level. Our research makes it likely that the answer is very little." The result supports the view that global warming, leading to a thermal expansion of the ocean and the melting of mountain glaciers, is responsible for rising sea level. Professor Wingham continued, "As a consequence of our research we should be able to produce more accurate predictions of future sea level rises. Indeed it is possible that the consequences of global warming on sea level rise has been underestimated." Professor Wingham and his team also discovered a rapid reduction in thickness in one of West Antarctica's least known drainage basins. The Thwaites Glacier basin was shrinking rapidly at 12 cm per year. The result provides evidence that one of the most hostile regions of Antarctica may be undergoing rapid change. Commenting on the wider importance of the research, ESA's Earth Observation Mission Manager Guy Duchossois said: "Knowledge about sea level rise matters for many million people in coastal areas whose lives depend on dykes that can withstand the forces of nature. ESA will continue to fly satellites that provide the data for a better understanding of our environment. Global warming may have daunting consequences that satellites in space can help to manage." Further information: Franco Bonacina Media Relations, European Space Agency 00 33 1 5369 7713 Patrick Edwards Head of Media Relations 0171 391 1621 Linda Capper British Antarctic Survey 01223 221 448 NOTES TO EDITORS. (i) Antarctic Elevation Change 1992 - 1996, D.J.Wingham et al. Appears in the 16 October 1998 edition of SCIENCE Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Boeing Changes Delta III Control Software (Forwarded) Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... The Boeing Company Contact: Walt Rice (714) 896-5171 Communications (714) 896-1301 Delta Launch Hotline: (714) 896-4770 98-076 Boeing Changes Delta III Control Software HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., Oct. 15, 1998 -- The Delta III investigation team here completed the cause and corrective action investigation into the Aug. 26 failure of the Boeing Delta III launch vehicle. "The roll instability which led to the Delta III failure can be corrected by a change to our control software," said Clarence Quan, Boeing [NYSE: BA] Delta III investigation chairman. The Delta III control system consists of an onboard computer system which controls the main engine, two vernier engines and three solid-rocket motors (SRMs) with thrust-vector control (TVC) assemblies. When designing the roll aspects of the control system, 56 roll modes were identified. A 4 hertz (cycles per second) roll mode caused the roll instability seen in the Delta III launch. A mode is the characteristic pattern of movement or shape an object takes as it vibrates. "Past flight data with Delta II shows the most significant roll mode at liftoff remains the dominant mode throughout the first phase of flight," Quan said. "This data drove the design of the control system; because the 4 hertz roll mode was not significant at liftoff it was not designed into the control system." The 4 hertz roll mode was caused by the three airlit solid-rocket motors rocking back and forth in unison. As the ground lit SRMs burned and lost weight, the rocking air-lit solids had a greater influence on the vehicle. The mode became significant 40 to 50 seconds into flight. Once the control system recognized the mode, it attempted to correct the roll oscillation. In doing so, the hydraulic fluid used to move the nozzles on the solid-rocket motors with TVCs was depleted. Without the solid-rocket-motor TVC system, the Delta III was unable to maintain control. Approximately 72 seconds after liftoff, the vehicle flew through a wind shear, yawed 25 - 35 degrees, started to breakup and the rocket's automatic destruct system initiated. At this time the investigation team is focusing on the return-to-flight planning for the next Delta III launch, planned for the first quarter of 1999. Dan Collins is leading the Delta III return-to-flight and revalidation team. Clarence Quan and Walt Wilson will continue to lead the senior investigation board. Other former and current senior members of the Delta team will join representatives from NASA, U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Center, Aerospace Corporation, Hughes Space and Communications, as well as a retired vice president from General Dynamics on the senior investigation board. Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: New iceberg breaks off Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica (Forwarded) Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... NOAA 98-69 CONTACT: Patricia Viets, NOAA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 10/15/98 NEW ICEBERG BREAKS OFF RONNE ICE SHELF IN ANTARCTICA An iceberg larger than the state of Delaware has broken off the Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica, the National Ice Center reported today. The iceberg, named A-38, is 92 x 29.9 miles and covers an area roughly 2750.8 square miles. It broke off the second largest ice shelf in Antarctica, located in the southern Weddell Sea. Mary Keller, a scientist at the National Ice Center in Suitland, Md., sighted the iceberg using satellite data. The data are from an instrument on a satellite in the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program -- the Operational Linescan System, which has a spatial resolution of .55 km (.34 miles). These satellites are operated by the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The National Ice Center is a tri-agency operational center represented by the U.S. Navy (Department of Defense); the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Department of Commerce); and the U.S. Coast Guard (Department of Transportation). The National Ice Center's mission is to provide world-wide operational ice analyses for the armed forces of the United States and allied nations, U.S. government agencies, and the private sector. Ice shelves are massive, floating sheets of snow and frozen water that encircle the Antarctic mainland. Scientists at University College London believe that the breaking off, or calving, of icebergs is an important mechanism in the disintegration of ice shelves, and a possible indicator of global warming. Scientists there report that the mechanics of ice shelf fracturing remain poorly understood. A research group at the college is planning to study ice core samples from the Ronne Ice Shelf to learn more about fracture and deformation properties. The last known iceberg of this magnitude to calve off a Southern Hemisphere Ice Shelf was B-9 in the Ross Sea in October 1987. Iceberg names are derived from the Antarctic quadrant in which they were originally sighted. The quadrants are divided counter-clockwise in the following manner: A = 0 to 90 degrees West longitude (Bellinghausen/Weddell Sea) B = 90 West to 180 (Amundsen/Eastern Ross Sea) C = 180 to 90 East (Western Ross Sea/Wildesland) D = 90 East to 0 (Amery/Eastern Weddell Sea) When an iceberg is first sighted, the National Ice Center documents its point of origin. The letter of the quadrant, along with a sequential number, is assigned to the iceberg. For example, A-38 is the 38th iceberg the ice center has found in the Antarctica in Quadrant A. ### Note to Editors: An image of A-38 is on the World Wide Web at: http://www.natice.noaa.gov . Click on Icebergs; then click onto Southern Hemisphere Icebergs. The GIF image of A-38 is located above the weekly iceberg update table. Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: WDC-A R&S Launch Announcement 12968: UHF F/O F9 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 12968 COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM NUMBER SPACECRAFT INTERNATIONAL ID (CATALOG NUMBER) LAUNCH DATE,UT UHF F/O F9 1998-058A 25501 20 OCTOBER 1988 DR. JOSEPH H. KING, DIRECTOR, WDC-A-R&S. [PH: (301) 286 7355. E-MAIL: KING@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV 20 OCTOBER 1998, 14:00 UT] Further details will be in a forthcoming SPACEWARN Bulletin 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 SPACEWARN home page: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/ Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: MGS Aerobraking Update - October 18, 1998 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Mars Global Surveyor Aerobraking Status Report Sunday, October 18 (DOY 286/19:00:00 to DOY 291/19:00:00 UTC) Last Orbit Covered by this Report = 631 Total Phase I Aerobraking orbits accomplished = 180 Total Phase II Aerobraking orbits accomplished = 58 Total Science Phasing orbits accomplished = 290 Apoapsis altitude = 14074 km Apoapsis altitude decrease since start of aerobraking = 39952 km Periapsis altitude = 113.9 km Current Orbit Period = 09:02:37 Orbit Period decrease since start of aerobraking = 35:56:56 Starting Phase II orbit period = 11:38:02 RECENT EVENTS: The spacecraft health continues to be excellent as the 9 hour orbit period is reached in Phase 2 aerobraking. The orbit period has been reduced by 36 minutes over the past 13 drag passes during this reporting period. A periapsis lowering maneuver was executed on the apoapsis portion of orbit 622 to increase the drag pressure by about 10 percent. The 4-orbit running mean has been modified to use the last 5 orbits in the calculation. The current 5-orbit running mean is now 0.276 N/m2. The mean ran slightly over the 0.28 N/m2 upper corridor limit following orbit 628 registering 0.292 N/m2. The peak dynamic pressure on this orbit was recorded as 0.34 N/m2, just under the first alarm limit of 0.35 N/m2. Per Wednesday's reset meeting decision, the flight operations manager exercised discretion and did not order a periapsis raise maneuver based on reliable predictions that the following drag passes would provide less drag force. Navigation