Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: SpaceDev Acquires Hybrid Rocket Technology
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 13, 1998
CONTACT: Jim Benson Shirley Thompson, President
CEO Mike Trueblood, Account Executive
SpaceDev, Inc. Carl Thompson Associates, Inc.
(619) 684-3570 (800) 959-9677
SpaceDev Acquires Hybrid Rocket Technology
SAN DIEGO, CA - SpaceDev (OTC BB: SPDV), the world's first commercial
space exploration and development company, announced today that it has
acquired exclusive rights to intellectual property including the three
patents originally issued to American Rocket Company (Amroc) for their
hybrid rocket motor technology.
In addition, SpaceDev has acquired exclusive possession of and access to a
large quantity of Amroc engineering documents, plans, designs, test
results, manufacturing data, and other materials related to the rocket
motors and Amroc launch vehicles.
"We believe this technology could be useful in a wide variety of
commercial launch vehicle applications," said Jim Benson, president and
chairman of SpaceDev. "Hybrid rocket technology is relatively simple,
environmentally cleaner than most propulsion systems, non-explosive and
less expensive to manufacture. Furthermore, it is easily transported,
throttleable, restartable, and scalable."
Benson noted that hybrid rocket technology has many potential markets,
some of which could be internally useful to SpaceDev and its subsidiaries
in the future, and some of which could become products for sale to
commercial and government customers.
Hybrid rocket motor products could include: small and large boosters for
use in sounding rocket applications, university class satellite launches
and LEO constellation launches; boosters for sale as main propulsion
systems for external customers; strap-ons for expendable and reusable
launch vehicles; smaller specialized motors for use in upper stages; and
for complete launch systems.
Integrated Space Systems (ISS), a wholly owned subsidiary of SpaceDev,
spent several months studying and analyzing original Amroc engineering and
test result documents. The documents were generated from years of Amroc
testing and improvements, and rocket motor test firings. ISS engineers
concluded that Amroc had done excellent engineering, and had brought the
technology close to commercial viability.
"Hybrid rockets combine a liquid oxidizer and solid fuel (therefore
hybrid) into a rocket motor," said Phil Smith, Chief Operating Officer
of SpaceDev. "Because rocket motors or engines form a large part of the
total cost of any launch vehicle, controlling this fundamental underlying
technology could be key to developing low cost launch systems."
In the agreement, SpaceDev is granted the exclusive world wide license
rights for the technology for a minimum of five years. If SpaceDev is
successful in developing a commercial market for the hybrid rocket
technology, it will have the rights to purchase the technology over the
next five years in exchange for discounted warrants for the purchase of
SpaceDev common stock. The warrants would be issued in relation to sales
of the rocket technology and the maximum dilution will not exceed three
million shares. If SpaceDev is not successful in developing a commercial
market for the technology, the company will return the technology and have
no further obligation for the issuance of additional warrants.
Mr. Benson added, "The agreement is extremely fair for both SpaceDev and
the owner of the technology as it allows for both to share in the success
of the technology as may be further developed and marketed by SpaceDev."
SpaceDev, the world's first commercial space exploration and development
company, intends to launch the first privately financed spacecraft to land
on another planetary body. SpaceDev is offering for sale rides for
scientific instruments to governments and companies to transport their
instruments and experiments through deep space to a near Earth asteroid.
SpaceDev intends to sell the data acquired by its instruments as
commercial products. Colorado-based SpaceDev has offices in San Diego, CA
and Washington, DC.
The foregoing press release includes numerous forward-looking statements
concerning the company's business and future prospects and other similar
statements that do not concern matters of historical fact. The federal
securities laws provide a limited "safe harbor" for certain
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press
release relating to product development, business prospects and
development of a commercial market for technological advances are based on
the company's current expectations. The company's current expectations
are subject to all of the uncertainties and risks customarily associated
with new business ventures including, but not limited to, market
conditions, successful product development and acceptance, competition and
overall economic conditions, as well as the risk of adverse regulatory
actions. The company's actual results may differ materially from current
expectations. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on
forward-looking statements. The company disclaims any intent or
obligation to update publicly these forward-looking statements, whether as
a result of new information, future events or for any other reason.
Note: News releases and other information on SpaceDev can be accessed at
http://www.SpaceDev.com or http://www.ctaonline.com/spdv on the Internet.
###
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=SANA=
Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: NEAR Weekly Report - August 14, 1998
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NEAR WEEKLY REPORT
August 14, 1998
MISSION OPERATIONS:
NEAR spacecraft state/configuration remains nominal
(Flight Computer #1 and Attitude Interface Unit #1 active).
AIU #2 was loaded on August 10 with software version
1.06 and successfully "booted up" and then turned back off.
The Magnetometer and XGRS instruments are on. A command
request to turn on the XGRS high voltage has not yet been submitted to
mission operations at the time of this writing.
Attitude mode is presently alternating between GS-4
(Earth pointing) during high gain antenna tracks and GS-5 & GS-2 (~Sun
pointing) at all other times. Fan beam antenna operations have been
suspended due to the marginal quality of tracking data obtained on the
fan beam antenna.
The GS-5 off-sun pointing limit is set to 10 deg for
managing system momentum.
A comprehensive review and test of all instrument
command blocks (CAS's and Fragments) are still underway. The
Magnetometer team gets the distinction of being the first instrument
team to have all commands reviewed, tested, and signed off. NIS and MSI
are reviewed and presently in test phase. NLR and XGRS are in final
stages of review.
Future Plans:
Continuing with planned reconfiguration of ground system
and establishment of independent test system (new third front end
processor with brassboard outside firewall) .
Seq_Gen based commanding will begin next week with time
tagged commands for SSR playbacks and guidance scenario switches.
Instrument commanding will be folded into these time tagged command
loads as CAS/Fragment sets are signed off.
Upcoming Spacecraft Activities:
August 19: MSI/NIS alignment tests
September TBD: Flight Computer (FC) s/w upload
September TBD: Momentum dump testing w/new FC s/w
October 14: TCM 15 w/new FC s/w
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=SANA=
Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: New Mars Global Surveyor Image: 'Fluidized' Crater Ejecta Deposit
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http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/msss/camera/images/8_13_98_ejecta_rel/index.htm
Mars Global Surveyor
Mars Orbiter Camera
Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) High Resolution Images
SPO-2 Observations:
"Fluidized" Crater Ejecta Deposit
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera Release: MOC2-62a, -62b,
-62c, -62d
Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera Image ID: 587090298.47903
P479-03
(A) [Image]
487 KByte GIF image
(A) Regional context of MOC image 47903. The MOC image is represented by the
darkened rectangular picture, which is the actual MOC image reduced to about
7.5% of its original size. The context scene is a portion of Viking Orbiter
1 image 545a08. The Viking image was taken in December 1977; the MOC image
was obtained in August 1998. Note that illumination (sunlight) in the Viking
image is from the lower left, but illumination in the MOC image is from the
right. The crater adjacent to the MOC image has a diameter of about 9.1
kilometers (5.7 miles). The entire area shown here is about 40x40 kilometers
(25x25 miles) in size. The scene is a mercator projection, north is up.
