Space Science news from NASA HQ 1 May 2001
The theory that the universe underwent a gigantic growth spurt in a
fraction of a second just moments after the Big Bang was bolstered with new
findings reported Sunday, including results from our BOOMERANG and MAXIMA
balloon experiments. Looks like dark matter and dark energy have the leads
in this 14 billion year old cosmic play; as normal matter, we’re just bit
players.
BOOMERANG at http://www.physics.ucsb.edu/~boomerang/
MAXIMA at http://cfpa.berkeley.edu/group/cmb/
Go ballooning at http://www.wff.nasa.gov/pages/scientificballoons.html
Meanwhile, our Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) has arrived at the Kennedy
Space Center, in preparation for its upcoming launch this summer (currently
slated for June 30). MAP will address some of the same fundamental
questions about the very young Universe. Check out MAP at
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/
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Look, Ma, zero volume, infinite density – and it spins! Astronomers using
the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer now have observational evidence that at
least some black holes spin about like whirlpools. Story (and artist’s
conceptions for the imagination-impaired like me) at
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/GSFC/SpaceSci/structure/spinningbh/spinningbh.htm
; RXTE at http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xte/learning_center/
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New pictures from Hubble are giving astronomers the first direct visual
evidence for the growth of planetary “building blocks” inside the dusty
disks of young stars in the Orion Nebula. But the images also reveal that
the disks are being “blowtorched” by ultraviolet radiation from the
region’s brightest star, making planet formation extremely
difficult. http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/2001/13/
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Although its science mission formally ended 4 years ago, our Pioneer 10
spacecraft was successfully contacted on April 28, from a distance of over
7 billion miles and after 29 years of space travel. News release at
http://amesnews.arc.nasa.gov/releases/2001/01_28AR.html , Pioneer at
http://spaceprojects.arc.nasa.gov/Space_Projects/pioneer/PNhome.html
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Mars Odyssey is doing well on its way to Mars. On Earth Day, it took its
first images: of the Home
Planet. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2001/firstpix.html
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A report from the NEAR science team, with the latest results from asteroid
Eros, is available at http://near.jhuapl.edu/news/articles/01apr20/index.html
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