predictions are now based on the Wave-3 model which indicates relatively higher atmospheric densities at drag altitudes occurring over 110њ, 230њ and 350њ East longitudes. Sequence P632 will be built today to replace the current P630 sequence that was loaded yesterday. On Friday it was noticed that orbit 625 was executed by the P622 sequence and not the P624 sequence as planned. The planned uplink of the P626 sequence was rejected by flight software due to the target memory area being in use. An unplanned build of sequence P627 was required to take over before the last command of the P622 sequence forced contingency mode entry. An investigation found that the P624 sequence, following successful uplink and initiation, encountered an error and aborted its execution at the same time the P622 sequence should have been canceled. The error was caused by a Send'Two' Word command that was being executed during the same second as another flight software command. A FSW idiosyncrasy does not process commands successfully when Send'XX'Word commands are issued concurrently with other commands. A flight rule will be implemented to prevent this from recurring and checks are being executed to prevent this command configuration. The MAG/ER calibration executed on Wednesday was cut short when an error in the Load and Go sequence caused it's execution to cease. Analysis shows a back-to-back timing constraint violation using PDS (Payload Data Subsystem) commands. This restriction, implemented as a flight rule, was not checked by ground processes and was left undetected. The remainder of the MAG/ER calibration will be performed using NIPCs. A command sequence was generated and loaded to correct the telemetry state left by the aborted calibration successfully. The two incidents have been recorded in ISAs. The -Y solar array yoke continues solid structural performance. Attitude control continues excellent performance with no concerns with momentum management or star processing. The power subsystem reports strong performance with 10.7 % battery discharge depths each orbit. This deficit is being easily replaced by the primary charger with 7 minutes of margin. The minimum MOLA temperature continues to stay above 11.2њC using the shorter 70 minute warming maneuver. The telecommunications subsystem continues solid performance. UPCOMING EVENTS: Periapsis for Orbit 632 DOY292/00:57:45 UTC Periapsis for Orbit 633 DOY292/09:57:32 UTC Periapsis for Orbit 634 DOY292/18:54:35 UTC Periapsis for Orbit 635 DOY293/03:38:39 UTC Periapsis for Orbit 636 DOY293/12:39:13 UTC Periapsis for Orbit 637 DOY293/21:25:28 UTC (Note: MDT = UTC-6 hours DOY292=10/19) SPACECRAFT COMMANDING: There were 32 command files radiated to the S/C during this period. The total files radiated since launch is now 2881. These commands were sent in support of the following activities: MAG/ER & TES NIPCs Nominal drag pass sequences (P619, P622, P624, P626, P627, P630) Nominal aerobraking maneuver sequences (A622) Command Loss Timer resets Express SSR 1A playback Full SCP memory read-out Contingency Mode script update MAG/ER calibration Recovery from aborted calibration test Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: New MGS Image: Cliff-Face In The North Polar Layered Deposits Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/msss/camera/images/10_19_98_polar_release/10_19_9 8_npld_rel/index.htm Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) High Resolution Images: Detailed View of Cliff-face in the North Polar Layered Deposits Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera Release: MOC2-70A, -70B Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera Image ID: 586335198.46103 P461-3 (A) [Image] 960 KByte GIF image --or-- 270 KByte GIF image (A) Regional and local context of MOC image 46103. The small figure in the upper right corner is a map of the north polar region, centered on the pole with 0њ longitude located in the lower middle of the frame. A small black box within the polar map indicates the location of the Viking Orbiter 2 image used here for local context. The Viking image, 560b60, was taken in March 1978, toward the end of Northern Spring. The thin strip superposed on the Viking image is MOC image 46103, reduced in size to mark its placement relative to the Viking context image. The black box on the MOC image shows the location of the subframe highlighted in (B), below. Illumination is from the left in the Viking image. The 10 kilometer scale bar also represents approximately 6.2 miles. (B) [Image] 625 KByte GIF image --or-- 160 KByte GIF image (B) MOC image 46103 subframe centered on outcrop of layered deposits in the north polar region of Mars. The picture was taken in July 1998, during early Northern Spring. The dark bar represents 600 meters (656 yards or 1,968 feet). Illumination is from the right. You may need to adjust the images for the gamma of your monitor to insure proper viewing. Note: This MOC image is made available in order to share with the public the excitement of new discoveries being made via the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. The image may be reproduced only if the image is credited to "Malin Space Science Systems/NASA". Release of this image does not constitute a release of scientific data. The image and its caption should not be referenced in the scientific literature. Full data releases to the scientific community are scheduled by the Mars Global Surveyor Project and NASA Planetary Data System. Typically, data will be released after a 6 month calibration and validation period. Click Here for more information on MGS data release and archiving plans. CAPTION On Earth, geologists use layers of rock to "read" the history of our planet. Where rocks were initially formed as layers of sediment, the historic record of Earth is deciphered by knowing that older layers are found beneath the younger layers. Scientists investigating changes in Earth's climate over the past few million years also use this principle to examine cores of ice from Greenland and Antarctica. Layered rock and layered polar deposits on Mars may also preserve a comparable record of that planet's geologic and environmental history. The martian north and south polar regions are covered by large areas of layered deposits. Since their discovery in the early 1970's, these polar layered deposits have been cited as the best evidence that the martian climate experiences cyclic changes over time. It was proposed that detailed investigation of the polar layers (e.g., by landers and/or human beings) would reveal a climate record of Mars in much the same way that ice cores from Antarctica are used to study past climates on Earth. On January 3, 1999, NASA's Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2 Penetrators will launch on a journey to study the upper layers of these deposits in the martian southern hemisphere. Meanwhile, investigation of the north polar layered deposits has advanced significantly this year with the acquisition of MGS data. The Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter acquired new topographic profiles over the north polar deposits in June and early July, 1998, and dozens of new high resolution images were taken by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) from mid-July to mid-September, 1998. When it was proposed to NASA in 1985, one of the original objectives of MOC was to determine whether the polar layered deposits-- then thought to consist of 10 to 100 layers each between 10 and 100 meters (33 to 330 feet) thick--have more and thinner layers in them. The layers were proposed to have formed by slow accumulation of dust and ice--perhaps only 100 micrometers (0.004 inches) per year. A layer 10 meters (33 feet) thick would take 100,000 years to accumulate, roughly equal to the timescale of climate changes predicted by computer models. The image shown here (B) was taken at 11:52 p.m. PDT on July 30, 1998, near the start of the 461st orbit of Mars Global Surveyor. The picture shows a slope along the edge of the permanent north polar cap of Mars that has dozens of layers exposed in it. The image shows many more layers than were visible to the Viking Orbiters in the 1970s (see (A) above). The layers appear to have different thicknesses (some thinner than 10 meters (33 feet)) and different physical expressions. Some of the layers form steeper slopes than others, suggesting that they are more resistant to erosion. The more resistant layers might indicate that a cement (possibly ice) is present, making those layers stronger. All of the layers appear to have a rough texture that might be the result of erosion and/or redistribution of sediment and polar ice on the slope surface. The presence of many more layers than were seen by Viking is an important and encouraging clue that suggests that future investigation of polar layered deposits by landers and, perhaps some day, by human explorers, will eventually lead to a better understanding of the of the polar regions and the climate history recorded there. Our view of these deposits will be much improved--starting in late March 1999--when the Mapping Phase of the MGS mission begins, and MOC will be able to obtain images with resolutions of 1.5 meters (5 feet) per pixel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: GIS system maps shuttle exhaust cloud (Forwarded) Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Purdue University Sources: Bernie Engel, (765) 494-1198; e-mail, engelb@ecn.purdue.edu Ross Hinkle, (407) 867-4188 Writer: Rebecca J. Goetz, (765) 494-0461; e-mail, rjg@aes.purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@uns.purdue.edu October 16, 1998 GIS system maps shuttle exhaust cloud WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- On Oct. 29 the shuttle Discovery will head into space from Florida, but only after a computer-based geographic information system (GIS) assures