(B) [Image]
446 KByte GIF image
(B) MOC image 47903, shown at 25 percent original size. The area shown is
about 10.2 kilometers (6.3 miles) wide and 39.1 kilometers (24.3 miles)
long. The image as represented here has a scale of about 27 meters (89 feet)
per pixel. North is approximately up, illumination is from the right. When
the image was taken, it was very early in the morning at this location--the
Sun had just risen and was only about 6° above the eastern horizon.
(C) [Image]
432 KByte GIF image
(C) Same MOC image 47903 as in (B), above. White box shows the location of
the full-resolution subframe shown below in (D).
(D) [Image]
1.0 MByte GIF image
(D) MOC image 47903 subframe shown at full scale of approximately 6.64
meters (21.7 feet) per pixel. The actual scale is slightly lower (i.e., more
like 8 meters--26 feet--per pixel) because the MOC is currently out of focus
and because this location was photographed through a thin, early morning
haze. As in (B) and (C), above, north is approximately up and illumination
is from the right.
You may need to adjust the images for the gamma of your monitor to insure
proper viewing.
Note: This MOC image is made available in order to share with the public
the excitement of new discoveries being made via the Mars Global Surveyor
spacecraft. The image may be reproduced only if the image is credited to
"Malin Space Science Systems/NASA". Release of this image does not
constitute a release of scientific data. The image and its caption should
not be referenced in the scientific literature. Full data releases to the
scientific community are scheduled by the Mars Global Surveyor Project
and NASA Planetary Data System. Typically, data will be released after a
6 month calibration and validation period.
Click Here for more information on MGS data release and archiving plans.
CAPTION
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. At this time, each ground track (the portion of Mars available
for MOC imaging on a given orbit) covers areas from about 40°N on the late
afternoon side of the planet, up over the sunlit north polar cap, and down
the early morning side of Mars to about 20°N latitude. Early morning and
late afternoon views provide good shadowing to reveal subtle details on the
martian surface. Views of Mars with such excellent lighting conditions will
not be seen by MOC once MGS's Science Phasing Orbits end in mid-September
1998.
The image shown here, MOC image 47903, was targeted on Friday afternoon
(PDT), August 7, 1998. This picture of ejecta from a nameless 9.1 kilometer
(5.7 mile)-diameter crater was designed to take full advantage of the
present lighting conditions. When the image was taken (around 5:38 p.m.
(PDT) on Saturday, August 8, 1998), the Sun had just risen and was only
about 6° above the eastern horizon. With the Sun so low in the local sky,
the contrast between sunlit and shadowed surfaces allowed new, subtle
details to be revealed on the surface of the crater ejecta deposit.
The crater shown here has ejecta of a type that was first identified in
Mariner 9 and Viking Orbiter images as "fluidized" ejecta. Ejecta is the
material that is thrown out from the crater during the explosion that
results when a meteor--piece of a comet or asteroid--collides with the
planet. Fluidized ejecta is characterized by its lobate appearance, and
sometimes by the presence of a ridge along the margin of the ejecta deposit.
In the case of the crater shown here, there are two ridges that encircle the
crater ejecta--this type of ejecta deposit is sometimes called a double-lobe
rampart deposit. The MOC image shows that this particular crater also has
"normal" ejecta that occurs out on the plains, beyond the outermost ridge of
the main, fluidized ejecta deposit.
Fluidized or "rampart" ejecta deposits have long been thought by many Mars
scientists to result from an impact into a surface that contains water. The
water would have been underground, and could have been frozen or liquid.
According to the prevailing model, when the meteor hit, this water was
released--along with tons of rock and debris--and the ejecta flowed like
mud. Images with resolutions higher than those presently attainable from the
11.6 hr elliptical orbit are needed to see the specific features (such as
large boulders "rafted" by the dense mud) that would confirm or refute this
model. Such images may be acquired once MGS is in its mapping orbit.
MOC image 47903 was received and processed by the MOC team at Malin Space
Science Systems on Monday afternoon (PDT), August 10, 1998. The image center
is located at 27.92°N latitude and 184.66°W longitude, in the northern
Tartarus Montes region. The "Tartarus Montes" include the small massifs seen
in the lower right quarter and lower left corner of image (A), above.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built
the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates
the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion
Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global
Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin
Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.
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=SANA=
Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: New Agreement Limits Mobile Satellite Phone Threat To Radio Astronomy
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NEW AGREEMENT LIMITS MOBILE SATELLITE PHONE THREAT TO RADIO ASTRONOMY
The European Science Foundation (ESF) has announced today (13 August
1998) the signing of an agreement with the telecommunications
satellite operator, Iridium LLC, to protect an important radio
astronomy frequency band from harmful interference from Iridium's
flotilla of 66 low-earth orbiting satellites.
The agreement addresses harmful interference from unwanted emissions
of the Iridium satellite system operating nearby at 1621.25 to 1626.5
MHz into the band 1610.6-1613.8 MHz allocated to radio astronomy on a
primary basis. This is the frequency used by astronomers to study the
distribution of the hydroxyl radical, one of the most common
interstellar molecules, enabling them to investigate a wide range of
issues including the evaporation of comets and the birth and death of
stars.
Iridium will launch its global mobile telephone service this
September. However, close to the Iridium operating frequency, radio
astronomers want to detect signals with an intensity more than 109
times weaker than those from an Iridium satellite. Leakage from this
neighbouring Iridium band, which will be used to link the satellites
to individual mobile phones, must therefore be carefully controlled to
ensure that the desired radio astronomical observations can continue
to be conducted.
