News Headlines for August 1998

The Risky Business of Space Two major unmanned-rocket explosions in the last three weeks have raised new questions about the U.S. commercial launch program. John Glenn's launch eagerly anticipated Without his political punch -- not to mention his name and fame -- Glenn wouldn't be returning to orbit, many retired astronauts contend. Yet most are quick to add an attaboy. Global Community Prepares For International Space Station As Mir comes down, the International Space Station will be going up. The biggest international civil program ever attempted, it involves 16 nations, led by America, producing a space laboratory four times as large as Mir. Mir Set to Literally Plunge Out of Space Sometime in July next year, at a point 45 miles above the Pacific Ocean, the Mir space station will fire its booster rockets for the last time to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour. The shape of Mars missions to come NASA’s plans for its 21st-century exploration of Mars have been up in the air for weeks, due to questions about budget and mission priorities. But the plans are finally taking shape: A clone of the Mars Pathfinder rover could fly aboard the 2001 probe, and the 2003 probe might even get a head start on sending samples back to Earth from the Red Planet. Russia’s woes cast a shadow in space As the Russian leadership crisis plays out, concerns are mounting over the International Space Station, in which Moscow plays a key role. Critics say the project, budgeted at tens of billions of dollars, could be in jeopardy unless the Clinton administration comes up with a better plan to compensate for Russia’s financial collapse. Private sector explorers enthusiastic about potential of moon jaunts It takes about 118 minutes for the Lunar Prospector satellite to complete an orbit of Earth's closest neighbor, and Alan Binder's faith in the commercial value of the moon grows with every orbit. Searching for life on Europa Scientists have dived into an aquarium to test a new probe that might one day look for life in oceans that may exist beneath the ice crust of Jupiter's icy moon Europa. Far-Flung Galaxy Clusters May Reveal Fate of Universe A survey of galaxy clusters by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has found what could be some of the most distant clusters ever seen. If the distances and masses of the clusters are confirmed by ground-based telescopes, the survey may hold clues to how galaxies quickly formed into massive large-scale structures after the Big Bang, and what that may mean for the eventual fate of the universe. FUSE Moves Closer to Launch Background on the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer space mission, the first to be designed, built, managed and controlled by a university academic department. FUSE is scheduled to launch in February 1999 on a mission to study material created in the first minutes after the Big Bang. Solar eruption causes geomagnetic storm on Earth Solar winds blowing at more than a million miles per hour hit the Earth's magnetic field on Aug.26, sparking what U.S. government scientists say could be a significant geomagnetic storm. Wife of late astronaut Alan Shepard dies Louise Shepard, wife of the pioneering Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, died while traveling just a month after her husband's death, NASA officials said. Researchers say energy for life on Mars much less than Earth See also: Researchers Assess Biological Potential Of Mars, Early Earth And Europa While scientists speculate about the possibility of life on Mars, a team of researchers has calculated that the Red Planet probably had enough energy for life to begin but not to create an Earth-like abundance. Internet Project to Scan Stars for Alien Life See also: Your PC Can Search for E.T. There is good news for interstellar explorers. The search for intelligent alien life somewhere in the cosmos is about to get a lot easier-- almost as easy as getting e-mail from E.T. Mars MicroProbe Completes Thermal Vacuum Tests Deep Space 2 is a New Millennium Program technology validation mission that will piggyback aboard the Mars Polar Lander, which is scheduled to launch Jan. 3, 1999 and land 11 months later. Just minutes before the lander touches down, Deep Space 2 will deploy two small, 2-kilogram (4.5-pound) microprobes beneath the Martian surface to study subsurface materials. X Rays Expose a Violent Sky Some of the most furious goings-on in the universe shine brightest in X-rays. Now well see them better. Asteroid hunters target Nereus Drawing on advice from a Mars Pathfinder veteran, a San Diego company has shifted its focus for a privately financed mission to an asteroid. SpaceDev’s new target is called Nereus, and the new time frame for the encounter would be 2002. The company’s founder also hinted that the new trajectory would allow for