News Headlines for December 1999

Cosmic glories and glitches of ’99 1999 was a year that may have led some to question whether the drive to explore the cosmos was worth all the expensive setbacks. But at least some of the answers were right before our eyes. Here’s your chance to rate 1999’s top stories and the top prospects for the year 2000. The warp and woof of a geomagnetic storm Using a team of three satellites, scientists are studying what happens when a solar coronal mass ejection strikes the Earth. This story includes a new Quicktime animation of a coronal mass ejection and the aurora borealis. FAST Spacecraft Discovers Invisible Aurora An invisible aurora exists as a companion to the familiar visible aurora, also known as the aurora borealis, or northern lights, in the Northern Hemisphere and the aurora australis (southern lights) in the Southern Hemisphere. Researchers using NASA's Fast Auroral Snapshot (FAST) spacecraft established the presence of the invisible aurora by consistently detecting upward flows of electrons interspersed with the downward flowing electrons that produce the visible aurora. Puerto Rican forest is ground zero in search for ET For several weeks a year, Peter Backus sits in a building in the middle of the forest, staring at the digital representation of nothingness on two 19-inch monitors. It's a thankless, Sisyphean task, but worth it: The monitors are attached to the Arecibo Observatory, the largest one-dish radio telescope on Earth. 'Think Mars:' Online petition urges manned mission A group of space enthusiasts are pushing ahead with a petition calling for a manned flight to the red planet, undaunted by the failure in recent months of two unmanned missions to Mars. Dark Energy In Deep Space Goodbye dark matter, hello dark energy. Two physicists in Britain say the motion of stars in spiral galaxies such as the Milky Way can be explained by energy floating in empty space. This puts paid to the idea that galaxies are stuffed full of invisible dark matter. Y2K Meteor Blast One of the most intense and least observed annual meteor showers peaks on the morning of Jan. 4, 2000. The Quadrantids will be the first major meteor display of the New Year. Marooned In Five-Dimensional Space Space may have a fifth dimension--one more than the four we are familiar with, say two physicists. And it could be infinite, unlike the tiny extra space dimensions that have been proposed in the past. Einstein Tops the List Albert Einstein, whose theories laid the groundwork for 20th century technologies ranging from television to space travel, has been chosen as Time’s Person of the Century. Hubble returns to orbit See also: New, improved Hubble returned to the heavens and Repaired Hubble back in space After finishing repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope, space shuttle Discovery's astronauts performed the last crucial task of their mission, releasing the $3 billion observatory back into space. Destination Mars on Earth Recent setbacks in Nasa's Mars Explorer project have failed to lower the enthusiasm of a group of scientists who plan to build the world's first simulated Mars base in the Canadian Arctic. Navigating Without Starlight The Deep Space 1 spacecraft executed a highly successful and innovative set of maneuvers on Wednesday, December 15 in the first test of new ways of controlling the spacecraft now that the star tracker is not working and is unlikely to resume operation. Dusting Off ExtraSolar Planets A team of astronomers from the University of Florida is proposing that it may be possible to find evidence of "hidden" planets by observing the huge disks of dust created when stars are born. New Method For Extrasolar Planet Detection NASA scientists announced today that they have used a new technique to confirm the existence of a planet orbiting a solar-like star in the Pegasus constellation. Finding the Christmas Star See also: What was the Star of Bethlehem? About 2,000 years ago, the wise men followed the Star of Bethlehem to the birthplace of Jesus. But what exactly was that light? According to one astronomer, it may not have been a star at all… Hubble mission a success See also: Hubble Gets Final Repairs and Christmas Eve spacewalk gives Hubble new transmitter Astronauts from the space shuttle Discovery have successfully completed their third and final spacewalk to make repairs to the Hubble telescope. Santa to check out new vehicle hangar at shuttle runway The Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) is preparing for a visitor on Christmas Eve. Rumors are strong that Santa Claus may fly by the landing strip to check on the progress of the $8 million Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Support Complex currently under construction. Report: Russian cigarette, alcohol tax could save Mir A