The agreement signed by the ESF, on behalf of its associated Committee
on Radio Astronomy Frequencies (CRAF), and Iridium LLC is the result
of six months of intense negotiations. Under its terms, Iridium
guarantees Europe's radio astronomers 24 hours a day of 'unpolluted'
observation time from 1 January 2006 (see notes for editors 3). Both
parties are also committed to reaching a further agreement by 1 March
1999 on transitional arrangements, covering the number of hours each
day, during which Iridium unwanted emissions are to be restricted and
an agreed maximum interference level at other times, for the period 1
March 1999 to 31 December 2005. For the six months from Iridium's
start-up in September 1998 until 1 March 1999, the satellite company
has agreed to keep emission levels below harmful interference levels
as requested by the radio astronomers. However, in practice, even
these levels imply a concession by radio astronomers to
satellite-enabled services as the sensitivity of current state-of-the
art radio astronomy equipment would imply that they should be set
considerably lower.
In addition, under the terms of the agreement, both parties will
continue to work together to find adequate and technically practical
solutions for reducing both the out-of-band emissions of the Iridium
satellite system and the susceptibility of radio astronomy equipment
to these emissions.
After signing the agreement, ESF Secretary General, Professor Enric
Banda commented: "This is an important agreement for radio astronomy
and provides welcome guarantees. Radio astronomy, as a passive
service, is uniquely vulnerable to radio interference and CRAF's
success, in representing the interests of Europe's different radio
astronomy observatories during these negotiations, has once again
demonstrated the value for Europe's scientific community of
cooperation and of speaking with one voice."
He added: "The agreement also underlines the willingness of CRAF and
Europe's radioastronomers to work constructively with the growing
number of satellite-enabled companies to find sustainable technical
solutions that will allow science and industry to continue to
profitably coexist in space."
However, despite this agreement, interference from satellites remains an
increasing threat to astronomy. "This is not an isolated problem,"
said Dr Jim Cohen, CRAF's Chairman. "The number of cases of
interference to radio astronomy from satellites is growing steadily.
Unless the protection of radio astronomy is taken into account early
in the design of new satellite systems our science could face a
difficult future."
Ends
Further information and an updated list of cases of satellite
interference to radio astronomy can be found on the web pages of the
European Science Foundation's Committee on Radio Astronomy Frequencies
ESF-CRAF http://www.nfra.nl/craf
Press contacts:
Andrew Smith, Head of Communications, ESF, tel: +33 (0)3 88 76 71 32,
email: asmith@esf.org
or
Dr Jim Cohen, Chairman of the ESF Committee on Radio Astronomy
Frequencies (CRAF), Jodrell Bank Observatory, UK, tel: +44 1477 571321
or Dr Willem Baan, Chairman of the Inter-Union Commission on Frequency
Allocation for Radio Astronomy and Space Science, Netherlands
Foundation for Research in Astronomy, tel: +31 521 595100
Notes for editors:
1. The European Science Foundation is the European association of 62
major national funding agencies devoted to scientific research in 21
countries. The ESF assists its member organisations in two main ways:
by bringing scientists together in its scientific programmes,
networks, exploratory workshops and European research conferences, to
work on topics of common concern, and through the joint study of
issues of strategic importance in European science policy.
2.The ESF Committee on Radio Astronomy Frequencies (CRAF) was
established in 1988 to coordinate the European efforts for the
protection of radiospectrum bands used by the Radio Astronomy Service
and other passive applications.
3. The criteria defining detrimental levels of interference for radio
astronomy in the 1610.6-1613.8 MHz band have been set by the
International Telecommunications Union (ITU-R RA769-1) at -238 dB
(Wm-2Hz-1). Even this represents a significant concession by
radioastronomers to satellite-enabled industries as current
state-of-the-art sensitivities would imply that these should be
several orders of magnitude more stringent.
4. Further reading: The CRAF Handbook for Radio Astronomy - second
edition (1997), published by the ESF, ISBN: 2-903148-94-5.
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=SANA=
Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Mars Surveyor 98 Update - August 14, 1998
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1998 MARS SURVEYOR PROJECT STATUS REPORT
August 14, 1998
John McNamee
Mars Surveyor 98 Project Manager
Mars Climate Orbiter:
Orbiter integration and test activities continue to proceed on
schedule. The repaired optical chopper assembly for the Pressure
Modulator InfraRed Radiometer (PMIRR) has been reinstalled on the
instrument and is operating nominally on the orbiter. The orbiter
pre-ship review was conducted successfully on August 14 and the
spacecraft will be shipped to Kennedy Space Center on September 10
as scheduled.
Mars Polar Lander:
The flight entry, descent, and landing sequence ran successfully during
lander mission system testing. The lander is on schedule to begin
cruise thermal vacuum testing on September 3. The lander pre-ship
review is planned for September 15.
For more information on the Mars Surveyor 98 mission, please visit
our website at:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/
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=SANA=
Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Sky & Telescope News Bulletin - August 14, 1998
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SKY & TELESCOPE'S NEWS BULLETIN
AUGUST 14, 1998
PERSEIDS DAZZLE SKYGAZERS
According to reports received at Sky & Telescope, the annual Perseid
meteor shower did not disappoint observers around the world this past
week, despite interference from the light of the gibbous Moon. Many
observers were treated to numerous fireballs and meteor pairs. A
compilation of radio-observer reports from Shelby Ennis included notice
that the first peak was very sharp at about 14:30 Universal Time, August
12th. This "new" peak has diminished a lot since first appearing earlier
in the decade. Now that the Perseids are gone, it's time to start
anticipating November's Leonid meteor shower -- which observers hope
will produce a "storm" of meteors.
SOUTHERN OBSERVERS SEE NEW COMET
On the night of August 10th, Australian observer Peter Williams found a
new comet. Announced on IAU Circular 6986, C/1998 P1 (Williams) will
reach perihelion on October 16th. The comet will remain a southern
hemisphere object for the best portion of its apparition. Observers
currently estimate its brightness at about magnitude 8.5. Over the
weekend, the comet remains a few degrees away from Alpha Centauri.
Unfortunately, as the comet nears perihelion, it will be moving away
from the Earth and moving toward conjunction with the Sun. According to
Charles Morris (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), by late November, the comet
will be visible from both hemispheres at about 10th magnitude. Here are
positions for Comet Williams for 0 hours Universal Time (2000.0
coordinates) for the coming week:
R.A. Dec.
August 15 14h 36m -59.7 deg.
17 14h 26m -57.5 deg.
19 14h 17m -55.4 deg.
MORE NAYS FOR MARTIAN LIFE
Three reports in the latest issue of Meteoritics and Planetary Science
have frowned upon the possibility that the meteorite ALH 84001 shows
signs of Martian life. In August 1996, researchers announced that they
had found what appeared to be fossilized signs of life within a
meteorite that originated from Mars. A pro/con debate has raged since
then. Among the new reports is one by Ed Scott (University of Hawaii)
and his colleagues, who used electron and optical microscopes to scan
carbonates throughout the meteorite, looking for clues to how deposits
of carbonate formed. They concluded that the carbonate crystallized
quickly in the high temperatures of impact heating, and not in cooler,
more life-compatible temperatures. The other studies reach the same
unlikelihood of life based on different criteria.