launch managers that shuttle exhaust won't harm the local wildlife. Bernie Engel, a Purdue University agricultural engineer, helped develop the GIS system for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. "Right next to the launch area is Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which is visited by more than a million people a year," Engel said. "NASA is very careful about not messing up, not letting harmful deposits accumulate there." A few hours after a shuttle goes up, spent fuel from the solid rocket boosters falls back down. Much of what falls is an acid cloud -- in concentrations low enough that it won't hurt spectators, but high enough that repeated launches could alter the local environment. NASA monitors the deposits and limits the number of launches from each pad to prevent environmental damage. For years NASA has used a computer model to figure out where deposits fall. But three years ago, during a six-month sabbatical at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Engel noticed that NASA engineers were using photocopied maps to plot their estimates. Engel, one of the pioneers in GIS technology, convinced them to move to a GIS computerized mapping system. With GIS, researchers can pull together data on weather, land use, topography, wildlife and more in one computer system. With all the data integrated, launch personnel can easily estimate how a change in such things as wind velocity or launch location affects where the acid cloud falls. Also, GIS computer maps of data are more accurate than the paper ones NASA had been using. "Distance estimates made using the paper system could easily be off by thousands of feet," Engel says. "GIS gives a better estimate of where the hydrochloric acid cloud will fall and removes some of the chance for human error." Burton Summerfield, Pollution Control Officer for Kennedy Space Center, pushed to make the change as soon as he saw the advantages of Engel's suggestions. Engel helped set up the new system, which NASA has used for the last year and a half. "Bernie has taken our existing model and integrated it to allow for better prediction of the environmental effects," says Ross Hinkle, chief scientists for Dynamac International Inc., a company that contracts with NASA for life science support. "We can get almost instant feedback on what the environmental effects might be." NASA still calls on Engel when it needs help tweaking the new system. In fact, engineers for the space agency called him back two weeks ago as they prepared to send Discovery into orbit. "Just when I was teaching my Purdue GIS class about GIS programming," Engel said, "they called and said they needed help with the same issues the class was studying." Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Boeing Completes First Review of Solar Orbit Transfer Vehicle (Forward Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... The Boeing Company Contact: Beverly Weiss (253) 773-0923 Erik Simonsen (562) 797-5473 98-160 Boeing Completes First Review of Solar Orbit Transfer Vehicle SEATTLE, October 20, 1998 -- A Boeing-designed Solar Orbit Transfer Vehicle (SOTV) recently passed the first of three U.S. Air Force Technical Reviews -- the Systems Requirements Review. Boeing Phantom Works is developing the energy-efficient space vehicle under a $48 million contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. "This is a significant milestone," said Ed Cady, Boeing Phantom Works SOTV program manager. "To pass the review, we had to produce a product development plan, define operational and space experiment requirements, and define the technology development plan." Boeing is developing the low-power, environmentally friendly vehicle for both military and commercial applications. Unlike other space vehicles that use propellant combustion, the SOTV uses solar energy to generate both thrust and electric power. The solar-powered vehicle operates by use of a single propellant fed passively at low pressure into a receiver engine, heated by concentrated solar energy to 2,500 degrees Kelvin. The heated propellant is exhausted through a nozzle to produce low thrust (50 lb.) at high specific impulse (800 sec). The simple design, use of solar power and the vehicle's revolutionary on-orbit maneuverability enables the SOTV to move payloads from Low Earth Orbit to Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO) at a fraction of the cost of current systems. "This revolutionary SOTV technology has the potential for reducing total payload delivery cost to GEO by as much as 35 percent," Cady said. "Additionally, an operational vehicle will provide significantly increased payload capability for NASA planetary probes and human exploration missions to the moon, Mars and beyond." Boeing engineers plan to demonstrate a complete, subscale, autonomous on-orbit Space Experiment in late 2001 or early 2002. # # # (New artwork of the Solar Orbit Transfer Vehicle is available at www.boeingmedia.com or by contacting the above.) Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: `John Glenn, American Hero,' A One-Hour Special Will Air On PBS Oct. , Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... NOTE: The following news release is mostly relevant to TV viewers in U.S. and Canada. ***** The Boeing Company KCET/Hollywood `John Glenn, American Hero,' A One-Hour Special About The 77-Year-Old Astronaut, Will Air On PBS Oct. 28, The Eve Of His Upcoming History-Making Voyage Into Space LOS ANGELES, Aug. 11, 1998 -- The life and career of astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn will be explored in the upcoming PBS documentary, ``JOHN GLENN, AMERICAN HERO,'' a one-hour special made possible by The Boeing Company and public television stations. It will be broadcast on PBS on the eve of the scheduled launch of Glenn's voyage into space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, Wednesday, October 28, 1998 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET). (Check local listings.) The documentary is a co-production of KCET/Hollywood and Newsweek Productions Inc. Glenn made history 36 years ago when he became the first American to orbit the Earth. In making three orbits, he gave hope and pride to a nation desperate to catch up in the ``race for space.'' In the process, he became the most revered American explorer since Lindbergh. Now, the 77-year-old Ohio Senator will once again make history, this time as the oldest person ever to travel in space. Through interviews and rare historical footage, the one-hour documentary will trace Glenn's life from his boyhood in Ohio, his combat experience in World War II and Korea, his 1957 transcontinental speed record, years of public service in the United States Senate, and his longstanding desire to return to space. Glenn says his eye is set on the future. The documentary also will look ahead to consider America's space activities in the 21st century, including NASA's International Space Station. ``We are pleased to sponsor this documentary,'' said Alan Mulally, president of Boeing Information, Space & Defense Systems. ``John Glenn is the embodiment of the American space program, and our Boeing Company history parallels his career. From the Mercury capsule and rocket engines that carried him on his first mission, to the Space Shuttle that will enable the Senator to conduct research benefiting long-term spaceflight on the upcoming International Space Station, Boeing is proud to support our space pioneers every step of the way.'' Leading the project for KCET is internationally renowned documentarian Blaine Baggett, vice president of program development for KCET and the producer of award-winning PBS documentary series, including Spaceflight, The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century and The Astronomers. Baggett was also one of NASA's 40 finalists for the first journalist in space program, a competition put on indefinite hold after the Challenger accident. ``I'm very thankful for the opportunity The Boeing Company has given public television to examine in a serious way the life and accomplishments of one of the most remarkable figures of our century,'' said Baggett. Patrick Butler, president of Newsweek Productions, said: ``The story of John Glenn encompasses virtually the entire history of the American space program and his return to space presages an exciting new chapter in space exploration. Newsweek Productions is proud to be associated with KCET in telling this story and we are very grateful to The Boeing Company and America's public television stations for making this production possible.'' Blaine Baggett is the executive producer and writer of ``JOHN GLENN, AMERICAN HERO''; Isaac Mizrahi is the producer and James Cox is the co- producer. John Mora is the associate producer and Mary Danley, the editor. The executive in charge for Newsweek Productions Inc. is Patrick Butler. The Boeing Company is the world's largest manufacturer of commercial and military aircraft and a leader in manufacturing commercial and military space systems, including the Space Shuttle and Delta launch vehicles. Boeing is NASA's prime contractor for the International Space Station. The company has more than 237,000 employees in 27 states and has customers in more than 145 countries. KCET/Hollywood is the West Coast flagship station of the Public Broadcasting Service and a major producer of national public television programs. In the course of its 30-year history, KCET has received virtually every significant award for excellence in television, including more than 100 local and national Emmys, and the prestigious Peabody and duPont-Columbia Awards. Newsweek Productions Inc. is a subsidiary of Newsweek magazine, established to produce news, public affairs and informational television programming. Newsweek Productions currently produces HealthWeek on PBS, a weekly half-hour television