Russian newspaper said on Wednesday lawmakers were considering raising cigarette and alcohol taxes to save the troubled and underfunded Mir space station. Scientists Find Glitches in Big Bang Machine Physicists were scheduled to flick the switch on a machine designed to re-create the biggest event in the history of the universe this month. But unfortunately - or fortunately, say some - that first effort has been delayed. Gamma-ray astronomers get a special star on their Christmas tree Astronomy is ending the year with a bang as scientists across the world take advantage of a unique bit of NASA teamwork that quickly located a gamma-ray burst, one of the most violent events in the universe. In pictures: Space walk Astronauts aboard the shuttle Discovery have completed repairs to the navigational system of the Hubble telescope. These are stills from their televised space walk. Mission Mars Mars Global Surveyor, in orbit around the Red Planet, is looking right now for the missing Mars Polar Lander spacecraft. NASA probably won't find it. Looking for Lander Mars Global Surveyor, in orbit around the Red Planet, is looking right now for the missing Mars Polar Lander spacecraft. NASA probably won’t find it. In pictures: Brightest moon for decades See also: Bright Moon Fiction? The last full moon of the millennium was also the biggest and brightest since 1930. Although cloudy skies obscured it from the view of most UK-based stargazers, it appeared about 14% bigger and 20% brighter above many sites across the world. Perfect day for Neolithic sunrise See also: Solstice Celebration It was defined as nature's "true millennium" and it was beamed from Ireland all over the world on Dec. 21st. ESA space telescope reaches functional orbit A newly launched satellite carrying a giant European Space Agency telescope has reached operational orbit, meaning scientists could pick up X-rays from remote exploding stars from next March. Chandra Maps Vital Elements From Supernova See also: Going prospecting inside a supernova A team of astronomers led by Dr. John Hughes of Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J., has used observations from NASA's orbital Chandra X-ray Observatory to make an important new discovery that sheds light on how silicon, iron, and other elements were produced in supernova explosions. An X-ray image of Cassiopeia A (Cas A), the remnant of an exploded star, reveals gaseous clumps of silicon, sulfur, and iron expelled from deep in the interior of the star. ’Tis the season for the SETI search For several weeks a year, Peter Backus sits in a building in the middle of the forest, staring at the digital representation of nothingness on two 19-inch monitors. It’s a thankless, Sisyphean task, but worth it: the monitors are attached to the Arecibo Observatory, the largest one-dish radio telescope on Earth, and the day they show a clear and meaningful signal from another world could be the day Backus and his colleagues earn their place in the history of the cosmos. Ashes of 36 people hurled into space Three dozen capsules of cremated human remains were launched into orbit for a 45-year ride in orbit. The lipstick-sized containers, each holding seven ounces (200 grams) of cremated remains, soared into space from Vandenberg Air Force Base aboard a Taurus rocket late Monday night. Discovery blasts off on Hubble mission The space shuttle Discovery has launched on a mission to repair the Hubble space telescope. The launch appeared to go without a hitch. It's tonight or next year for Discovery After bad weather forced NASA to cancel launch attempts two days running, shuttle Discovery may get one last chance tonight at flying this year. Galileo sees dazzling lava fountain on Io See also: Galileo sees dazzling lava fountain on Io During a recent close flyby of Jupiter's moon Io, NASA's Galileo spacecraft observed a fiery lava fountain shooting more than a mile above the moon's surface. Discovery Scrapped Again See also: NASA cancels Saturday night's launch attempt, aims for Sunday Bad weather forced Nasa to cancel Saturday's launch of the space shuttle Discovery - the latest setback in two months of delays to a mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Millennium's last full moon should be a beaut See also: Millennium's Final Full Moon To Include Unusual Combination The final full moon of the millennium comes December 22 on the first day of winter and during the closest lunar approach to the Earth, but the combination is not as rare as some people have thought, experts say. Sunlight keeps star dust at bay The force of sunlight is keeping part of our solar system dust free – at least free from a particular type of dust. Markus Landgraf, now working at ESA’s operations centre ESOC in Germany and his international team of colleagues, made this discovery