SOHO GRADUALLY RECOVERING
Things are looking up for the recovery effort of the Solar and
Heliospheric Observatory. A week after intermittent contact was made,
ground controllers have been able to use NASA's Deep Space Network to
receive temperature and electrical data from the spacecraft, following a
partial recharge of SOHO's batteries. The next step is to further charge
the batteries so that more detailed information about SOHO's health can
be obtained. A primary goal is to thaw the spacecraft hydrazine fuel so
the spacecraft's attitude can be fully controlled. Astronomers fear that
the science instruments could have been irreparably damaged by the cold
of space.
THIS WEEK'S "SKY AT A GLANCE"
Some daily events in the changing sky, from the editors of SKY &
TELESCOPE.
AUG. 16 -- SUNDAY
* Castor and Pollux form a straight line with Mars in the early dawn
Monday morning.
AUG. 17 -- MONDAY
* Around this time of year, the brightest star almost straight
overhead in early evening is Vega, pale blue-white. The brightest star
in the western sky is Arcturus, pale yellow-orange. Look low in the
south-southwest for deeper orange Antares.
AUG. 18 -- TUESDAY
* Look for Mars to the left or lower left of the waning crescent Moon
in early dawn Wednesday morning.
AUG. 19 -- WEDNESDAY
* Venus is to the left or upper left of the Moon during dawn Thursday
morning.
AUG. 20 -- THURSDAY
* This evening the faint asteroid 469 Argentina should occult a
9.1-magnitude star in the bottom of the Sagittarius Teapot as seen from
parts of northeastern North America. The star, which will be low in the
southern sky, may vanish for up to 19 seconds around 9:36 p.m. Eastern
Daylight Time. It has an 11th-magnitude companion only 2 arcseconds
away, which will remain visible during the occultation. See the finder
chart in the August Sky & Telescope, page 112, or at
http://www.skypub.com/occults/occults.html.
AUG. 21 -- FRIDAY
* New Moon (exact at 10:03 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time).
AUG. 22 -- SATURDAY
* Parts of Indonesia and the South Pacific get an annular eclipse of
the Sun. A partial eclipse occurs across a much wider area of Southeast
Asia, Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand. For details see
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/OH1998.html.
* The shadows of two of Jupiter's moons are visible on Jupiter at
once; both Io and Ganymede cast their shadows onto the planet's face
from 10:20 to 11:44 p.m. EDT.
THIS WEEK'S PLANET ROUNDUP
MERCURY is hidden in the glare of sunrise.
VENUS shines brightly (magnitude -3.9) very low in the east-northeast
during dawn.
MARS glows faintly at Venus's upper right in the dawn. Mars is magnitude
+1.7, only about 1/175 as bright as Venus.
JUPITER rises in twilight. It's the brilliant "star" (magnitude -2.8)
glowing low in the east by 10 p.m. daylight saving time. It's high in
the south during early morning hours.
SATURN rises around 10:30 p.m. daylight saving time. It's the brightest
"star" (magnitude +0.1) far to Jupiter's lower left by 11 or midnight
and later. It's almost directly left of Jupiter by about 3 a.m. The two
planets appear 37 degrees apart, 3 or 4 fist-widths at arm's length, on
opposite ends of Pisces.
URANUS and NEPTUNE, magnitudes 5.7 and 7.9 respectively, are in
Capricornus, well up in the south-southeast by late evening. See the
finder chart in the September Sky & Telescope.
PLUTO, magnitude 13.7, is near the Ophiuchus-Scorpius border in the
southwest right after dark. See the finder chart in the May Sky &
Telescope, page 97. Charts for Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are also at
http://www.skypub.com/whatsup/urnepl98.html.
(All descriptions that relate to the horizon or zenith are written for
the world's midnorthern latitudes. Descriptions that also depend on
longitude are for North America. Eastern Daylight Time, EDT, equals
Universal Time minus 4 hours.)
More details, sky maps, and news of other celestial events appear each
month in SKY & TELESCOPE, the essential magazine of astronomy. See our
enormous Web site at http://www.skypub.com/. Clear skies!
SKY & TELESCOPE, P.O. Box 9111, Belmont, MA 02478 * 617-864-7360
(voice)
Copyright 1998 Sky Publishing Corporation. S&T's Weekly News Bulletin
and Sky at a Glance stargazing calendar are provided as a service to the
astronomical community by the editors of SKY & TELESCOPE magazine.
Widespread electronic distribution is encouraged as long as these
paragraphs are included. But the text of the bulletin and calendar may
not be published in any other form without permission from Sky
Publishing (contact permissions@skypub.com or phone 617-864-7360).
Illustrated versions, including active links to related Internet
resources, are available via SKY Online on the World Wide Web at
http://www.skypub.com/.
In response to numerous requests, and in cooperation with the
Astronomical League (http://www.mcs.net/~bstevens/al/) and the American
Association of Amateur Astronomers (http://www.corvus.com/), S&T's
Weekly News Bulletin and Sky at a Glance are available via electronic
mailing list too. For a free subscription, send e-mail to
skyline@corvus.com and put the word "join" on the first line of the body
of the message. To unsubscribe, send e-mail to skyline@corvus.com and
put the word "unjoin" on the first line of the body of the message.
SKY & TELESCOPE, the Essential Magazine of Astronomy, is read by more
than 200,000 enthusiasts each month. It is available on newsstands
worldwide. For subscription information, or for a free copy of our
catalog of fine astronomy books and products, please contact Sky
Publishing Corp., P.O. Box 9111, Belmont, MA 02478-9111, U.S.A. Phone:
800-253-0245 (U.S. and Canada); 617-864-7360 (International). Fax:
617-864-6117. E-mail: custserv@skypub.com. SKY Online:
http://www.skypub.com/. Clear skies!
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=SANA=
Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: WDC-A R&S Launch Announcement 12957: Soyuz TM-28
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COSPAR/ISES
WORLD WARNING AGENCY FOR SATELLITES
WORLD DATA CENTER-A FOR R & S, NASA/GSFC
CODE 633, GREENBELT, MARYLAND, 20771. USA
SPACEWARN 12957
COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM NUMBER
SPACECRAFT INTERNATIONAL ID (CATALOG NUMBER) LAUNCH DATE,UT
SOYUZ TM-28 1998-047A 25429 13 AUGUST 1998
DR. JIM THIEMAN
FOR
DR. JOSEPH H. KING, DIRECTOR, WDC-A-R&S.