lunar observations. Fiery atmosphere of the sun The tiny Trace satellite, looking at the sun's hot and turbulent atmosphere has relayed back to Earth a picture that shows just how puny our planet is when compared to our sun. Mars ship may also be crew quarters Astronauts aboard NASA's future space station may find themselves eating, sleeping, exercising and unwinding inside a balloon, rather than a can. Rocket man chases a dream An amateur rocket scientist who watched his previous project plunge into a Dartmoor hillside is just weeks away from another launch. Stones from the skies In Turkmenistan, the fall of two meteorites within a month is being seen as a holy happening, causing a flurry of interest in the small desert state. Moon's Atmosphere and Future Colonization A University of New Hampshire space scientist examining the atmosphere of the Moon says new findings might prove useful in future colonization of the lunar surface. Asteroid Named For UA Scientist A Lowell Observatory astronomer has named an asteroid for planetary scientist Carolyn C. Porco of The University of Arizona in Tucson. Porco designed and produced the Eugene M. Shoemaker Tribute that flew on the Lunar Prospector mission to the moon in January. Mars Society founding convention called total success The Mars Society Founding Convention held Aug. 13-16, 1998 at the University of Colorado at Boulder was a complete success. Over 700 people drawn from 40 countries around the globe were in attendance. Space bureaucrat enjoys Mir stint Russian bureaucrat-astronaut Yuri Baturin says he’s impressed with the Mir space station and is sorry to see it slated for destruction next year. At one point, he even joked that he’d never come down. NASA Fire Damages Parts See also: Fire damage won't delay Hubble repair mission Parts of two spacecraft, including panels that are to be installed in the Hubble Space Telescope, were damaged in a fire at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Rock from Among the Stars? A meteorite which crashed into Greenland last December may have come from outside our solar system, the first time such a thing has happened, a Danish astronomer said Aug.20. Distant heavyweight galaxy cluster clobbers dense-universe theory AA Space Telescope Science Institute astronomer has found the equivalent of the proverbial 900-pound gorilla in deep space. The "gorilla" is an extremely massive cluster of galaxies - the weight of several thousand of our Milky Ways - that existed when the universe was half its present age. Intergalactic Cannibalism See also: Caught Red-Handed: Our Galaxy is Destroying its Neighbours The same forces that cause the rise and fall of ocean tides are ripping apart the closest neighbors of our Milky Way galaxy. Shirley to retire Donna Shirley, manager of NASA's Mars Exploration Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and original leader of the team that built the highly acclaimed Mars Pathfinder rover, will retire August 21. More elements found in moon's atmosphere Researchers reported Aug.18 more about the moon's wispy atmosphere, saying it contains small amounts of oxygen, silicon and aluminum. Propelling a Spacecraft by Playing Catch and Toss Anyone who’s caught a hard-thrown ball knows it packs a wallop. University of Illinois researchers propose harnessing that principle to propel spacecraft. Time-Space Experiment: Einstein's Relativity Put to Test In the late '50s, a Stanford University physicist proposed an impossible experiment that would settle once and for all that Einstein was right and Newton was wrong. Forty years later, his successors are gearing up to perform the experiment by launching the world's most precise gyroscopes into space. Mining Water on the Moon Since NASA announced that its lunar Prospector found ice on the Moon there has been growing excitement about putting the resource to work. Dreams of the Red Planet Put 700 Mars enthusiasts in one conference, and you get a lot of ideas how to get a manned mission there within a decade. Galaxy’s Dark Matter Found Astronomers have long wondered about “dark matter”—the 90 percent of the universe they knew existed, but couldn’t find. Now they think they’ve found half, possibly in the form of tiny black holes. Hubble shows we're just a 'Chevy of a galaxy' Calculating the diameters of galaxies based on new, more accurate measurements of their distance from Earth, British astronomers Simon Goodwin, John Gribbin and Martin Hendry declared that the Milky Way is not especially big. In fact, the average size for spiral galaxies now appears to be slightly bigger than the diameter of the Milky Way. Researchers Question and Debate "Fossils" in Martian Meteorite Scientists Continue to Collect Evidence That Calls into Question the Possible Fossils from Mars. Investigating The Moon's Atmosphere An intensive effort is underway to determine the composition of