News Headlines for June 2000

What now for Mars? The possibility of water on Mars will revitalise our efforts to explore our neighbouring world, on which life could have started and may still exist today. Water discovery gives new impetus to Mars Express "The latest evidence that liquid water has flowed on Mars very recently, makes Mars Express even more relevant," says Agustin Chicarro, Mars Express Project Scientist. "Water may have flowed tens of thousands or a million years ago - that's still recent in geological terms. Or it may even be flowing now. Either way, this is very important." Warm, Wet, and Salty See also: Study suggests Mars had salty oceans in past , Meteorite shows evidence of oceans on Mars and Meteorite Research Indicates Mars Had Earth-Like Oceans Hard on the heels of an announcement that scientists may have found evidence that water still flows to the surface of Mars, geologists have said that they have proof that Martian oceans were salty. Scientists Say There's Evidence of Liquid Water on Mars Scientists say they have found convincing evidence that water flows on the surface of Mars, a finding that makes it much more likely life could exist or has existed on the planet. Photographs from NASA's orbiting Mars Global Surveyor show gullies that look like they could have been formed only by large amounts of water bursting out and causing landslides, according to scientists Michael Malin and Kenneth Edgett. Listen as NPR's Chris Joyce reports on Thursday's NASA press conference for All Things Considered. Visual evidence suggests water springs on Mars Liquid water in the recent past likely formed distinct gullies and deltas on Mars, scientists said Thursday. The discovery bolstered hopes that the red planet could harbor simple life and someday host human colonists. Mars Global Surveyor image gallery See also: Water on Mars? (Images) and MOC Images Images from Mars Global Surveyor showing recent evidence of possible water on Mars. Global Surveyor's trip to Red Planet was less than smooth The Mars Global Surveyor has beamed back exciting pictures for scientists to ponder for years to come, but it did not arrive at the Red Planet unscathed. Asteroids on collision course with Earth? See also: A ‘treasure map’ for asteroid threat Researchers have drawn upon computer modeling as well as astronomical observations to estimate that Earth faces a potential global hazard from about 900 asteroids – 60 percent of which have yet to be identified. Meteorite Deal Decades of one-sided treaties purged Oregon’s American Indian tribes of their land, language, and culture. But a new deal returns part of their lore: a 16-ton meteorite with tremendous religious significance. Using New Instrument To Detect Life Out There Carnegie Institution scientist Marilyn Fogel will adapt a new protein-recognition instrument used in biomedical research to investigations detecting the "signatures of life." Capturing Solar Magnetic Fields Snap Backs A decades-old mystery about the behavior of magnetic fields in solar flares may now be solved, thanks to careful observations by a pair of solar scientists. Finding A New Lease On Life In Deep Space Deep Space 1 has a new lease on life, as the mission has had remarkable success with one of its greatest challenges. Science Of Eros Shoemaker announced the significant discovery that Eros is not a differentiated asteroid. In other words, Eros was never subjected to extensive melting and differentiation, which means segregation into layers of distinct compositions. RadioShack to sponsor lunar rover's search for water RadioShack Corp. hopes to raise its profile to astronomical heights by placing its logo on a robotic rover that will explore the surface of the moon for signs of water. Paranal Impressions A new series of photos from the Very Large Telescope at Paranal.. New Images Suggests Present-Day Sources of Liquid Water on Mars See also: Mars Surprise , Water may flow on Mars and Next Mars lander may miss water opportunity In what could turn out to be a landmark discovery in the history of Mars exploration, imaging scientists using data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft have recently observed features that suggest there may be current sources of liquid water at or near the surface of the red planet. Martian water: The truth is out there See also: Pockets of water possible on Mars , Mars water speculation started in 1870s , A Wet Red Planet? , Mars images suggest recent water flow , Mars Craft Finds Evidence of Water and Evidence of water found on Mars Nasa scientists have called a news conference to explain the evidence for what they believe is water lying on the surface of Mars. NASA, Goldin rebuked over Mars failures The costly loss of two interplanetary missions to Mars earned NASA a mild rebuke Tuesday from House lawmakers anxious to put the episode behind them. I spy with my little eye...XMM-Newton in the sky! After being detected using telescopes equipped with electronic CCD imaging cameras, ESA's X-ray space observatory has been sighted visually for the very first time. Asteroids have Seasons, Too Earth isn't the only world where seasons are changing this week. Millions of miles from our planet, southern winter is giving way to spring on asteroid 433 Eros. As the Sun rises over the south pole of Eros, instruments on NASA's NEAR-Shoemaker spacecraft will catch a glimpse of never-before-seen terrain. U.S. House moves to honor crew of Apollo 11 The U.S. House of Representatives voted Tuesday to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the crew of Apollo 11 to honor their pioneering flight to the moon in July 1969. Famed astronomy site treading on sacred ground A small but