[PH: (301) 286 7355.
E-MAIL: KING@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV
13 AUGUST 1998, 16:30 UT]
Dr. Edwin V. Bell, II
_/ _/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ Mail Code 633
_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ NASA Goddard Space
_/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ Flight Center
_/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ Greenbelt, MD 20771
_/ _/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ +1-301-286-1187
ed.bell@gsfc.nasa.gov
NSSDC home page: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: 12 августа премьер российского правительства Сергей Кириенко посетил
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12 августа премьер российского правительства Сергей Кириенко посетил
ОАО "Пермские моторы"
Во время однодневного пребывания в Перми глава российского
правительства посетил ОАО "Пермские моторы" - ведущего российского
производителя двигателей для авиационной и космической техники. Сергей
Кириенко отметил, что это предприятие "является характерным примером того,
как
может развиваться российская промышленность". Глава правительства сказал,
что
"еще год назад у "Пермских моторов" не было перспектив, однако сейчас уже
виден
"свет в конце тоннеля".
Однако премьер-министра на предприятии встретила тишина в цехах.
Персонал рабочих и специалистов находится в вынужденных отпусках,
оплачиваемых только на две трети тарифной ставки. Пойти на эту крайнюю меру
заставила крупная задолженность партнеров за произведенную продукцию, отказ
от
оплаты по условиям контрактов. 40 млн. рублей не уплатило Министерство
обороны
РФ. Приостановил платежи "Газпром", уже 2 месяца не финансируется его
программа строительства газотурбинных установок для перекачивающих станций.
Задолженность "Пермских моторов" по состоянию на 1 января этого года
составила 700,4 млн. рублей.
14.8.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Продолжается работа Талгата Мусабаева и Hиколая Бударина на борту...
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Вот, свалилось из Internet...
Продолжается работа Талгата Мусабаева и Hиколая Бударина на борту
комплекса "Мир"
Продолжается работа российских космонавтов Талгата Мусабаева и Hиколая
Бударина на борту орбитального комплекса "Мир". По сообщению Центра
управления полетами, сегодня они проведут физические тренировки с
использованием пневмовакуумного костюма "Чибис", имитирующем земное
тяготение. Запланированы также подготовка к предстоящим экспериментам
технологической аппаратуры, профилактические работы с оборудованием системы
электролиза воды "Электрон".
По докладу экипажа полет проходит нормально.
14.8.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Экипаж "Союза ТМ-28" начал подготовку к завтрашней стыковке с...
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Экипаж "Союза ТМ-28" начал подготовку к завтрашней стыковке с
комплексом "Мир"
Продолжается полет космического корабля "Союз ТМ-28" с космонавтами
Геннадием Падалкой, Сергеем Авдеевым и Юрием Батуриным на борту.
После проведенной вчера коррекции траектории движения параметры орбиты
состовляют:
- наклонение орбиты - 51,6 град., - период обращения - 88,9 мин., -
минимальное расстояние до поверхности Земли (в перигее) - 220 км, -
максимальное расстояние до поверхности Земли (в апогее) - 273 км.
Сегодня космонавты будут готовиться к стыковке с орбитальным комплексом
"Мир", которая должна произойти завтра в 14 часов 58 минут по московскому
времени.
По докладу экипажа полет проходит нормально.
14.8.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Завтра заканчивается сбор имен землян, пожелавших "отправиться" в...
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Завтра заканчивается сбор имен землян, пожелавших "отправиться" в
космос на борту межпланетного зонда "Stardust"
Продолжается подготовка к старту американского межпланетного зонда
"Stardust", который 6 февраля 1999 года отправится на встречу с кометой
Wild-2.
Завтра заканчивается сбор имен землян, пожелавших "отправиться" в космос на
борту станции. Hа двух микрочипах уже выгравированы имена почти 1 миллина
100
тысяч человек из всех стран мира. Организаторы этой акции считают, что в
последний день еще не менее 30 тысяч человек выразят желание быть
увековеченными в космической летописи.
По идее организаторов, после возвращения в 2006 году зонда на Землю
микрочипы будут помещены в музей.
14.8.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
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=SANA=
Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Военно-воздушные силы США приступили к расследованию причин...
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Военно-воздушные силы США приступили к расследованию причин
позавчерашней катастрофы ракеты-носителя "Titan-4A"
Военно-воздушные силы США приступили к расследованию причин
катастрофы ракеты-носителя "Titan-4A", происшедшей 12 августа при пуске
ракеты
с космодрома на мысе Канаверал. Создана специальная комиссия, которую
возглавляет генерал RobertHinson, бывший командующий 45-м космическим
крылом, базирующемся на авиабазе Патрик на мысе Канаверал.
Место падения обломков ракеты-носителя и спутника объявлено закрытой
зоной и патрулируется судами береговой охраны США и вертолетами. Делается
это
для того, чтобы не допустить попадание сверсекретного полезного груза "в
недружественные руки". Эксперты попытаются поднять обломки со дна океана
для
последующего анализа.
Часть обломков, находившихся на океанской поверхности, уже подняты на
борт судна "Liberty Star", которое используется для транспортировки на
космодром
на мысе Канаверал твердотопливных ускорителей для кораблей многоразового
использования.
14.8.98 Источник: InfoArt News Agency
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Вчера экипаж корабля "Союз ТМ-28" прибыл на борт комплекса "Мир"
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Вчера экипаж корабля "Союз ТМ-28" прибыл на борт комплекса "Мир"
15 августа в 14 часов 56 минут по московскому времени осуществлена
стыковка космического корабля "Союз ТМ-28" и орбитального комплекса "Мир".
Процесс сближения осуществлялся в автоматическом режиме, но за минуту до
стыковки управление взял на себя командир "Союза ТМ-28" Геннадий Падалка и
осуществил стыковку вручную.
В 16 часов 29 минут, проверив герметичность стыковочного узла,
космонавты
открыли люк между кораблем и станцией, и перешли на борт комплекса.
Совеместная работа пяти российских космонавтов на борту комплекса
продлится 10 дней. Затем 25 августа Талгат Мусабаев, Hиколай Бударин и Юрий
Батурин возвратятся на Землю на борту корабля "Союз ТМ-27".
16.8.98 Источник: InfoArt News Agency
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: SpaceViews Update - August 1998
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S P A C E V I E W S U P D A T E
1998 August 15
http://www.spaceviews.com/1998/0815/
*** Top Stories ***
Titan 4 Explodes After Launch
SOHO Spacecraft Condition Improves
More Delays for the International Space Station?