after poring over data collected by the dust detector on board the Ulysses spacecraft. In a paper published in Science today, they show how their findings lend support to the view that our solar system is moving through a cloud of dust and gas that is made of the same stuff as interstellar clouds observed elsewhere in our galaxy. Scientists Look to Jupiter's Moon for Possible Life Scientists looking for possible alien life are focusing on Jupiter's moon Europa, where huge cracks in the surface indicate that a massive liquid ocean may be sloshing under an icy crust. University Of Iowa Researcher Fails To Detect Small Comets University of Iowa astronomy professor Robert Mutel announced today that an eight-month search using an Arizona-based telescope has failed to detect evidence supporting a 13-year-old theory that small comets composed of snow are continually bombarding the Earth. The Great Big Telescope A huge telescope under construction in a remote West Virginia valley will listen for whispers from the heavens. New VLT Observations Address the Age of the Universe Recent observations with the FORS1 instrument at the first 8.2-m VLT Unit Telescope (ANTU) by an international group of astronomers have resulted in crucial new information about some small and faint stars within an old star cluster in the Milky Way. Discovery launch delayed again See also: Waiting on Discovery and Shuttle launch delayed because of worries over welds NASA today delayed the launch of space shuttle Discovery by another day because of possible problems with welds in critical fuel lines. Scientists: Europa environment 'conducive to life' Scientists looking for possible alien life are focusing on Jupiter's moon Europa, where huge cracks in the surface indicate that a massive liquid ocean may be sloshing under an icy crust. Looking beyond Hubble’s horizon In the decade since its launch, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered marvels of the cosmos — but you ain’t seen nothing yet. In fact, that’s one of the wonders that Hubble and its successor might reveal over the next decade: the blankness that came before the light of the first stars. Laser lights up London sky A laser has been beamed from London to show the path of the prime meridian, which marks the international timeline, in preparation for the millennium . Astronomers 'see' planet orbiting distant star See also: First Light of Distant World and Distant Planets First, they detected the invisible gravitational tugging. Then they spotted the shadow. Now, astronomers think they’ve directly seen a planet around another star. Solar cycle ups and downs continues to mystify scientists Solar activity is picking up, but not as much as one team of scientists had predicted. "The sun is a variable object and there are going to be some ups and downs," says NASA's David Hathaway. One 'up' he doesn't expect is a large eruption predicted nowhere except in the rumor mill. Stargazing From the Wilds Studying the stars isn’t for city folks. To get away from urban interference of the electromagnetic spectrum, astronomers must venture far afield. At Arecibo, SETI scientists settle into life reminiscent of summer camp. Timely insight on eclipses and gravity Researchers from around the globe have been trying to find out how gravitational pull might influence a variety of phenomena, including the measurement of time. Imaging The Shadow Of Nothing A "picture" of the massive black hole thought to be lurking at the heart of our home galaxy may be within astronomers' reach in the next few years, according to a report in the Jan. 1, 2000 edition of Astrophysical Journal Letters. Making Up for Lost Leonids The 1999 Geminid meteor shower reached a dazzling peak on Tuesday morning, Dec. 14. Over 90 meteors per hour were seen in western North America, and nearly that many were spotted over Europe and the eastern U.S. SOHO is ready again to warn of solar storms With the Sun now entering its season of maximum sunspot counts, the world's engineers have reason to be nervous. Blustery space weather stirred up by the Sun can disrupt technological systems on the Earth and especially in orbit, where 75 communications satellites worth about 15 billion euros are at risk from solar storms. So the engineers will be glad to know that the world's chief watchdog for the Sun, the ESA-NASA SOHO spacecraft, is now fully back on duty after a technical interruption from 28 November to 10 December that curtailed some of its observations. Rare solar wind silence opens window into sun See also: The day the solar wind ran out of gas and The Day the Solar Wind Disappeared The constant stream of particles from the sun known as the solar wind all but stopped blowing earlier this year, offering a rare opportunity to study the interaction between Earth and its nearest