the Moon's tenuous atmosphere. Although conventional wisdom says the Moon is devoid of atmosphere, and in layman's terms this may be close enough to the truth, the space just above the lunar surface is not a total vacuum. Babylon 5 producers tap JPL for new series Through a unique technology transfer program, space scientists and engineers have begun sharing their brain power with producers and writers at Babylonian Productions, producers of "Babylon 5" and the new science-fiction television series "Crusade." NASA's Deep Space 1 spacecraft arrives at Cape today Deep Space 1 will be the first spacecraft launched under NASA's New Millennium Program. It will test new technologies that could revolutionize space travel as it soars millions of miles and scans the rocky surface of an asteroid. Millennium rock flown to Mir A small piece of volcanic rock from a site in England with historic associations was launched to the Russian Mir space station on Aug. 13 and will return to Earth in June 1999. It is being flown as a tribute to famous scientist Charles Darwin and Lord John Cadman and to serve as a token from our millennium to inspire the continued human space endeavour into the third millennium. What’s on the Mir Menu? There’s a limited, pricey menu. But the view’s fabulous. While Mir’s final occupants deal with the standard Russian cosmic cuisine, research continues on how to supply much longer space missions. Mars Orbiter Camera high resolution images: 'Fluidized' crater ejecta deposit The Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) onboard the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft continued to obtain high resolution images of the Red Planet into August 1998. These are some of the latest images. SETI Watchers Remember the Famous "Wow!" Signal This weekend marks the anniversary of the most famous "detection" in the history of SETI -- the "Wow!" signal detected at the now demolished Ohio State University Radio Observatory. Society Drafted to Put Humans on Red Planet Like drifters who spend their nights in the back of a van, the first humans on Mars will live out of their spacecraft. Eventually, as more people and supplies make the six- to 12-month journey, a modest dome and a greenhouse will be constructed. And then a network of more domes, connected by tunnels. From there, a new society will develop and prosper. This is the vision of Robert Zubrin, the 46-year-old president of a new organization called the Mars Society. Analyzing Bits of Mars See also: Mars Meteorite doesn't contain signs of life, researchers say The dozen plus one meteorites known to have come from Mars shed interesting information about that planet’s geologic past. But more and more scientists doubt the claim one of the rocks contains signs of life. That Fuzzy Dot in the Sky May Be Worth $20,000 Amateur astronomers can now turn their hobby into cash. A new award, to be administered by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, will provide $20,000 a year to amateurs who spot previously unknown comets. John Glenn now in full-time astronaut training Taking a break from his Senate duties, John Glenn is a full-time astronaut now, training almost continuously in Houston and Florida until his October 29 space shuttle launch. Recent News from the VLT Project The ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) project progresses rapidly. The first part of the Commissioning Phase for the first 8.2-m VLT Unit Telescope (UT1), concerning the Cassegrain focus and including optimization of the telescope performance, is now coming to an end. The next is dedicated to science observations and will start in a few days. This photo release provides information about the current activities and includes some recent photos from the Paranal observatory. First ESO Image of New Comet 1998 P1 A new comet was discovered on August 10 by amateur astronomer Peter Williams of Heathcote (near Sydney, Australia). Having received information about this, other observers on that continent sighted the new object on August 11. Observations of the new comet were made with the 1.54-m Danish Telescope at the ESO La Silla observatory, immediately in the evening of August 11. Bureaucrat Heads for Mir Russia launched its first bureaucrat into space on Aug.13 and he and two professional cosmonauts headed for the 12-year-old Mir space station. Vital SOHO satellite slowly returning to life The solar satellite briefly mourned as lost has sent temperature and electrical data to ground controllers, the U.S. and European space agencies said on Aug.12. Space travel enters the 15th Century More than 500 years after Leonardo da Vinci designed the world's first robot his plans are being used - in the field of interplanetary space travel. Rocket Explodes at Launch A rocket carrying a classified spy satellite for the Pentagon exploded during liftoff today. There were no