newsmagazine that offers news and practical advice on health, nutrition, fitness and environmental issues. ***** Also on PBS, on October 27: NOVA: Terror in Space This episode surveys the harrowing and life-threatening problems aboard the aging Mir space station through the eyes of the Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts who lived through them: the heat from the fire that erupted on board; the collision between Mir and another spacecraft; the power outages and computer failures that have jeopardized lives. The program also presents the debate about whether NASA should continue to imperil its astronauts by sending them to Mir in preparation for the launch later this year of the most ambitious space project yet -- the International Space Station. TV Listings -- Check Local Listings 10/27/1998 -- 8:00 pm Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: U.Arizona scientists are first to discover debris disk around star orb Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... News Services University of Arizona Contact(s): David E. Trilling, 520-621-1611, trilling@lpl.arizona.edu Robert H. Brown, 520-626-9045, rhb@lpl.arizona.edu October 21, 1998 UA scientists are first to discover debris disk around star orbited by planet Planetary scientists have discovered the first circumstellar disk ever seen around a star like our sun, a star known to be orbited by a planet. The system is more like our solar system than any yet found. The disk of material is around 55 Cancri, a sun-like star, barely visible to the human eye, about 40 light years away in the constellation Cancer. The disk of material around the star looks similar in many ways to our solar system's Kuiper belt, a ring of comets and dusty debris left over from the formation of the planets, the scientists say. "And, for all we know, there could be other similarities in this system yet to be discovered," said David E. Trilling of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at The University of Arizona in Tucson. Trilling and UA planetary sciences Professor Robert H. Brown report on their discovery in the current (Oct. 22) issue of the journal Nature. San Francisco State University astronomers two years ago discovered a planet orbiting 55 Cancri. They used the radial velocity technique for their observations, a technique that detects gravity-induced wobble in the movement of stars. The technique does not show how the orbital plane of the system is inclined to the Earth, so the astronomers could only calculate a minimum mass for the stellar companion. The mass of the companion object, "55 Cancri b," was determined to be from about the mass of Jupiter to 100 or more Jupiter masses -- in which case the object would be a star, not a planet. 55 Cancri b is ten times closer to its star than the Earth is to the sun. Direct imaging of a planet so close to a star is not yet possible. Trilling and Brown used NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, with "Co Co," or the Cold Coronagraph, an instrument that Brown designed, developed and built for this specific telescope. A coronagraph blocks light from the central star so observers can image the region near the star at high sensitivity. Co Co is superb at masking starlight. The Arizona scientists viewed 55 Cancri at infrared wavelengths -- 1.5 microns to 2.4 microns -- and discovered the circumstellar disk. The inner edge of the disk is probably closer than 27 astronomical units (AU) from the star -- at which point the coronagraph mask cut off their view -- and probably extends farther than 44 AU, Trilling said. (One astronomical unit is the distance from Earth to the sun. Jupiter is five AU from the sun; Pluto is 40 AU from the sun. Scientists usually consider the inner edge of the Kuiper belt to begin at about 50 AU. How far it extends is unknown. Estimates are that the outer edge of the Kuiper belt extends from between 100 AU to l,000 AU.) "The disk we have found is similar in extent to our solar system's Kuiper belt, and has a spectral signature similar to some Kuiper Belt Objects, suggesting similar compositions," Trilling said. He and Brown compared spectra from the 55 Cancri disk to spectra from Pluto, the largest and closest of the 60 known Kuiper Belt Objects. Their data are consistent with the presence of methane ice, a hydrocarbon found on Pluto and in the icy, organic-rich Kuiper belt, Trilling said. "Further, by directly imaging this dust disk, we have determined the inclination of the 55 Cancri system relative to observers on Earth. Given this inclination, we constrain the mass of the planet to be around 1.9 times the mass of Jupiter. "By determining that the companion is a planet and not a star, we have extended the idea that the 55 Cancri system is, in many ways, a near analog for our solar system. This detection is the first time that a circumstellar disk has been found around a star with a known planetary companion; both are expected to be present in mature planet-bearing solar systems." Trilling, a planetary sciences graduate student, won the 1998 Kuiper Award for his work on the formation and evolution of planetary systems. Brown's theoretical and observational research recently has focused on searches for and studies of planets orbiting nearby stars, as well as the icy surfaces in the outer solar system, particularly Triton, Pluto and the Kuiper belt. The researchers were not surprised that 55 Cancri b -- a planet about twice the size of Jupiter -- is so close to its star. The planet is about 50 times closer than Jupiter is to the sun. Their search for dust disks around solar-type stars orbited by planets has been guided by a powerful UA theory group studying ideas of extra-solar planet formation. The group includes Trilling, Jonathan Lunine and William Hubbard of the UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL); Adam Burrows of the UA Steward Observatory; Tristan Guillot and Didier Saumon, formerly post- doctoral researchers at the LPL; and Willy Benz, formerly of the UA Steward Observatory, now with the University of Bern, Switzerland. The theory explains why planets migrate inward toward their central stars after they form, and it predicts that the migration process creates a circumstellar disk that should be relatively bright and massive enough to detect. The discovery of a Kuiper belt-like disk around 55 Cancri and its known planet strengthens the idea that our galaxy holds many other solar systems like our own, Trilling said. "To know that there is this analog for our solar system of course implies that there are others, that this isn't the only one," he said. "The more analogs we find, the more data we can interpret for better theories and then the more we can observe and figure out how planets and solar systems form. "Can we learn what governs planet formation, including the question of how did Earth form? That's the question," Trilling said. *** NOTE TO EDITORS: The color image released today can be viewed on the World Wide Web at: http://science.opi.arizona.edu . Trilling returns to the UA campus Thursday, Oct. 22, and can be contacted for a higher resolution file of this image. CAPTION: This is an infrared image of the circumstellar disk around 55 Cancri, a star known to be orbited by a planet. The disk is similar in extent and implied composition to our solar system's Kuiper belt. The round, red circle in the middle of this image is the mask of the coronagraph, used to block out light from the star. The horizontal and vertical lines crossing the frame are artifacts introduced by the telescope's superstructure. The disk extends from the central star to the northeast (upper left) and southwest (lower right). The detectable extent of the disk is approximately 27 AU to 45 AU. This image represents several hours of telescope time, and the observations were made in the near infrared at around 1.6 microns. The observations were carried out with CoCo, the Cold Coronagraph, mounted on NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, in February 1998. CREDIT: David E. Trilling and Robert H. Brown, The University of Arizona. Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: U.Colorado to fly hardware, experiments on Oct. 29 Shuttle mission , ( Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Office of Public Relations University of Colorado 354 Willard Administrative Center Campus Box 9 Boulder, Colorado 80309-0009 (303) 492-6431 Contact: David Klaus, 303-492-3525 Jim Scott, 303-492-3114 Oct. 21, 1998 CU-BOULDER CENTER TO FLY HARDWARE, EXPERIMENTS ON OCT. 29 SHUTTLE MISSION A University of Colorado at Boulder-based space center will fly eight experiments on the Oct. 29 mission of NASA's space shuttle Discovery, which marks the return to space of former Mercury astronaut John Glenn. BioServe Space Technologies, a joint venture between NASA, CU-Boulder and Kansas State University, will undertake a variety of industry-driven, life-science experiments on the 10-day spaceflight of Columbia, said David Klaus of aerospace engineering sciences, BioServe's mission manager for the flight. The experiments will take place inside the Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus, or CGBA, a suitcase-sized device designed and built at CU-Boulder that has flown on 11 space shuttle missions, including two four-month stints on Russia's Mir Space Station. The CGBA contains hundreds of syringe-like devices for mixing fluids in space, as well as other project-specific devices. One of the most intriguing experiments by the CGBA will be the production of microbial antibiotics, said Klaus. The antibiotics experiment is being flown for the third time on the shuttle in collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb in an attempt to learn why antibiotic production increases in the low-gravity environment provided in space. "This is an exciting project," said Klaus. "Our past two