star. Invisible Aurora Hides Over Poles An invisible aurora exists as a companion to the familiar visible aurora, also known as the aurora borealis, or northern lights, in the Northern Hemisphere and the aurora australis (southern lights) in the Southern Hemisphere. Trace Finds "Hot Moss" A new feature near the surface of the Sun, termed "solar moss" because its weird, sponge-like appearance resembles the plant, has been discovered by astronomers using NASA's Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) spacecraft. Meet Conan the Bacterium A radiation-resistant microbe could play a major role in Martian exploration. First, it can help scientists determine the best locations to seek life on Mars. Later, it may help keep astronauts healthy and then reshape Mars for colonists. The End of Days — Chandra Catches X-ray Glow From Supernova Through a combination of serendipity and skill, scientists have used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to capture a rare glimpse of X-radiation from the early phases of a supernova, one of the most violent events in nature. Although more than a thousand supernovae have been observed by optical astronomers, the early X-ray glow from the explosions has been detected in less than a dozen cases. Nasa To Support European Space Agency's X-Ray Multi Mirror Telescope Mission The European Space Agency's X-Ray Multi Mirror (XMM) spacecraft, launched Dec. 10 from French Guyana aboard an Ariane 5 launch vehicle, has already sent back pictures of itself in space. NASA's involvement in the mission includes provision of critical components for two of the spacecraft's three science instruments and participation in the science-observing program. Scientists expect XMM will explain a number of cosmic mysteries, ranging from black holes to the origin of the universe. A world-class observatory, XMM's capabilities complement those of NASA's recently launched Great Observatory for x-ray astronomy, the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Below is an earlier news release about NASA's involvement in the mission. Greene pulls physics world along with a 'string' It used to be that one of the best ways to get extra elbowroom at a crowded party was to spark up a conversation about physics. But Columbia University physicist and mathematician Brian Greene has turned the dreaded ''p'' word into one of the hottest tickets in science. And he's done it the hard way: by popularizing one of the most mathematically mind-numbing and potentially important ideas in physics in the last 20 years: string theory. China Training Astronauts for Space Colonies China is training astronauts for its fledgling manned space program with the aim of eventually colonizing other planets, a state-run newspaper quoted a leading Chinese aerospace scientist as saying. U.S.-Russian venture promises Web, TV broadcasts from space A U.S. company that offers space services to NASA and a Russian counterpart with experience as far back at Sputnik announced Friday an agreement to establish an entirely commercial module on the International Space Station. Geminid meteor shower peaks The peak of the annual Geminid meteor shower delivered over 100 shooting stars per hour in the early hours of 14 December. Observers in California were the first to report and others around the world are expected to have seen a good show. When Hipparcos saw the shadow of an alien planet Astronomers have just realised that news of a planet orbiting a distant star came from ESA's Hipparcos satellite eight years ago, although no one noticed it until now. The first observation, on 17 April 1991, was made long before Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz of the Observatoire de Genève astounded the world in 1995 with their discovery of a planet around the star 51 Pegasi. Since then the search for alien planets has become a highly competitive theme in astronomy, and the present tally of stars known to possess planets is 28. Odds of Intelligence Out There Unlike Christopher Columbus, who stumbled upon the New World, the SETI project has plans for discovery. And whatever other-worldly civilization we may come across, odds are it’s a lot more advanced than ours. Locating the Lander See also: Nasa to scan Mars for lost probe Scientists will try to learn later this week whether the ill-fated Mars Polar Lander landed on the Martian surface even though they have not been able to make direct contact with the spacecraft. Shuttle fuel pipe repaired After yet more repairs, the space shuttle Discovery should now fly to the Hubble Space Telescope on Friday. Hunting for ET British scientists interested in searching for life in space are getting together to launch the UK Astrobiology Forum. Beyond Fast Cheap and Broke In part two of our Beyond Mars 98 series, Bruce Moomaw looks at the evolution