vocal group of activists in Hawaii are protesting the construction of new telescopes on a site which is both the biggest concentration of observatories in the world and a centre of spirituality for island natives. Boomerang Effect Usually cosmology goes like this: new observations come in, scientists are baffled, models are upended. After the dust settles, however, patches are affixed and the prevailing theory emerges largely intact. But when the measurements by the Boomerang and Maxima telescopes came in, the sequence was reversed. Mir 'tourist' dreams of space See also: U.S. tourist plans to visit Mir by 2001 Dennis Tito, the multimillionaire heading to the Mir space station, says it is his dream go into orbit. XMM-Newton reveals details of the Castor sextuplet Behind the apparently simple brightness of certain stars there is often a fascinating complexity. That is the case for the particularly interesting Castor stellar system upon which XMM-Newton has shed new light. Astronomers Win Protection for Key Part of Spectrum Astronomers using the millimeter-wave region of the radio spectrum have won crucial protection for their science. Sugar in space sweetens chances of life The discovery of sugar in space may help understand how life began. First 'space tourist' announced See also: Former U.S. rocket scientist slated to become Mir tourist and U.S. businessman plans stay aboard Mir The next crew to visit the Mir space station will include a paying passenger - a businessman from Los Angeles, US. Return to Earth See also: Future of Mir in doubt after cosmonauts return home Cosmonauts Sergei Zalyotin and Alexander Kaleri returned to earth from Russia’s Mir station this morning, ending what could be the last manned mission to the world’s only space outpost. Testing Relativity "Ptolemy invented a universe and it lasted 2000 years, Newton invented a universe and it lasted 200 years, now Dr. Einstein has invented a new universe and no one knows how long it will last," said George Bernard Shaw in 1930. Liberty Bell 7 Returns See also: Sunken space capsule starts museum tour Fished from the Atlantic last summer after 38 years at the bottom of the sea, Gus Grissom’s Liberty Bell 7 space capsule made a dazzling debut Tuesday at the place where it all began. Scientists to Eavesdrop on Beginning of Universe NASA is set to a launch a new spacecraft that will listen to the very birth of the universe. MAP - the Microwave Anisotropy Probe - will travel one million miles into space to eavesdrop on the universe when it was just 300,000 years old. Ocean Tides Lost and Found The Moon's gravity imparts tremendous energy to the Earth, raising tides throughout the global oceans. What happens to all this energy? After 200 years of debate, scientists using data from the orbiting TOPEX/Poseiden satellite may now have the answer. Atom smasher revs up See also: Big Bang machine gets down to work Cosmonauts Sergei Zalyotin and Alexander Kaleri returned to earth from Russia’s Mir station this morning, ending what could be the last manned mission to the world’s only space outpost. The Incredible Ions of Space Transportation See also: > Plasma power could usher in human travel to Mars and 'Fourth state' of matter could propel humans to Mars After nearly 40 years of development and the successful flight of Deep Space 1 in 1998-1999, ion propulsion has now entered the mainstream of propulsion options available for deep-space missions. Robot to Land on the Moon On Thursday, Luna Corp announced plans to send an advanced robot called the "icebreaker moon rover" to explore the moon's surface. The remote-controlled robots will search for water and prepare the way for human settlements. ESA approves funding to extend Ulysses The European Space Agency has agreed to fund the Ulysses mission for an extra 2 years 9 months. Argon find bodes well for Rosetta's noble mission A group of American and French astronomers, including several who are playing a leading role in the Rosetta mission, has announced the discovery of the noble gas argon in Comet Hale-Bopp. This is the first time that one of the so-called noble gases (argon, xenon, neon etc.) has been found in a comet. 'Robonaut' prepares for spacewalking duties The next generation of spacewalkers could fix faulty satellites and space stations without breaking a sweat, needing a meal or expecting a paycheck. Already the first one, a metal humanoid known as Robonaut, has developed an impressive level of dexterity. Lights glow on Moon New evidence shows that the Moon is not a totally dead world as was thought by many astronomers. It does still occasionally stir with activity. ISO shows what's in the centre of our galaxy The Milky Way's centre is the busy core of a metropolis, crowded with huge populations of stars frantically dancing to the rhythm of gravitation. These stars are precious for astronomers: they hold many clues to unveil the past and future history of our galaxy. But the galactic centre has remained a fairly unexplored place so far, due to the thick dust covering it. The European Space Agency's infrared space telescope, ISO, has crossed that dusty barrier and has observed the stellar populations at the galactic centre with a very high resolution during more than 255 hours. The results already show 100 000 stars never seen before. Further analysis of the data could confirm that the Milky Way swallowed neighbouring galaxies in the past. Plumbing the depths of Polaris A team of astronomers has used a new type of telescope to learn about the interior of the North Star, Polaris. The Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer , an array of telescopes possessing the resolving capability of a single 38-meter (125-foot) optical telescope, has revealed that Polaris is 46 times larger than our own Sun. This unprecedented direct radius measurement, presented today at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Rochester, NY, is precise enough to reveal important clues to the star's internal structure. Long known to be a "Cepheid" variable star, this new measurement confirms that Polaris is a Cepheid of a very unusual nature. How neutron stars get their kicks: Cornell researcher poses rocket theory When a massive star runs out of nuclear fuel something extraordinary happens in the space of a few seconds: The star's core collapses from a radius of 1,000 miles into a tight, dense ball -- a neutron star -- with a radius of only 10 miles, and then with fearsome energy the massive stellar "envelope," equal to about 10 solar masses, is ejected into outer space. That’s one small step for who? It’s only one small word, but Sen. Mike DeWine wants to get it right. Too bad nobody can help him - not even the first man on the moon. Telescope maps 100,000 galaxies See also: Cosmic census shapes a trip through the Universe and Mapping our cosmic neighborhood Astronomers using a robotic telescope in Australia have mapped 100,000 galaxies in the region of the universe surrounding the Milky Way, quadrupling the number of galaxies plotted. A Little Physics and A Lot of String One day space tethers may be used for boosting orbits, powering satellites, and even sending payloads to the Moon or Mars - all without the expense of conventional propellants. Scientists discussed this innovative technology at the recent Advanced Space Propulsion Workshop. Fossils boost life origins theory Tiny formations discovered in Australian rock add new weight to the theory that life on Earth originated not in a ``warm little pond,'' as Darwin believed, but in scalding, volcano-heated ocean depths where sunlight never entered. Liberty Bell 7 capsule to be unveiled next week at KSC Nearly 11 months after it was plucked from the ocean floor, Liberty Bell 7 has been disassembled into 27,000 pieces, cleaned, put back together and readied for a three-year tour that begins next week at Kennedy Space Center. Coordinated Effort Of Space Observatories Detects New Type Of Stellar Flare A group of astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory, in concert with other telescopes, have directly detected for the first time a new type of stellar flare occurring in a narrow temperature range of gas on a star other than the sun. Siberian space light show Dramatic shows of the northern lights have illuminated Siberia, but the chances for further widespread auroras over the northern hemisphere are declining. Space adventurers keep eyes on X-Prize Want to take a trip into space for pocket change? All one need do is win a lottery for a seat on the Starchaser, a proposed rocket vying to become the first private passenger ship in space. Instrument fails on asteroid orbiter See also: Asteroid-studying craft suffers setback and NEAR Team Deactivates Spacecraft's Near-Infrared Sensor A NASA satellite, which is orbiting an asteroid 85 million miles from Earth, suffered a setback this week when one of its six instruments failed for the second time. Chandra catches cannibal galaxy in the act NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory image of Perseus A, a supergiant galaxy in the center of a galaxy cluster, provides new insight into how the galaxy has grown by cannibalizing gas and other galaxies in the vicinity. For the first time astronomers see an X-ray shadow cast by a smaller galaxy as its gas is being stripped away by the enormous central galaxy. Bad places in space See also: Chandra X-ray images continue to ‘wow’ astronomers and Chandra's X-ray vision of universe awes, puzzles The Chandra X-ray Observatory has revealed stunning images of some bad places in space. Dwarf Galaxy Provides Clues About Early Universe, Says Team Led by UMass Astronomer A team of researchers led by a University of Massachusetts astronomer has produced the first complete maps of carbon monoxide emission in the interstellar medium of a nearby dwarf irregular galaxy. These observations may provide a unique insight into the formation of stars in the early universe. Chandra observes cloud powered by black hole in distant galaxy NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has shown that a large gas cloud is being blasted by X-rays from the vicinity of a giant black hole which lurks in its center. The observation is of special interest because it shows the disruptive effects that a massive black hole can have over thousands of light years. Sun sends a cloud our way See also: Solar Flare May Hit Earth and Solar Storm Warning The Sun has put up a spectacular display with two powerful, so-called X-class flares, going off in close succession from one active region on its surface. A Watery Birth? See also: A meteorite worth its salt and Salt crystals point to wet start of solar system Ancient salt taken from a meteorite shows that planets started forming in the solar system much sooner than anyone thought, and that it was often a warm and wet place. Catching a Very Rare Ray The first scientists to see the data in the fall of 1991 were so stunned they couldn’t believe it themselves. An exotic observatory called the Fly’s Eye cosmic ray detector in the Utah desert had found something that, by all accounts, simply couldn’t exist. Turning Dreamtime into reality Dreamtime Holdings, the Silicon Valley venture created to bring NASA’s archives and multimedia resources fully into the 21st century, acknowledges that turning its dreams into high-definition realities will require months of work. Many of the details