shuttle experiments with Bristol-Myers Squibb have shown that microorganisms produced greater quantities of antibiotics in space. We want to learn how and why this growth stimulation occurs in microgravity, then take that knowledge and apply it to production facilities on Earth." Although previous bacterial growth experiments by BioServe were carried out in test tubes, CU faculty and students have modified the apparatus by adding a new gas exchange fermentation device. "This should provide more optimal growth conditions for microorganisms and provide additional insight into the causes of increased antibiotic productivity," he said. The CGBA also will be used for a wide variety of other biomedical, agricultural and drug development investigations, including water purification. Since bacterial growth is more difficult to control in space, a BioServe experiment has been designed to test a new water purification resin to combat microorganisms that have become resistant to iodine disinfection. Other experiments flying on the CGBA involve research designed to accurately control the growth of protein crystals, as well as experiments on plant fertilization with legumes in an attempt to increase crop yields on Earth. BioServe researchers also will attempt to manipulate growth hormones in plants through gene manipulation to increase the quality of vegetable crops on Earth, and perform unique research on a magnetic species of bacteria that has applications for immunology, Klaus said. Ground-based technological upgrades include a control room in CU-Boulder's aerospace engineering science department to send commands up and receive data from the shuttle directly from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, he said. "We needed to develop this capability to support future payloads now being designed by BioServe that are expected to be in operation onboard the International Space Station in the year 2000." Additional experiments being flown on the BioServe payload include investigations of plant cell tissue cultures, said Klaus. "In microgravity, plants may produce less lignin, which creates their structure in nature," he said. "We want to see whether the available metabolic energy normally used to make the lignin can be channeled into the increased production of secondary compounds that have potential pharmaceutical applications." The CGBA also will carry a number of fish eggs, including those of tilapia -- also known as Nile River perch -- and killifish, said Klaus. "We flew a payload with brine shrimp eggs on an earlier mission and saw accelerated development from eggs to larvae," he said. "We are hoping to see the same phenomenon with these fish eggs, then determine what causes it in order to mimic these conditions on Earth and perhaps even stimulate increased growth of commercially farmed fish." While shuttle flights already have produced valuable data on the effects of microgravity in life sciences, agriculture and medicine, "it will be a new ball game when we have a permanent presence on the space station," said Klaus. Glenn, 77, made the first U.S. orbital flight of Earth in 1962. Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: NASA Space Shuttle to Carry Experiment by North Carolina State Botany Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... North Carolina State University Raleigh, North Carolina Media Contacts: Reathel Geary, 919/515-9570 or geary2@earthlink.net Dr. Sarah Wyatt, 919/515-9570 or sarah_wyatt@ncsu.edu Sara Frisch, News Services, 919/515-3470 or sara_frisch@ncsu.edu FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 21, 1998 NASA Space Shuttle to Carry Experiment by NC State Botany Student A North Carolina State University junior will send a science experiment into space on NASA's shuttle Discovery, which is slated to lift off on Oct. 29 from Kennedy Space Center. Twenty-six-year-old Reathel Geary of Raleigh is one of a handful of college students nationwide who will have an experiment on the shuttle mission. Geary hopes his experiment -- to see if fractured strands of plant DNA can repair themselves in space -- will yield new clues about how weightlessness and other forces encountered in space flight affect plant growth and health. That's important, he says, because for long-distance space flights in the future, NASA proposes growing plants on board for food, to purify water and to help filter carbon dioxide out of the air. Geary's project was selected for the mission through a national competition sponsored by Instrumentation Technology Associates (ITA) of Exton, Pa., and the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology. His experiment will be contained in automated research hardware produced by ITA. The opportunity highlights a personal turnaround and a science career in the making for Geary, a former shoe salesman and part-time community college student. Now, he has set his sights on graduate school, possibly for a career in ecology or environmental law. To add hands-on experience to his NC State training, Geary works in the lab of Dr. Dominique Robertson, a member of the NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training (NSCORT) team at NC State. The NSCORT group has a five-year, $5 million grant to study gravitational biology, do secondary school outreach and train all levels of university students. It was in the NSCORT lab that Geary learned about the ITA competition for space experiments. "It's the research opportunity through NSCORT that has provided all the other opportunities," Geary says. "That was the single most important thing that's happened to me so far in college." Only in recent years has Geary become so focused on his goals. After graduating from Atlanta's Henderson High School in 1990, he put off going to college and went to work. He knew he had potential, he says, but he wasn't confident yet about leaping into higher education. A few years later, when he was living in Asheville and working in a shoe store, Geary and his wife, Angie, decided to try their hand at college. Reathel kept his full-time job, and the couple enrolled at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. "For me, the community college system was a really important step in my progress," Geary says. "I had wonderful instructors there; they were very encouraging. I'm a huge supporter now of the community college system. It worked for me." In January of 1998, Reathel and Angie Geary moved to Raleigh and transferred to NC State -- he for botany and she for horticultural science. Soon after, Reathel Geary landed a research job in Robertson's NSCORT laboratory. Dr. Sarah Wyatt, a research associate in the lab, hired Geary and later helped him prepare a proposal for the ITA student experiment competition. "He asks good questions," Wyatt says about Geary's scientific skills. "It's important for a researcher to ask good questions. If you don't ask good questions, you'll never find the answer." In the research lab and in his own space experiment, Geary has taken the initiative to get things done, performing extensive background work and seeing projects through from beginning to end, Wyatt says. Geary rose to the challenge of meeting the strict technical parameters of the research hardware and of the space flight environment, she says. In space, microgravity -- or extremely low levels of gravity -- can affect biological processes. Geary will send into space fractured molecules of DNA, the basic genetic material of all organisms, along with an enzyme that usually repairs, or ligates, DNA on earth. An automatic process is expected to combine the materials in an attempt to ligate the DNA. Geary and some NASA researchers will orchestrate a control experiment on the ground with the same materials. Back at NC State after the shuttle lands, Geary will transform both the space-exposed and control DNA into bacteria, and will then reproduce it. The bacteria should grow if the DNA was successfully ligated. Ligation is an important function for long-term plant growth in space; Geary's hypothesis is that it will be as successful in space as it is on earth. The results could have implications for both plant and animal reproduction in space, says Dr. Chris Brown, associate director of the NSCORT group at NC State. Brown teaches a Space Biology course in which Geary works closely with NASA researchers. With sponsorship from the NSCORT group, Geary will travel to Florida to prepare his experiment and work in Brown's lab at Kennedy Space Center. Sending an experiment into space, working in a top-notch research facility, and meeting NASA scientists will be great opportunities for Geary, Brown says. "I hope Reathel will bring home the excitement of being involved in the space program and communicate to other students that there are opportunities for biological scientific research with the space program," he says. ITA, an entrepreneurial firm that makes and leases space processing hardware to perform microgravity experiments, has sponsored student experiments on NASA shuttles and vehicles since 1991. The student space education program gives young people a unique hands-on learning experience and communicates the benefits of space research. On the current STS-95 shuttle mission, 16 different student experiments will be housed in ITA's automated laboratory. -- frisch -- NOTE TO EDITORS: Reathel Geary will be in Raleigh and available for short interviews through Oct. 27. For help reaching him before and after Oct. 27, call Sara Frisch or Tim Lucas at NC State News Services at (919) 515-3470. For more information about ITA, contact Nicole Adams or Valerie Cassanto at (610) 363-8343. Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Callisto Makes A Big Splash Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Callisto makes a big splash Marshal Space Flight Center Space Science News http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast22oct98_2.htm Scientists may have discovered a salty ocean and some ingredients for life on Jupiter's moon October 22, 1998: Until now most scientists thought Jupiter's moon Callisto was a dead and boring moon, an unchanging piece of rock and ice. Data reported in today's issue of Nature could change all that. It appears that Callisto, like another of Jupiter's moons Europa, may have an underground liquid ocean and at least some of the basic ingredients for life. The most distant of Jupiter's Galilean Moons, Callisto shows the highest density of impact craters in the Solar System, but harbors no volcanoes or even any large mountains. It is thought that the surface is billions of years old. The first hint that something interesting might be happening beneath the surface came from Galileo's measurements of Callisto's magnetic field. Dr. Krishan K. Khurana of UCLA and colleagues discovered that the magnetic field fluctuated in time with Jupiter's rotation. The best explanation was that Jupiter's powerful magnetic field was creating electrical currents somewhere within Callisto, and those currents in turn created a fluctuating magnetic field around Callisto. This contrast-enhanced image of Jupiter's moon Callisto was captured earlier this year by NASA's Galileo spacecraft. Callisto is approximately the size of the planet Mercury, making it the third largest moon in the Solar System, after Ganymede and Titan. Its icy surface is billions of years old, lacks any sign of volcanic activity, and is densely covered with rifts and craters. Scientists studying data gathered by the Galileo spacecraft now believe that Callisto's heavily cratered surface may overlie a salty liquid ocean. But where could currents flow on Callisto? The icy surface is a poor conductor and the atmosphere is negligible. Dr. Kivelson suggests that "there very well could be a layer of melted ice underneath [the surface]. If this liquid were salty like Earth's oceans, it could carry sufficient electrical currents to produce the magnetic field." Lending further credence to the premise of a subsurface ocean on Callisto, Galileo data showed that electrical currents were flowing in opposite directions at different times. "This is a key signature consistent with the idea of a salty ocean," Khurana added, "because it shows that Callisto's response, like Europa's, is synchronized with the effects of Jupiter's rotation." Life under the ice? Callisto is the second moon of Jupiter thought to harbor a sub-surface ocean. The other is Europa. As evidence mounts for at least one and possibly two liquid oceans in the Jovian satellite system, scientists are increasingly optimistic that some form of life may one day be found there. In recent years researchers have discovered a new class of micro-organisms here on Earth that can live or, at least remain viable, under very extreme conditions -- from volcanic vents deep in ocean trenches, to ice more than 400,000 years old, to Siberian permafrost more than 5 million years old. These microbes called archaeabacteria, or simply "archaea", constitute a third branch of life on Earth, along with prokaryotes (normal bacteria) and eukaryotes (plants and animals). Like prokaryotes, the genetic material of archaeabacteria float freely throughout the cell -- they are not contained within the cell nucleus like eukaryotic organisms. However, the DNA of archaeabacteria more closely resemble that of plants and animals than normal bacteria. They are truly in a class by themselves, and if life is discovered elsewhere in the solar system it may be similar to the archaeabacteria of Earth. Europa may still be a better prospect for extraterrestrial life than Callisto simply because it's warmer. "The basic ingredients for life -- what we call 'pre-biotic chemistry' -- are abundant in many solar system objects, such as comets, asteroids and icy moons," explains Galileo Project Scientist Dr. Torrence Johnson. "Biologists believe liquid water and energy are then needed to actually support life, so it's exciting to find another place where we might have liquid water. But, energy is another matter, and currently, Callisto's ocean is only being heated by radioactive elements, whereas Europa has tidal energy as well," from its greater proximity to Jupiter. The strongest clues to life on Callisto and Europa may lie right here at home. In 1996, radio sounding and altimetry measurements revealed the the presence of an underground lake in Antarctica near the Russian Vostok Station. Lake Vostok is overlaid by about 3,710 meters (12,169 ft) of ice and may be 500,000 to 1 million years old. Since the discovery, drilling has gone slowly while procedures are worked out to keep it pristine. No one has seen or sampled the lake - the deepest ice sample is from 100 meters (328 feet) above the liquid surface - nor is anyone sure why it is liquid, hence the scientific curiosity. Scientists are hopeful that Lake Vostok can one day serve as a terrestrial laboratory to help us understand better the oceans on the distant moons of Jupiter. Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: WDC-A R&S Launch Announcement 12969: Ariane 5 payload and SCD 2 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 12969 COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM NUMBER SPACECRAFT INTERNATIONAL ID (CATALOG NUMBER) LAUNCH DATE,UT UNK (DUMMY PAYLOAD) 1998-059A 25503 21 OCTOBER 1998 SCD 2 1998-060A 25504 23 OCTOBER 1998 [1998-059A IS A DUMMY TO TEST ARIANE 5 PERFORMANCE] R. PARTHASARATHY FOR DR. JOSEPH H. KING, DIRECTOR, WDC-A-R&S. [PH: (301) 286 7355. E-MAIL: KING@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV 23 OCTOBER 1998, 12:45 UT] Further details will be in a forthcoming SPACEWARN Bulletin 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 SPACEWARN home page: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/ Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Asteroid Named For Journalist John Holliman Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011 http://www.jpl.nasa.gov Contact: Mary Hardin FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 22, 1998 ASTEROID NAMED FOR JOURNALIST JOHN HOLLIMAN NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has named an asteroid in memory of CNN space correspondent John Holliman who was killed in a car accident on September 12. The asteroid, discovered by JPL astronomer Eleanor F. Helin on April 30, 1989 at the Palomar Observatory, will now be called 6711 Holliman. It has a diameter of about 10 kilometers (6 miles). The asteroid's orbit is inclined 15 degrees to the ecliptic plane - the plane on which the planets orbit the Sun - and moves in an orbit between Mars and Jupiter. Holliman reported extensively on the role JPL played in space exploration. He was the network's lead anchor for the Pathfinder mission to Mars in July 1997 reporting on the landing and the subsequent mission as the spacecraft sent back video from the planet's surface. In the early 1970s, Helin initiated the Palomar Planet- Crossing Asteroid Survey from Caltech's Palomar Observatory in Southern California, resulting in the discovery of thousands of asteroids of all types including 100 near-Earth asteroids and 20 comets. Currently, Helin is the principal investigator for the NASA/JPL Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) program that detects near Earth asteroids using a United States Air Force telescope at Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology. ##### Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Mars Global Surveyor Provides New Views Of Martian North Pole Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011 http://www.jpl.nasa.gov IMAGE ADVISORY October 22, 1998 GLOBAL SURVEYOR PROVIDES NEW VIEWS OF MARTIAN NORTH POLE New images of the Martian north polar cap, taken by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor on July 30, 1998, as the spacecraft swept over this enigmatic region of the planet, reveal a slope along the edge of the permanent north polar cap of Mars with dozens of layers of Martian material, many more layers than were visible to the Viking Orbiters in the mid-1970s. The images were presented by the Mars Global Surveyor camera team at this week's meeting of the First International Conference on Mars Polar Science and Exploration in Houston, TX, and are available on the Internet at: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/ http://www.msss.com Since discovery of this layered terrain in the early 1970s, scientists have wanted to study the polar caps in greater detail to understand cyclic changes in the Martian climate. Several instruments onboard Mars Global Surveyor have returned enough data now to allow them to begin profiling geologic processes that may have sculpted these largely uncharted areas. ##### Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: NASA Helps "Hot" Cities Cool Down Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... David E. Steitz Headquarters, Washington, DC October 23, 1998 (Phone: 202/358-1730) Tim Tyson Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL (Phone: 256/544-0994) RELEASE: 98-195 NASA HELPS "HOT" CITIES COOL DOWN Environmental planning for the 2002 Olympic games, strategies to reduce ozone levels, focused tree-planting programs and identification of cool roofs are early spinoffs from a NASA urban study just concluding in three U.S. cities. Researchers from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, flew a thermal camera mounted on a NASA aircraft over Baton Rouge, LA; Sacramento, CA; and Salt Lake City, UT. The thermal camera took each city's temperature and produced an image that pinpoints the cities' "hot spots." The researchers are using the images to study which city surfaces contribute to bubble-like accumulations of hot air, called urban heat islands. The bubbles of hot air develop over cities as naturally vegetated