Soyuz Launches Mir Relief Crew
*** Technology ***
Possible Antenna Problem with Mars Global Surveyor
Japanese Docking Experiment Malfunctions
Eight ORBCOMM Satellites Launched
Boeing, Air Force Test Space Maneuver Vehicle
*** Policy ***
Senate Approves Commercial Space Act
SEC Files Action Against SpaceDev
Government Suspends Sea Launch
*** Science ***
New Studies Cast Doubt on Mars Life Claims
Two Earth-Crossing Asteroids Discovered
*** CyberSpace ***
CyberSpace Reviews
CD-ROM Review: "Russians in Space"
*** Space Capsules ***
SpaceViews Event Horizon
Other News
Editor's Note: We Will be switching over to a new mail list service later
this month, so that we can better meet the needs of our growing number of
subscribers. Because of this, you may have problems trying to unsubscribe
or resubscribe in the next couple weeks. If you have any problems, please
contact me at jeff@spaceviews.com.
Our next issue will be published on September 1.
Regards,
Jeff Foust
Editor, SpaceViews
*** Top Stories ***
Titan 4 Explodes After Launch
An Air Force Titan 4A booster exploded less than a minute
after liftoff early Wednesday, August 12, scattering debris into the
Atlantic Ocean off the coast from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The booster, carrying a classified military payload, exploded
42 seconds after its 7:30 am EDT (1130 UT) launch. Debris from the
explosion fell into the Atlantic Ocean. No injuries or damage were
reported.
According to the Air Force, the Titan 4A began to
self-destruct 42 seconds into the flight. Range safety officers,
charged with preventing the rocket from going off course and
threatening lives and property, destroyed the rocket two seconds
later.
The force of the explosion was powerful enough to set off car
alarms in the city of Cocoa Beach, well south of the Cape Canaveral
launch site, the Associated Press reported.
A toxic cloud of fumes from the Titan 4's propellant did form,
but drifted northeast away from land and dissipated, Florida Today
reported. There was no danger to anyone from the cloud.
The launch had been delayed by 90 minutes because of fueling
problems.
While classified, analysts believe the booster was carrying a
signals intelligence satellites valued at up to $1 billion. The
satellite, which would have gone into a geosynchronous orbit, would
have been capable of intercepting radio and other communications. It
was similar to existing signals inteligence satellites.
The Titan 4 explosion is the first for that rocket since a
launch explosion 5 years ago at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
The explosion is the first launch accident at Cape Canaveral since a
Delta 2 exploded just a few seconds after launch in January 1997.
That explosion caused damage to the launch site and nearby buildings,
but no injuries.
The launch was the last Titan 4A launch planned. The Air
Force will be using the upgraded Titan 4B, a more powerful booster,
for future missions. The Titan 4B entered service last year and was
used to launch the Cassini mission to Saturn last October.
SOHO Spacecraft Condition Improves
The health of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)
spacecraft, which was out of contact with ground controllers for six
weeks, continues to improve, the European Space Agency reported
Tuesday, August 11.
Engineers received the first on-board telemetry from SOHO over
the weekend, ESA reported, and were able to send SOHO commands
directing the spacecraft to transfer power generated by its solar
cells to its batteries.
"This is the best news I've heard since we lost contact with
SOHO on 25 June," said Roger Bonnet, ESA science director. "I never
gave up hope of some recovery of this fantastic mission. We should
just hope that the damage sustained by SOHO's enforced period of deep
freeze does not affect the scientific payload too much."
Ground controllers first detected signals from SOHO on August
3, the first time the spacecraft was heard from since it went out of
contact late June 24. No telemetry was included with those signals,
but contact with SOHO over the weekend included information on the
voltages and temperatures of the instruments onboard the spacecraft.
"I am truly satisfied with the information the data we
acquired gives us," said Francis Vanderbussche, in charge of the SOHO
recovery team. "Conditions on-board are as good as we expected them to
be".
Ground controllers instructed SOHO to fully charge its onboard
batteries, so it can begin to thaw out its supply of hydrazine fuel
used for attitude control. Once thawed, engineers hope to be able to
stabilize the slowly-spinning spacecraft. They expect the batteries
to be fully charged later this week.
NASA's Deep Space Network has declared a "Spacecraft
Emergency", giving 24-hours-a-day coverage of SOHO over other
missions, so engineers can continue to monitor SOHO's status.
Contact was lost with SOHO on the evening of June 24. A
preliminary investigation indicates that a combination of errors in
preprogrammed ground sequences sent to SOHO, combined with the
decision by ground controllers to send a command to the spacecraft
after receiving "unexpected" telemetry readings.
SOHO is a joint ESA/NASA mission to study the Sun from the
Earth-Sun L1 Lagrange point, 1.5 million kilometers (900,000 miles)
Sunward of the Earth. It was launched in December 1995 and completed
its nominal two-year mission in April of this year.
More Delays for the International Space Station?
While NASA Administrator Dan Goldin told members of the House
Science Committee Wednesday, August 5, that the International Space
Station was on track for its first launches this fall, sources within
the space agency indicate that the station may be delayed yet again,
for up to six months.
Acknowledging Russian funding shortfalls, Goldin said plans
were underway to modify the shuttle's maneuvering thrusters to allow
it reboost the station, a task originally planned for Russian
spacecraft, while a Clinton Administration budget official said
non-station shuttle flights might be cancelled to cover station cost
overruns.
A number of reports, including public Internet postings from
people at or with contacts at NASA, have claimed that internal NASA
schedules have pushed back the launch of the first station elements to
April 1999, with the service module pushed back from April to
September or October of 1999.
While Goldin made no mention of planned delays in the launch
schedule in Congressional testimony, he did mention the possibility of
future delays. Noting the problems the Russian Space Agency (RSA) has
had getting money from the Russian government, he said, "NASA is
concerned that the shortfall in funding available to RSA places the
scheduled April 1999 launch date of the Russian Service Module at some
risk."
If true, it would be yet another delay for the station, whose
first elements were originally planned for launch last fall. Those
launches were delayed first to this summer, then to this November and
December, because of problems with the Russian Service Module.
According to Goldin, the first station elements are ready for
launch as currently scheduled. A Russian Proton booster is set to
launch the Zarya ("Sunrise") control module in November, followed by a
December launch of shuttle mission STS-88 to deliver the Unity docking
node.
