Status Report

Space Science News from NASA HQ 08-14-2000

By SpaceRef Editor
August 14, 2000
Filed under

New this week at http://spacescience.nasa.gov :

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Yesterday we announced plans to launch two large scientific rovers to Mars in 2003, rather than the original plan for just one. Come ride with us! Our press release, with links to more info, is at ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-124.txt

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The second pair of Cluster satellites are now safely in orbit around the Earth after a successful launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on August 9. They will be joining the first pair in their final orbit on August 15. Dance with Rumba, Tango, Salsa, and Samba at http://sci.esa.int/home/clusterii/index.cfm

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Planetary scientists say they have found the first-ever evidence of folds in the icy surface of Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, leading them closer to an intimate understanding of the moon’s interior dynamics. These “folds” reflect the same kind of process that makes mountain ranges on Earth, as tectonic plates push up against each other. On Europa, it’s colliding icebergs. http://www.jhuapl.edu/public/pr/000810.htm

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The MUSES-C project, a joint effort of Japan’s Institute of Space and Astronautical Sciences (ISAS) and NASA (us) to explore an asteroid and return a sample to Earth, has announced that the asteroid target of the project and the launch date have been changed. We’re building an itty-bitty rover for this one.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2000/museschange.html

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Last week I told you about the discovery of a planet around Epsilon Eridani. In total, ten new extra-solar planets were announced on Monday at a meeting of the International Astronomical Union in Manchester, UK. That makes about 50 known planets around other stars. There’s a good summary of all the new orbs at http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=200

Meanwhile, another team of astronomers announced that they have figured out a way to locate planets based on their gravitational effects on the disks of dust circling stars.
ftp://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/PAO/Releases/2000/00-97.htm

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Last week it seemed Comet LINEAR had blown itself apart and left no trace of the nucleus. To the surprise and delight of astronomers, Hubble discovered a small armada of “mini-comets” left behind. A lot may be learned about the history and composition of comets by the study of Comet LINEAR’s demise. http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR/2000/27/index.html

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Finally, I have decided to highlight a good Space Science website here from time to time, even if there is no “news” associated with it. For those of you who really like to try to understand how things work, the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) folks have created a nifty little interactive website. Interferometry is a technology that will play an increasing role in the telescopes of the future, both ground-based and space-based. Learn how it’s done by starting at the SIM site at http://sim.jpl.nasa.gov , and read through until you get to the demo under the “Interferometry” link on the left-hand side. Fun! And if you like that one, you might also want to try http://www.trw.com/ifsim/index.html

Cheers!

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SpaceRef staff editor.