of NASA's "better, faster, cheaper" philosophy and how the politics of decades past is still shaping the US space program today. Read Part 1 Mars Exploration: Where To Now All we need is will to go to Mars People will go to Mars. And they will go back to the moon, and to Europa, Titan, Vesta and many other interesting and exotic places in the solar system and beyond. It's not a question of if, but when. Mars Polar Lander scientists disappointed with loss, ready to try again Dozens of computers sit idle in a cavernous room where pictures, sounds and data from the Mars Polar Lander were to be beamed. A "Mars or Bust" sign hangs at one of many empty desks near a TV tuned to a soccer match. How Polar Lander May Have Died See also: Mars Lander lost The fate of Mars Polar Lander may never be known for sure, but several possibilities have been discussed. This 162-Kb illustration describes some of them. XMM takes pictures of itself The XMM spacecraft, launched on 10 December from Kourou, has sent back pictures of itself in space. The photographs were taken by two micro-cameras placed on the exterior of the spacecraft's focal plane assembly. Computers Listen to the Stars Listening for E.T. doesn’t involve headphones or gazing toward the heavens. Astronomers sit in a drab office and monitor a few computers. But the potential payoff is mind-bending. Nasa: Lost in space? The BBC's Stephen Sackur examines the options for the US space programme after a string of high-profile failures. Chandra image suggests a traffic jam surrounds black hole For years astronomers have puzzled over the fate of colossal quantities of gaseous matter thought to flow into the center of galaxy clusters, the largest objects in the universe. SOHO back to normal operations While the spaceworld has had its eyes on the successful launch of ESA's XMM telescope, SOHO recovery teams have been busy at GSFC. As of 10 December at 01:00 UT, the SOHO spacecraft is back in Normal Mode. More Ocean Clues on Mars See also: Mars images provide 'compelling' evidence of past ocean and Mars Ocean Scientists studying polar areas of Mars have found features that might once have been an ancient coastline. Exotic Microbes Discovered near Lake Vostok See also: Microbes found deep in Antarctic ice Scientists have discovered a microbial world hidden deep beneath the frozen Antarctic ice that could help them learn more about how life can survive under extreme conditions on other planets or moons. Australian authorities: Meteorite likely damaged reservoir An object that crashed into an Australian reservoir was most likely a meteorite the size of a golf ball, authorities said Dec.10. Europe's latest space telescope is off to a good start See also: Ariane soars to success The world's most powerful observatory for X-ray astronomy, the European Space Agency's XMM satellite, set off into space from Kourou, French Guiana, at 15:32 Paris time on 10 December. The mighty Ariane 5 launcher, making its very first commercial launch, hurled the 3.9-tonne spacecraft into a far-ranging orbit. Within one hour of lift-off the European Space Operations Centre at Darmstadt, Germany, confirmed XMM was under control with electrical power available from the solar arrays. Even the 'soft' stars have a 'hard' side Soft-gamma repeaters have a hard side. It's hard enough that they could almost be mistaken for the hard gamma-ray bursts that come from deep in the observable universe. Companies stake their claim in space A private-sector partner in America’s space effort says it is teaming up with Russia’s top space company to establish the world’s first permanent commercial outpost in orbit. The plan calls for the construction of a pressurized module named the Enterprise, which could be attached to the International Space Station in 2002, Spacehab announced Dec.10th. More Troubles for Shuttle Space shuttle Discovery’s rescue mission to the Hubble Space Telescope has been delayed until late next week, at least, so workers can replace a dented fuel line. Jupiter gave birth to Uranus and Neptune New suggestions that the planets in our Solar System have not always been in their current orbits have been put forward by two teams of astronomers. Is Baby Bopp An Only Child? Comet Hale-Bopp has a moon, says a NASA physicist in California. If confirmed, "Baby Bopp" would be the first satellite ever discovered for a comet, and would allow astronomers to measure a comet's mass for the first time. Did The Bigbang Cook Up Carbon Did the fireball of the early Universe cook up a much richer cocktail than anyone realised? A German astrophysicist is challenging the idea that the early Universe created only hydrogen, helium and lithium. He thinks it may also have made heavier elements such as carbon. Mars Express to learn lessons from Polar Lander loss "Our hearts go