surfaces are replaced with asphalt, concrete, rooftops and other man-made materials. "One thing's for sure, the three cities we've looked at were hot," said the study's lead investigator, Dr. Jeff Luvall of Marshall's Global Hydrology and Climate Center. "They can use a lot of trees and reflective rooftops." Salt Lake City is using the early results to help plan sites for the 2002 Olympic Games and develop strategies to reduce ground-level ozone concentrations in the Salt Lake City valley. Though at high altitudes ozone protects the Earth from ultraviolet rays, at ground level it is a powerful and dangerous respiratory irritant found in cities during the summer's hottest months. In Sacramento and Baton Rouge, city planners and tree- planting organizations are using the study to focus their tree- planting programs. "We are helping the citiesincorporate the study into their urban planning," said Maury Estes, an urban planner on the science team at Marshall. "By choosing strategic areas in which to plant trees and by encouraging the use of light- colored, reflective building material, we think that the cities can be cooled." The science team will continue to analyze the thermal heat information and work with the cities to incorporate future results into the cities' plans. The team plans to disseminate its findings nationally so other cities can incorporate what the team has learned into their long-range growth plans. This study is supported by NASA's Earth Science enterprise. The enterprise is responsible for a long-term, coordinated research effort to study the total Earth system and the effects of natural and human-induced changes on the global environment. This project also is aimed at the enterprise's efforts to make more near-term economic and societal benefits of Earth science research and data products available to the broader community of public and private users. Working on the study are researchers from Marshall; the Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC; the Department of Energy, Washington, DC; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA; Baton Rouge Green, LA; the Sacramento Tree Foundation, CA; Tree Utah, Salt Lake City; and the Utah State Energy Services Department, Salt Lake City. -end- Note to Editors: Interviews with the NASA urban planner, heat island researchers and program coordinators in Baton Rouge, Sacramento and Salt Lake City are available via telephone, NASA TV live satellite link or by e-mail. For additional information, call Marshall's Media Relations Office at 256/544-0034. Images related to the study can be found at: http://www.nasa.gov/newsinfo/urban.html More information on the study and research updates can be found on the new Marshall Internet Web site at URL: http://www.msfc.nasa.gov/news * * * Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Sky & Telescope News Bulletin - October 23, 1998 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... SKY & TELESCOPE'S NEWS BULLETIN OCTOBER 23, 1998 HUBBLE'S HERITAGE A new initiative at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is publicizing the best images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and soliciting advice on new observations of especially photogenic subjects. The Hubble Heritage Project is the brainchild of STScI astronomers Keith Noll, Anne Kinney, and Howard Bond and was approved by former institute director Robert Williams. On October 21st four images from Hubble's archives were released on the Internet (http://heritage.stsci.edu/): Saturn, the Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635), the star clouds of Sagittarius, and spiral galaxy NGC 7742. The project will release at least one new image each month. Since its launch in 1990, Hubble has studied more than 10,000 objects, amassing a celestial photo album of more than 130,000 images of planets, stars, nebulae, and galaxies. The day after the Heritage images were released, another new view of a unusually shaped planetary nebula was revealed. The appearance of NGC 6210 -- lying about 6,600 light-years away in Hercules -- has been likened to a turtle swallowing a seashell. Among the fine features in the expanding cloud of gas are at least four jets of material streaming away from the central star. NOVA IN SCORPIUS There's a "new" star in Scorpius. According to IAU *Circular* 7034, William Liller, of Vina del Mar, Chile, found a magnitude 6.9 star on photographs taken on October 21st as part of the PROBLICOM survey. The position of the star is at right ascension 17 hours 55 minutes 25 seconds, declination -31 degrees 01 minute 42 seconds (equinox 2000.0). Gordon Garradd in Australia observed the star the following night and reported a magnitude of 7.4 and Albert Jones in New Zealand estimated magnitude 8.4. No star has been seen in the position prior to October 17th. OCEAN FOR CALLISTO Europa isn't the only moon of Jupiter showing signs of having a subsurface ocean -- and thus, the possibility of life. While much attention has been given to Europa, a report in the October 22nd *Nature* notes that observations of Callisto's magnetic field by the Galileo spacecraft shows the field's changes are correlated to Jupiter's rotation. According to a researcher team led by Krishan K. Khurana (University of California, Los Angeles), this suggests that Jupiter's magnetic field is generating electric currents within the icy moon. The researchers explain that a salty, subsurface ocean would be sufficient to support the magnetic field. OLDEST ASTRONOMER IN SPACE When the Space Shuttle *Discovery* (STS-95) lifts off from Cape Canaveral -- scheduled for the afternoon of October 29th -- it will not only carry seven astronauts, including pioneering spacefarer U.S. Senator John Glenn, but also some astronomical instruments. The International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker will investigate emission from the Sun, Earth, planets, and stars at wavelengths between 250 and 1700 angstroms with seven different detectors. Scientists hope the data will help their understanding of the solar atmosphere and solar variability. SOHO ON THE MEND The last of the 12 instruments aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft was scheduled to be turned on today and inspected. To the delight of researchers, the other 11 instruments are fully operational and show little signs of damage. A few will need fine adjustments and some are actually working *better* than before SOHO fell silent on June 24th. COMET GIACOBINI-ZINNER IN AQUILA Comet watchers report that Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner is about 9th magnitude. It is predicted to brighten a bit more by the end of November. This week, Giacobini-Zinner crosses the constellation Serpens -- and the celestial equator -- and enters Aquila. It is about 35 to 40 degrees above the southwest horizon at the end of evening twilight. The farther south you are, the higher the comet will appear. For a finder chart, see page 107 of the November *Sky & Telescope,* or visit http://www.skypub.com/comets/comets.html. Here are positions for Comet Giacobini-Zinner for 0 hours Universal Time (2000.0 coordinates) for the coming week: R.A. Dec. October 24 18h 28m +00.2 deg. October 26 18h 35m -00.8 deg. October 28 18h 42m -01.7 deg. HALLOWEEN OBSERVING Saturday, October 31st, is Halloween, of course. With all the youngsters and accompanying adults wandering around after dark, why not give the ghosts and goblins an astronomical treat? Set up a telescope in the driveway and give the trick-or-treaters a glimpse of the night sky. There's plenty to look at in the early evening. The gibbous Moon will be well up with Jupiter, the brightest "star" in the night sky, to its upper right. And, Saturn -- which reached opposition on October 23rd -- should be high enough over the eastern horizon for good views. THIS WEEK'S "SKY AT A GLANCE" Some daily events in the changing sky, from the editors of SKY & TELESCOPE. OCT. 25 -- SUNDAY * Daylight saving time ends in the United States at 2 a.m.; clocks "fall back" one hour. * Jupiter's Great Red Spot should cross the planet's central meridian (the imaginary line through the center of the planet's disk from pole to pole) around 8:09 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Lately the spot has been very pale with a dark outline and a small, reddish-brown patch in its south side. For all predicted Red Spot transit times this observing season, see http://www.skypub.com/whatsup/redspot.html. OCT. 26 -- MONDAY * Have you ever seen the zodiacal light? This is an excellent time of year for viewing it before the first glimmer of dawn. Look east about two hours before sunrise from a site with no artificial light pollution. The zodiacal light is an enormous, tall, pearly pyramid standing above the eastern horizon, tilted slightly to the right and aligned on the ecliptic. What you are seeing is sunlight reflecting off dust particles in the inner solar system. Seen at this hour it's sometimes called the "false dawn." * Tonight and tomorrow night, telescope users can see Jupiter passing just 3 arcminutes north of a 6.3-magnitude star -- an interloper in Jupiter's array of four bright moons. OCT. 27 -- TUESDAY * Some doorstep astronomy: After about 8 or 9 p.m. this week, spot Jupiter and Saturn high in the southeast. Draw an imaginary line from Jupiter to Saturn and extend it the same distance onward. You'll hit the orange star Aldebaran. Above Aldebaran or to its upper right is the little Pleiades star cluster. * Jupiter's Red Spot should transit around 9:47 p.m. EST. OCT. 28 -- WEDNESDAY * First-quarter Moon (exact at 6:46 a.m. EST). * The shadow of Callisto crosses Jupiter's face from 9:44 to 11:08 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. OCT. 29 -- THURSDAY * Saturn's collection of moons contains a bright intruder tonight, the 6.6-magnitude star PPM 145101. Saturn's 