reports of injuries. Meteorite is from Mars British scientists announced at a conference in Dublin that a meteorite discovered in the Sahara Desert was positively identified Aug.11 as originating from Mars. Boeing tests large model of Space Maneuver Vehicle An unmanned space vehicle that one day could be used for satellite deployments and military reconnaissance made its first test flight Aug.11, cruising to a landing after being towed to 9,000 feet Total eclipse will bring chaos to Cornwall When 1.5m people to descend on Cornwall for next year's total eclipse, the county's emergency services will not be the only ones under extreme pressure. NASA considers postponing Mars Global Surveyor antenna deployment Concern over the deployment mechanism for the high-gain communication antenna on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft has caused NASA managers to consider postponing the antenna's deployment in order to maximize the probability of mission success. Red planet rock A meteorite found in the Sahara desert, dubbed Lucky 13, did come from Mars, British scientists have revealed. Mir's crash site anybody's guess The troubled Mir spacecraft could land on populated areas when it ends its 13-year endurance trial in orbit, British scientists say. Meteor showers in the forecast See also: A brilliant sky: The 1998 Perseid Meteor Shower It may be the middle of summer, but showers are sure to hit on August 11th and 12th. Of course, these aren't ordinary showers. We're talking meteors here! SOHO Could Be Saved Having succeeded in receiving a response from the SOHO spacecraft late on Monday night (3 August 1998), controllers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA have continued to coax information from the spacecraft concerning its on-board status. Canada Announces Micro Satellite Telescope The Canadian Space Agency has selected Dynacon Enterprises of Toronto as the lead contractor to develop and build the world's smallest astronomical space telescope that will be used to measure the ages of stars. Martian Meteorites: Glimpse Inside Red Planet Though scientists can't trace Martian meteorites back to their specific sites on the Red Planet, a Purdue University study shows that the travelers contain more chemical clues to the location and history of their native neighborhoods than originally expected. SEC faults asteroid-hunting company Federal regulators are going after a small company that has promoted itself, over the Internet and elsewhere, as preparing to launch a robotic spacecraft to a near-Earth asteroid around 2000. Space program's 'astro chimps' to become medical research subjects For more than a year, the Air Force has been wrestling with what to do with 141 chimpanzees left over from the early years of the space program. NASA says 2 asteroids headed toward Earth -- in a few decades See also: New asteriods found They're not exactly like "Armageddon" or "Deep Impact," and they don't pose any immediate threat, but U.S. space scientists said Aug.5 that they have discovered two real asteroids heading in Earth's direction. Nasa dumps Russia The American space agency Nasa is to drop some of the Russian Space Agency's work on the international space station because it says it cannot live up to its obligations. Those Pesky Solar Flares Solar flares can mess with satellites, communications and knock out a city’s power. Predicting when they occur could save a lot of aggravation. Some scientists are now a step closer to forecasting them. Eye on Mars From the mouths of towering volcanos to tadpole-shaped sand dunes to possible ancient lake beds, NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft has shot fascinating images of the Red Planet. New Measurements From Galactic Neighbors Shed Yet More Light on Milky Way's Mediocrity Astronomers have long suspected that there is little or nothing special about our corner of the Universe. Now, in what could be a coup de grace against the theory that humans are somehow special, evidence is relegating even our home galaxy, long thought to be special in its size and beauty, to the realm of cosmological mediocrity. Scientists Eye Mars With Hopes of Creating Alien Life The harsh environment may be one reason why scientists have failed to find any definitive form of life on the Red Planet despite years of eager searching. But if Martian life is so hard to find, then why not create it? Russia Heads to Mir on Credit The next mission to the Mir space station is being launched on credit, despite the government’s promises to provide more cash, a news agency reported on Aug.5. Computer Model Captures Missing Matter To explain how the universe evolved from a smooth soup of subatomic particles to a lumpy collection of galaxies, astronomers have had to accept that the vast majority of matter, more than 95 percent, assumes the form of invisible material known as dark matter. Neutron