out to our colleagues at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory over the probable loss of Mars Polar Lander," Rudi Schmidt, Mars Express project manager said today. "But risk will always be part of any space mission. We at Mars Express will forge ahead, taking on board all the lessons that we can from the polar lander failure." Mars: Is Biohazard Level 4 Enough? In part two of Bruce Moomaw's perspective on the possible danger of a Mars Sample Return, he cites almost as fact, that microbe infested meteorites from Mars have been showering the Earth for millions of years, and that because of this, all Earth life has already been "inoculated" against it. This is only a hypothesis, and there is no evidence to support it. Mars Polar Lander Mission Status Mission controllers for NASA's Mars Polar Lander acknowledge that they hold out very little hope of communicating with the spacecraft, but they vow to learn from the experience and continue exploring the Red Planet. The Sound of Silence See also: Mars probe silence signals failure , Silence on Mars as NASA's 'last silver bullet' misses mark and No signal from Mars Polar Lander NASA again failed to detect a signal from the Mars Polar Lander early today during what engineers called the "last best" opportunity to hear from the spacecraft. Great Geminids! On December 13 and 14, 1999, fragments of the mysterious asteroid 3200 Phaethon will strike Earth's atmosphere and produce a beautiful sky show. The Geminids offer the last chance in 1999 for skywatchers to view a dazzling meteor shower. Shuttle launch date likely to slip again NASA's mission to repair the ailing Hubble Space Telescope may have to wait until at least Saturday night to begin after another broken electrical wire was found aboard shuttle Discovery. Leukemia victim will have a space burial A company that provided the space burial for 1960s counterculture guru Timothy Leary has offered to scatter the ashes of a 14-year-old leukemia victim whose dream was to be an astronaut. Mars Express leaps approval hurdle The technical design for Mars Express took an important step towards approval last month. A team of 15 space engineers from ESTEC, who are not involved in the project, gave the design the thumbs up after spending a week scrutinising it at the prime contractor's, Matra Marconi Space (MMS), Toulouse. "The team went to Matra to turn the design upside down and find weak points. They didn't find any show stoppers," says Rudi Schmidt, Mars Express Project Manager. Future Mars missions to face greater scrutiny See also: The fallout from failure on Mars NASA's 2001 mission to Mars, the third installment of the space agency's ambitious campaign to the red planet, now faces uncertainty with the growing likelihood that the Polar Lander is lost forever. Eta Carinae' - ISO tells the true story In 1843 the stellar system Eta Carinae suffered a violent explosion which Caused it to become, in just a few decades, an amazingly beautiful nebula with two huge round blobs of material symmetrically distributed. For years astronomers have been looking for the cause of the explosion, and to explain the strange hourglass shape. A team of astronomers using ESA's infrared space telescope, ISO, have now succeeded, putting the blame firmly on a previously undetected very massive 'donut' of dust which squeezes the nebula at its centre. They publish their discovery in the current issue of the journal Nature (2 December). Silent Mars See also: Mars probe stays silent , Mars Polar Lander probe silent for second night and Hope fades for Mars Polar Lander as silence from Mars continues Another day, still silence. NASA again heard no signal Saturday from the Mars Polar Lander, heightening fears that the $165 million mission may have ended in failure — just like another Mars expedition three months ago. Mars Polar Lander Mission Status Mission controllers for NASA's Mars Polar Lander are proceeding with their checklist in a continuing attempt to communicate with the spacecraft. NASA tries to figure out what's happened to Mars Polar Lander Is Mars Polar Lander in "safe mode", basically asleep and oblivious to the commands that NASA has been trying to send it? Or is there a problem with the spacecraft's orientation on the surface of Mars? After many delays, astronauts geared up for rescue mission See also: Discovery Delayed Until Dec 11 After two months of aggravating launch delays and shuttle problems that never seemed to end, astronauts are about to embark on a mission to save the crippled Hubble Space Telescope. Awaiting News From Mars Probe Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, are still waiting for a signal from the Mars Polar Lander, which was to have touched down Friday near the Martian south pole.Was the probe destroyed during the landing, or is it