10th-magnitude moon Dione (visible close to the planet in a 3- or 4-inch telescope) stands 46 arcseconds south of the star around 10:14 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. But the big event comes a little more than two hours later. Around 12:32 a.m. EST Saturn's biggest and brightest moon, 8th-magnitude Titan, passes just 3 arcseconds to the star's south. Use high power to resolve this strange "binary"! Watch it change from minute to minute. * Venus is in superior conjunction. * Jupiter's Red Spot should transit around 11:26 p.m. EST. OCT. 30 -- FRIDAY * Jupiter is the bright "star" shining to the left of the Moon this evening. * Jupiter's Red Spot should transit around 7:17 p.m. EST. OCT. 31 -- SATURDAY * Jupiter shines to the right of the waxing gibbous Moon for Halloween night. THIS WEEK'S PLANET ROUNDUP MERCURY and VENUS are hidden in the glare of the Sun. MARS shines in the east before and during dawn, well to the lower left of Regulus. JUPITER is the big, brilliant "star" in the southeast during early evening. You can't miss it! It's high in the south by about 9 p.m. local standard time and sets in the west during early morning hours. SATURN is the bright "star" far to Jupiter's lower left in early evening, and directly left of Jupiter later in the evening. The two planets appear 41 degrees apart (about 4 fist-widths at arm's length), on opposite ends of Pisces. URANUS and NEPTUNE, magnitudes 5.8 and 7.9 respectively, are in (or very near) Capricornus in the south to southwest during early evening. See the finder chart in the September Sky & Telescope, page 110, or at http://www.skypub.com/whatsup/urnepl98.html. PLUTO is disappearing into the sunset. (All descriptions that relate to the horizon or zenith are written for the world's midnorthern latitudes. Descriptions that also depend on longitude are for North America. Eastern Daylight Time, EDT, equals Universal Time minus 4 hours. Eastern Standard Time, EST, equals UT minus 5 hours.) More details, sky maps, and news of other celestial events appear each month in SKY & TELESCOPE, the essential magazine of astronomy. See our enormous Web site at http://www.skypub.com/. Clear skies! SKY & TELESCOPE, P.O. Box 9111, Belmont, MA 02478 * 617-864-7360 (voice) Copyright 1998 Sky Publishing Corporation. S&T's Weekly News Bulletin and Sky at a Glance stargazing calendar are provided as a service to the astronomical community by the editors of SKY & TELESCOPE magazine. Widespread electronic distribution is encouraged as long as these paragraphs are included. But the text of the bulletin and calendar may not be published in any other form without permission from Sky Publishing (contact permissions@skypub.com or phone 617-864-7360). Illustrated versions, including active links to related Internet resources, are available via SKY Online on the World Wide Web at http://www.skypub.com/. In response to numerous requests, and in cooperation with the Astronomical League (http://www.mcs.net/~bstevens/al/) and the American Association of Amateur Astronomers (http://www.corvus.com/), S&T's Weekly News Bulletin and Sky at a Glance are available via electronic mailing list too. For a free subscription, send e-mail to skyline@corvus.com and put the word "join" on the first line of the body of the message. To unsubscribe, send e-mail to skyline@corvus.com and put the word "unjoin" on the first line of the body of the message. SKY & TELESCOPE, the Essential Magazine of Astronomy, is read by more than 200,000 enthusiasts each month. It is available on newsstands worldwide. For subscription information, or for a free copy of our catalog of fine astronomy books and products, please contact Sky Publishing Corp., P.O. Box 9111, Belmont, MA 02478-9111, U.S.A. Phone: 800-253-0245 (U.S. and Canada); 617-864-7360 (International). Fax: 617-864-6117. E-mail: custserv@skypub.com. SKY Online: http://www.skypub.com/. Clear skies! Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: 21 октября стартовала ракета-носитель "Ariane-5" Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... 21 октября стартовала ракета-носитель "Ariane-5" Hовая европейская ракета-носитель "Ariane-5" 21 октября в 16 часов 37 минут 21 секунду по Гринвичу успешно стартовала с космодрома Куру во Французской Гвиане. Hа орбиту искусственного спутника Земли выведен габаритно-весовой макет перспективного спутника связи "MaqSat-3". КА вышел на орбиту с параметрами: - наклонение орбиты - 7 градусов; - минимальное расстояние от поверхности Земли (в перигее) - 1027 километров; - максимальное расстояние от поверхности Земли (в апогее) - 35863 километра. Кроме выведения на орбиту макета, во время полета был выполнен еще один эксперимент. Через 12 минут после старта от ракеты-носителя был отделен полезный груз "ARD" (Atmospheric Reentry Demonstrator). Капсула поднялась на высоту 830 километров, после чего, совершив неполный оборот вокруг Земли, приводнилась в Тихом океане севернее Маркизских островов. "ARD" стал первым грузом Европейского космического агентства, который возвращен из космоса на Землю. 23.10.98 Источник: InfoArt News Agency Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Краткое описание макета спутника связи КА "MaqSat-3" Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Краткое описание макета спутника связи КА "MaqSat-3" Габаритно весовой макет спутника связи "MaqSat-3". Характер груза - прототип спутника связи "Eutelsat W2". Фирма-изготовитель - Kayser-Threde of Munich (Германия). Форма спутника - цилиндр. Высота - 2,5 метра. Диаметр - 2 метра. Масса - 2730 килограммов. Оборудование - датчики для получения телеметрической информации. 22.10.98 Источник: InfoArt News Agency Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Краткое описание капсулы КА "ARD" Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Краткое описание капсулы КА "ARD" Капсула для отработки процесса возвращения КА из космоса на Землю "ARD" (Atmospheric Reentry Demonstrator). Фирма-изготовитель - Aerospatiale (Франция). Форма спутника - сферо-коническая, напоминающая внешним видом командный модуль корабля "Apollo". Высота - 2 метра. Диаметр в основании - 2,8 метра. Масса - 2750 килограммов. Оборудование - датчики для измерения аэродинамических и тепловых параметров. Высота подъема - 830 километров. Общее время полета - 1 час 40 минут. 23.10.98 Источник: InfoArt News Agency Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Вчера корабль "Endeavour" был вывезен к месту старта Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Вчера корабль "Endeavour" был вывезен к месту старта 22 октября космический корабль "Endeavour", который 3 декабря должен отправиться в космос по программе STS-88, доставлен из здания вертикальной сборки на стартовый комплекс 39А космодрома на мысе Канаверал. Hаходясь на стартовой позиции, корабль пройдет последние этапы предстартовой подготовки. 26 октября в отсеке полезной нагрузки будет размещен американский модуль МКС "Unity-1", который предполагается вывести на околоземную орбиту. Hа космическом корабле "Endeavour" в космос предстоит отправиться американским космонавтам Robert CABANA, Richard STURCKOW, Nancy CURRIE, Jerry ROSS, James NEWMAN и российский космонавт Сергей КРИКАЛЕВ. 23.10.98 Источник: InfoArt News Agency Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Hовые назначения в Лаборатории реактивного движения Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Hовые назначения в Лаборатории реактивного движения Объявлено о новых назначениях в Лаборатории реактивного движения JPL в Пасадене (штат Калифорния, США). Dr. Richard W. ZUREK назначен менеджером отдела изучения Земли и космоса Управления инженерии и науки JPL. Он сменил на этом посту Dr. Daniel J. McCLEESE, который назначен научным руководителем и менеджером отдела стратегии и научных программ Управления исследований Марса JPL. Richard ZUREK 51 год. Имеет степень доктора наук по физике атмосферы от Университета штата Вашингтон. В JPL работает с 1976 года. Hесмотря на новое назначение продолжит работу в рамках проектов Mars Climate Orbiter и Mars Polar Lander. Daniel McCLEESE 49 лет. Имеет степень доктора наук по физике атмосферы от Оксфордского университета. В JPL работает также с 1976 года. В настоящее время занимается проектом Mars Climate Orbiter. 23.10.98 Источник: InfoArt News Agency Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Согласно оценки NASA каждый 145-й "шаттл" может погибнуть Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Согласно оценки NASA каждый 145-й "шаттл" может погибнуть Служба безопасности космических полетов NASA опубликовала свою оценку вероятности гибели кораблей многоразового использования во время полетов. Согласно оценке, вероятность катастрофы для "шаттлов" составляет 1 к 145. То есть, каждый 145-й полет полет может закончиться трагически. Для сравнения, оценка вероятности гибели реактивных самолетов составляет 1 к 2 миллионам. 23.10.98 Источник: InfoArt News Agency Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 октября 1998 (1998-10-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Продолжается расследование причин катастрофы РH "Titan-4A" Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Продолжается расследование причин катастрофы РH "Titan-4A" Продолжается расследование причин катастрофы ракеты-носителя "Titan-4A", происшедшей 12 августа с.г. на космодроме на мысе Канаверал. К настоящему времени специалситам удалось практически полностью восстановить ракету-носитель по обломкам, собранным водолазами на дне Атлантического океана. Теперь предстоит детальное изучение обломков и компьютерное моделирование возможных вариантов событий. Ракета-носитель "Titan-4A" должна была доставить на околоземную орбиту новейший сверсекретный спутник Hационального разведывательного агентства. 23.10.98 Источник: InfoArt News Agency Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

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