behind the $100 million, profit-seeking venture still have to be fleshed out. "But it’s a fun challenge," Dreamtime President Carleton Ruthling told MSNBC.com on Monday. A Robotic Mars With Mars exploration in turmoil following back to back failures, NASA is working overtime to salvage at least one and possibly two missions for the 2003 launch window to Mars. NEAR Science Update June 1, 2000 NEAR Shoemaker continues its detailed exploration of Eros from 50 km orbit, a process which resembles in some ways an archaeological expedition. June's Invisible Meteors Two intense daytime meteor showers will peak in early June. The best way to enjoy the show is by means of ham radio because the displays will be invisible to the naked eye. Black holes blow as well as suck See also: Hubble spies black hole blowing bubbles Two studies of black holes show that sometimes they gorge themselves on gas and dust and sometimes they blow bubbles. Black Holes Shed Light on Galaxy Formation See also: Feeding on Plump Galaxies Astronomers are concluding that monstrous black holes weren't simply born big but instead grew on a measured diet of gas and stars controlled by their host galaxies in the formative years of the universe. Pioneer 10 Keeps Truckin' Earth's first deep space explorer Pioneer 10 is now 10 and half hours out or some 11 billion kilometers. IMAGE First Light NASA's IMAGE mission, a unique satellite dedicated to the study of space storms, has returned its first pictures of electrified gas surrounding our planet. Using antennas as large as the Empire State building, the satellite is taking an unprecedented look at Earth's magnetic environment and its response to fierce gusts of solar wind. Compton Gamma Ray Observatory Safely Returns to Earth See also: Satellite crashes into Pacific and Shower of Heavy Metal NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory re-entered the Earth's atmosphere at approximately 2:10 a.m. EDT on June 4, according to calculations made by controllers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Hale-Bopp May Have Formed Near Neptune Comet Hale-Bopp, which paraded across evening skies during the winter and early spring of 1997, may have formed in our solar system somewhere near Neptune, a team of astronomers have announced. If correct, this would be the first time scientists have been able to pin down the homeland of one of the solar system’s icy wayfarers. Astronomers: Star collisions are rampant, catastrophic Astronomers once thought stellar collisions never or rarely happened. But new research has convinced many that stellar mergers are commonplace and perhaps capable of producing the most violent and energetic events observable in the universe. Do new NASA tapes show UFOs? The authenticity of videos showing unidentified flying objects has been challenged since the advent of camcorders. But a new debate is unfolding over UFO images generated by NASA and marketed commercially in a video -- "The Secret NASA Transmissions: The Smoking Gun.'' Arctic Asteroid! See also: Canadian meteorite composed of rare, organic material A seven meter, 200 metric ton rock from space streaked across the skies of western Canada on January 18, 2000. The meteor was at least as bright as the Sun before it exploded over the Yukon Territory. Scientists have recovered fragments of the asteroid, which researchers say is the most valuable meteorite find in at least 30 years. Largest meteorite find in Canadian history Outdoorsman Jim Brook and scientists at The University of Western Ontario and the University of Calgary have recovered the largest meteorite fall in Canadian history. Analysis shows the meteorite is composed of a very rare material, making it among the most scientifically significant meteorite finds worldwide. Peering into the Heart of the Crab Nebula See also: Hubble catches the Crab and NASA releases riveting Hubble image of the Crab Nebula The Hubble telescope has zoomed in on the center of the Crab to reveal its structure with unprecedented detail. Solar wind has ripping time See also: Aurora Tears or rips in the Earth's magnetic field are responsible for the Northern and Southern Lights, scientists have found. Spacecraft views Earth's outer gas shell The first pictures from Nasa's Imager for Magnetopause to Aurora Global Exploration (Image) spacecraft are showing for the first time the global ebb and flow of hot, electrified gas (plasma) around the Earth as it is wafted by the solar wind. Galileo spots new volcanoes on Io New close-up images of Io document the presence of numerous unknown volcanoes and reveal some spectacular geological changes in familiar ones. Snapped by the Galileo spacecraft, the new photos indicate the Jupiter moon most likely possesses hundreds of volcanoes, scientists said this week. Scientists take a closer look at the mysterious side of Mercury Scientists have produced sharp photos of an uncharted region of Mercury with imaging techniques described in a scientific journal this month. NASA's Compton orbiter begins controlled reentry NASA's ailing, bus-sized Compton Gamma Ray Observatory satellite has started its controlled descent with an expected Pacific Ocean splashdown Sunday. ISO measures temperature variations of the surface of Pluto A team from the Observatoire de Paris using ESA's infrared space telescope ISO has measured variations in the thermal flux of the Pluto-Charon system, which prove that the temperature of Pluto's surface is not uniform. The coldest regions have a temperature of about -235 degrees Centigrade, while the warmest may reach -210 degrees. The measurements provide indications about its physical nature.

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