having trouble transmitting a radio signal? So far, scientists are expressing confidence that it's simply a technical glitch. Another Lost Mars Spacecraft? See also: NASA confident probe survived Mars landing despite silence and NASA listens and waits for Mars Polar Lander to call home NASA has not yet received any radio signals from Mars Polar Lander or the two Deep Space 2 microprobes that detached prior to entry into the Martian atmosphere and landed separately. Silence Doesn’t Mean Doom See also: Nervous wait for Nasa scientists , NASA Awaits Contact With Lander and Silence So Far From Mars Probe If everything had gone perfectly, NASA would have received a “Hi, I’m here!” message from its latest Red Planet visitor, the Mars Polar Lander spacecraft, about 40 minutes after the landing. Third VLT 8.2-m Mirror Successfully Coated and Installed at MELIPAL In the course of the current installation of ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), a delicate operation has just been successfully achieved at the Paranal Observatory. The coated 8.2-m Zerodur main mirror for the third VLT 8.2-m Unit Telescope, MELIPAL, is now in place! Hubble Telescope Reveals Swarm of Glittering Stars in Nearby Galaxy NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has peered at a small area within the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) to provide the deepest color picture ever obtained in that satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way. Mars Invades Earth: Are Martians Dangerous Bruce Moomaw writes about the risk of infecting Earth with Martian microbes being under and overplayed, with not enough focus by NASA on the the political and social impact of dropping ET capsules on Utah. Polar Lander Descent Camera Will Capture Martian Surface As Never Seen Before: From Only A Few Feet Up For just under two minutes, shortly before 3:14 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, Dec. 3, a camera directed toward the south polar region of Mars will capture and store a series of about 20 images unique in the annals of planetary exploration: the surface of a planet (other than the moon) as seen from altitudes ranging from about 4 miles to only about 30 feet. Polar Lander aims for unique views Roundup of news stories relating to Mars and the Mars Polar Lander (from MSNBC). What next, Leonids? When curators at the Royal Observatory Greenwich began discussing how to mark the millennium, one thing was clear: Whatever they decided to do, it must revolve around time. Why did Liberty Bell 7’s hatch come open too early? A team is working to restore the salvaged capsule at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Centre. And team leader Greg Buckingham has a theory that could explain the premature opening of Liberty Bell 7’s hatch. Royal Observatory Greenwich Tries to Explain the Story of Time When curators at the Royal Observatory Greenwich began discussing how to mark the millennium, one thing was clear: Whatever they decided to do, it must revolve around time. Groundbreaking probes can lay the foundation for further space exploration Fourth of a four-part series: They sit on a narrow table in Sarah Gavit's office - rugged, ugly-looking chunks of metal that have been heated and frozen to extremes and slammed viciously into the ground. Europe prepares its own Mars mission, as NASA's probe lands on Mars Just before NASA's Mars Polar Lander bounces to a gentle halt on Mars this week, it will jettison two small probes that will crash into the planet and penetrate its surface. Four years later, in December 2003, another probe will land on the red planet to take a look underground. Called Beagle 2, it will hitch a ride to Mars on Europe's Mars Express mission. NASA's probes will be looking mainly for water and ice, but Beagle 2 will also be searching for the signs of life. Hubble repair mission delayed again NASA's trip to fix the Hubble Space Telescope has been delayed another two days so workers can complete final wiring checks aboard space shuttle Discovery. What the Spacecraft Hopes to Learn According to NASA, the mission of Mars Polar Lander is to find evidence of water in the Red Planet’s distant past. Mars Polar Lander on track The Mars Polar Lander, speeding toward the Red Planet at 19,300 km per hour (12,000 mph) is on course for a historic landing at the planet's south pole on Friday. Listening to Mars When Mars Polar Lander lands on Mars, the world will have its first listen of another world. The spacecraft has a microphone — the same kind found in hearing aids — that should pick up sounds of the Red Planet. To the Bottom of Mars Mars Polar Lander is right where it’s supposed to be, on course for where it’s supposed to be Friday — close to the Red Planet’s south pole.

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