Space Science News from NASA HQ 12 July 2000

From: dtupper@mail.hq.nasa.gov

Greetings! I hope things are well in your corner of the cosmic woods.

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

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A newly discovered, city-sized impact crater viewed by Galileo may shed new
light on the nature of the enigmatic icy surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa.
Further study may reveal something about the nature of the impactor, as
well as about the surface chemistry on Europa, including whether there is
evidence of salt water evaporation.

story/pics:
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/PIAGenCatalogPage.pl?PIA02561

Galileo: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/

Space Science missions: http://spacescience.nasa.gov/missions/index.htm

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The Mouse That Roared — Chandra Captures Flare From Brown Dwarf. Brown
dwarfs are “failed stars” without enough mass to sustain nuclear fusion in
their cores. Apparently some of the hotter brown dwarfs do emit x-rays
from their atmospheres, but a big x-ray flare from this one was quite
unexpected. Amazing, the science that can come from a dull picture. 😉

http://chandra.harvard.edu/press/00_releases/press_071100.html

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In a finding that may extend the known limits of life on Earth (and
elsewhere!), researchers have discovered evidence that microbes may be able
to survive the heavy doses of ultraviolet radiation and the extreme cold
and darkness of the South Pole. Life seems to get more weird all the time;
I guess it’s not just me…

http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/press/00/pr0048.htm

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A burst from its thrusters on July 7 sent NEAR Shoemaker on a weeklong
descent toward its closest look yet at asteroid Eros. Follow the action at
http://near.jhuapl.edu/

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Deep Space One (DS1) restarted its ion engine late last month after seven
months of dormancy. The recovery of DS1 opens the door for an extended
mission that could include a comet flyby next September.

story: http://www.spaceviews.com/2000/07/05b.html

DS1: http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/ds1/

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Finally, launch of the first pair of Cluster spacecraft is still scheduled
for July 15. We’ve got lots of hardware on this European mission. The
launch will be covered live on the internet.
http://sci.esa.int/content/news/index.cfm?aid=8&cid=31&oid=22250

Cheers!

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