Goldin acknowledged other problems with the Russian space
program, including that production of Soyuz and Progress spacecraft
"has virtually ceased" because of a lack of parts. Soyuz spacecraft
are scheduled to deliver some crews to the station and serve as a
lifeboat in the event of an emergency on the station, while unmanned
Progress vehicles would deliver supplies.
The Progress vehicles would also periodically reboost the
station, whose orbit would be gradually lowered by drag from the
tenuous atmosphere is passed through. Goldin said plans are underway
to modify the shuttles' maneuvering thrusters to reboost the station,
reducing the need for Progress spacecraft.
Jacob Lew, the new director of the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB), told committee members that the Clinton Administration
would first seek to cover space station cost overruns from other
sections of the NASA budget related to human space flight, rather than
other science and research programs. "We will look for offsets first
from within the $6 billion spent annually in the Human Space Flight
account, as long as they do not compromise Shuttle safety," Lew said.
Such a decision would imply that shuttle flights unrelated to
the station could be cancelled. While most shuttle launches during
the ISS assembly period are dedicated to the station, a small number
-- mostly involving the orbiter Columbia, which is too heavy to loft
space station components -- will be dedicated to microgravity, remote
sensing, and other missions, including reservicing visits to the
Hubble Space Telescope.
Member of the committee were skeptical such a plan could work.
"I don't believe you can get the money you need by canceling shuttle
flights or continuing to raid the shuttle budget," Rep. Dave Weldon
(R-FL) said.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) was more blunt. "After hearing
your review of these costs, I wonder what planet you've been on."
Soyuz Launches Mir Relief Crew
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying a replacement crew for the
Mir space station, as well as a visiting former bureaucrat, lifted off
early Thursday, August 13.
Soyuz TM-28 lifted off at 5:43 am EDT (0943 UT) from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The launch proceeded normally and
the Soyuz is scheduled to dock with Mir on Saturday, August 15. An
unmanned Progress cargo spacecraft undocked with Mir on August 12 to
allow the Soyuz to dock with Mir.
On board the Soyuz are two cosmonauts, commander Gennady
Padalka and engineer Sergei Avdeyev, who will relieve the current Mir
crew of Talgat Musabayev and Nikolai Budarin, who have been on Mir for
six months.
Also on board is Nikolai Baturin, a former aide to Russian
president Boris Yeltsin. Baturin was originally named to the crew to
report on the status of Mir to Yeltsin, but since being removed from
his post earlier this year his post-mission plans are uncertain.
Baturin will return to Earth with Musabayev and Budarin in
Soyuz TM-27, the Soyuz craft currently docked with Mir, after spending
12 days in space.
The launch of TM-28 was scheduled for August 3, but was
delayed by ten days last month when power and water were shut down to
the Baikonur launch site. Unpaid bills, caused by a lack of funding
from the Russian government, caused the utility shutdown. This launch
was funded by credit extended from a Russian bank.
Padalka and Avdeyev will be the next-to-last crew to fly Mir.
A relief crew, likely to include one Russian cosmonaut and French and
Slovak guest cosmonauts, will fly to the station in early 1999. One
or more members of that crew will stay on Mir until mid-1999, when the
station is abandoned and reenters the Earth's atmosphere.
*** Technology ***
Possible Antenna Problem with Mars Global Surveyor
A potential problem with the extension mechanism of the
high-gain antenna on Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) may delay its
deployment next year by up to nine months, impacting the science data
returned by the spacecraft, NASA reported Monday, August 10.
Engineers believe air bubbles may have formed in viscous fluid
in a damper that is used to cushion a spring used to deploy the
antenna, located at the end of a two-meter (6.6-foot) boom. The
bubbles would keep the damper from working properly, pushing the boom
out at high speed before the damper would have any effect. Such a
deployment could damage or disable the antenna.
"To the best of our knowledge, we could deploy the antenna
boom without any adverse effect," said MGS project manager Glenn
Cunningham. "However, the forces that the damper and boom would be
subjected to as a result of the bubble formation are close enough to
the maximum force that they are designed to withstand that we want to
take a cautious approach in evaluating the deployment."
The antenna is in use now, folded up on the side of the
spacecraft. The spacecraft must be turned in order for the antenna to
send and receive data, interrupting science observations.
Engineers plan to deploy the antenna boom in March 1999, when
the spacecraft entered its final orbit after aerobraking. The
deployed boom will allow the spacecraft to maintain contact with Earth
while continuing observations of Mars.
MGS team members are now considering delaying the deployment
to after December 1999, when the Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2
land on Mars. Deep Space 2, a small "hitchhiker" payload on the
lander, will penetrate into the Martian surface and rely on MGS as its
only communication link with Earth.
If the antenna remains undeployed after March 1999, some
science data could not be returned because of the limited
communications with Earth. A NASA statement said an estimated 40
percent of the original data would be returned in the first 30 days of
observations from its final mapping orbit if the antenna remained
undeployed. That figure could be increased, though, through the use
of larger receiver antennae on Earth.
No decision on antenna deployment will be made before February
1999, Cunningham said. "We have not made any decisions yet, but we
want to take a conservative approach in order to protect the mission
as fully as possible," he said.
The problem is not the first for MGS. The aerobraking
procedure was delayed by damage to a hinge on one of its solar panels,
causing it to bend beyond its design limits during aerobraking passes
in the Martian upper atmosphere. The problem was corrected by slowing
down the aerobraking, delaying the insertion of MGS into its mapping
orbit by one year to March 1999.
Japanese Docking Experiment Malfunctions
The second experiment in automated rendezvous and docking
between two Japanese spacecraft failed Friday, August 7, and a second
attempt to bring the two spacecraft together failed a week later.
The two sections of the Engineering Test Satellite VII (ETS-7)
separated early Friday morning, August 7. The 2,540 kg (5,590 lbs.)
chaser satellite, named Hikoboshi, moved 525 meters (1,730 feet) from
the 410 kg (900 lbs.) target satellite, named Orihime. The two
spacecraft then moved back together to redock.
However, the two spacecraft apparently became misaligned as
they attempted to redock, and one of them entered a safe mode,
aborting the docking. An attempt to redock the spacecraft later in
the day was foiled when Hikoboshi lost high-speed communications
contact temporarily.
A second attempt to redock the two spacecraft took place
Thursday, August 13, but again failed. A large attitude error in the
chaser spacecraft, caused by the inproper operation of the jet
thrusters on the spacecraft, was blamed for the failure, Japanese
engineers said.
Engineers originally said the smaller Orihime satellite had
only enough power to last 72 hours while undocked from Hikoboshi.