Stars Spin out Gravity Waves Newborn neutron stars may be powerful beacons of gravitational waves, the ripples in the fabric of space-time predicted by Einstein's theory of gravity. Hubble Takes First Image of Possible Planet The dim white dot that Susan Terebey and her colleagues spied in images of a nearby star-forming region could easily have been dismissed as a background star. The astronomers were intrigued, however, by the object's location--at one end of a long, luminous trail. At the other end lies a pair of newborn stars. Supernova and Gamma Burst Might Have Common Source A stellar explosion in a galaxy 140 million light-years away might turn out to be the Rosetta stone for scientists trying to make sense of gamma ray bursts. Revving up a Neutron Star Like souped up lighthouses, millisecond radio pulsars rotate hundreds of times a second, sending out a radio beacon that sweeps across the sky. Ever since the first millisecond pulsars were discovered in the early 1980s, astronomers have suspected that these compact beasts--rapidly whirling neutron stars--acquired their spin during an earlier stage of evolution, when they stole matter from a companion star. Soho wakes up Last week, a powerful radar signal from Earth produced a faint echo from the spacecraft. Now, sooner than scientists had expected, a faint radio signal has been received from the craft. Modeling the Whole Universe LFor the first time, cosmologists have harnessed enough computing power to model the entire observable universe. Beginning 1 billion years after the Big Bang, when the cosmos was almost perfectly smooth and uniform, the simulations trace the action of gravity as tiny fluctuations in density of matter that develop into a spidery network of huge filaments and voids. So Cool, and Some Are Still Stars After surveying 1 percent of the sky at the near-infrared wavelength of 2 micrometers, researchers report that they have discovered a class of heavenly bodies cooler than M stars. Small Comet Theory Melts under Scrutiny In science's version of an old-fashioned pillory, seven independent teams assailed the hypothesis that thousands of house-size snowballs plow into Earth's atmosphere each day. Discovering History of Portales1998 Meteorite Thanks to private meteortie collectors, scientists with the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona in Tucson have been able to analyze, classify and curate pieces of a 143-pound meteorite that exploded in the sky and strafed Portales, New Mexico, at around 7:30 a.m. on June 13. Pioneer 10 Locks On To Earth Pionner 10 just won't quit even when 19 hours 40 minutes out at 10.61 billion kilometers from Earth. Mission controllers have successfully completed the fourth precession maneuver in the past year and a half to realign Pioneer 10 toward Earth by cycling the transmitter off and on. Path leads through Mars’ mysteries The Mars Pathfinder probe may be finished, and its saga may already be the subject of history books and CD-ROMs. But Pathfinder’s project scientist sees no end to the scientific work ahead ... which is just fine by him. Chat with Matt Golombek about Mars exploration at 7:30 p.m. ET Thursday. Mars scientist addresses big questions NASA planetary scientist David McKay is a member of the research team that announced in 1996 that a Martian meteorite known as ALH84001 appeared to contain traces of biological activity. In an interview, McKay discusses the continuing search for evidence of life on Mars. Politics of Manned Missions John Glenn’s getting ready for space. But if it’s science and not politics, why isn’t anyone training as backup - which is NASA’s protocol? And over in Russia, a former Yeltsin aide is also throwing his political weight into space. Heartfelt tribute to Alan Shepard See also: Highlights of the memorial service In a heartfelt memorial, the four remaining members of Mercury 7 paid tribute on August 1st to Alan B. Shepard Jr., who led them and all of America into space. The End of the Earth? As catastrophes go, a collision between the earth and an asteroid or comet is generally thought to be about as bad as it gets. But there's actually something far worse that, theoretically, could befall our planet. It's called vacuum decay. Physicists say the possibility exists that a cosmic-ray collision may take place somewhere at sometime that would create a bubble which would expand instantly and everything would disappear. Cometary Impact With Earth Unlikely In The Next 500,000 Years Contrary to Hollywood’s latest predictions, it is highly unlikely that a comet will rain death and destruction on the earth during the next half-million years, according to a new study. Does it matter? One of the great puzzles of the universe is why it is mostly made of one kind of matter instead of equal amounts of matter and anti-matter.

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