Hikoboshi provides power to both satellites while docked. However,
both spacecraft seem to have enough power to continue redocking after
being separated over a week.
The two spacecraft successfully undocked and redocked in July,
after separating by a distance of 2 meters (6.6 feet). Future
experiments planned to redock the two spacecraft from separations as
large as 9 kilometers (5.6 miles).
The spacecraft, launched last November, is designed to test
automated docking procedures for future use on the International Space
Station. The names of the two ETS-7 spacecraft come from an old
Japanese tale, where the princess Orihime and her lover Hikoboshi were
allowed to meet only once a year.
Eight ORBCOMM Satellites Launched
A Pegasus XL booster launched eight ORBCOMM communications
satellites into low-Earth orbit Sunday, August 2, bringing the global
messaging service system more than halfway to completion.
The Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) Pegasus XL was dropped
from its L-1011 carrier aircraft at 12:24pm EDT (1624 UT) August 2,
while flying over the Atlantic Ocean east of Wallops Island, Virginia.
OSC reported August 3 that all eight satellites launched by the
Pegasus appeared to be operating normally.
The satellites, placed in an orbit 825 kilometers (510 miles)
above the Earth at an inclination of 45 degrees, join twelve others
previously launched. The new satellites will undergo several months
of tests before going into commercial service, OSC said.
Each satellite in the system weights about 40 kg (90 lbs.) and
has an eight-year lifetime. When completed, the 36-satellite
constellation will provide a low-cost system for sending short
messages worldwide. The addition of the eight satellites will
increase the total availability of the current system from 9 to 17
hours a day.
The next group of eight ORBCOMM satellites will complete
factory testing over the next several weeks. They are scheduled for
launch on a Pegasus XL off the West Coast in September.
Boeing, Air Force Test Space Maneuver Vehicle
The U.S. Air Force and Boeing conducted the first flight test
August 11 in New Mexico of the X-40A, a prototype of a future reusable
Space Maneuver Vehicle.
The X-40A was dropped from a helicopter at an altitude of
2,700 meters (9,000 feet). A parachute deployed to stabilize the
vehicle, and was jettisoned once the vehicle was in stable flight.
The X-40A then glided to a runway landing using satellite navigation.
"I am very pleased with the results of this flight test," said
John Fuller, Boeing project manager. "We wanted to validate low-speed
handling qualities and demonstrate autonomous approach and landing
capability. We did that today."
The X-40A is a scale model of the Space Maneuver Vehicle
(SMV), a proposed reusable spacecraft that would deliver satellite
payloads, perform on-orbit reconnaissance, and other duties. With a
wingspan of 3.6 meters (12 feet) and a fuselage length of 6.7 meters
(22 feet), the X-40A is 90 percent the size of the SMV.
The SMV would be launched into orbit on another rocket, and
could stay in orbit for up to a year to perform its tasks. It's
designed to then return to Earth, where it could be serviced and
launched again within 72 hours.
Future tests will more fully explore how the X-40A and SMV
would fly in the air and in space. "Our next step will be to
demonstrate the vehicle's capabilities, both in the atmosphere and
space," Fuller said.
*** Policy ***
Senate Approves Commercial Space Act
The U.S. Senate approved late Thursday, July 30, legislation
that would open new opportunities for commercial launch firms in the
United States.
The Commercial Space Act, H.R. 1702, was approved by unanimous
consent by the Senate. The bill allows the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) to license the launch and landing of reusable
launch vehicles. Currently the FAA is limited to issuing launch
licenses.
The bill also mandates the use of commercial launch services
for most government payloads, the purchase of space science data from
private companies, a study on the commercialization of the
International Space Station, and improved licensing regulations for
remote sensing satellites.
The ability to issue launch and reentry licenses was seen by
many analysts as the key section of the bill. With new reusable
launch vehicles being developed by private industry, such regulation
is critical to permit them to be launched from the United States.
In one case, Kistler Aerospace, developer of the K-1 reusable
launch vehicle, has planned to launch from Australia instead of the
United States, thanks to a regulatory environment more conducive to
commercial space ventures. Other launch firms have also considered
offshore launch sites.
"Can you imagine the Wright Brothers flight at Kitty Hawk ever
being made if the government told them, `Sure you can fly it, just
don't land,'" said Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL), one of the leading supports
of the legislation. "The way the law presently exists, commercial
companies can launch but cannot land any vehicle returning from space.
Only the U.S. government is allowed this privilege."
"This is good news for America's commercial space
transportation industry, and for the long-term economic and national
security of this nation," said Charles Miller, president of ProSpace,
a grassroots lobbying group that supported H.R. 1702. "We have been
fighting for this legislation for 4 years, and the U.S. Senate was the
last major hurdle."
The bill was introduced in the House last year, and was
approved there in November. The bill moved over to the Senate side,
where it was approved by the Commerce Committee in March. A
conference committee will now iron out the differences between the
House and Senate versions.
"I expect the House/Senate conference will be concluded
quickly this September, and that the President will sign it into law
this Fall," Miller said.
SEC Files Action Against SpaceDev
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced
Thursday, August 6, that it was requesting action against SpaceDev,
Inc., claiming the private space exploration company made "false and
misleading" statements to the public.
SpaceDev, however, denied any wrongdoing and planned to
"vigorously contest" the planned SEC action.
The SEC, in a request for a public hearing with an
administrative law judge, said the publicly-traded company made a
number of fraudulent statements, including claiming projected revenues
of $10 million and earnings of $2 million in 1998, without noting that
those numbers required NASA approval of specific projects.
The SEC also said the company erroneously claimed it had a
deal with NASA for the use of the space agency's Deep Space Network to
communicate with SpaceDev's Near Earth Asteroid Prospector (NEAP)
spacecraft, scheduled for launch in 2000.
Such administrative hearings usually take place within 60
days, Don Hurl, an official with the SEC's Denver office, told
SpaceViews, although legal maneuvering can often delay the hearing.
No penalties would result from the hearing, Hurl said, as the SEC was
only seeking a cease-and-desist order to keep SpaceDev from making
claims that are not "accurate and complete."
Of the about four hundred cases a year the SEC handles, Hurl
said, a "good number" involve false statements like the SEC's action
against SpaceDev.
Dan Shea, director of the SEC's Denver office, told the
Associated Press that few investors were involved with SpaceDev.
"Some people invested in this, but we caught it very quickly," he
said.
The SEC declined to said how it became aware of SpaceDev's
claims, but Hurl told SpaceViews that the SEC generally gets its
information from a wide range of sources, including press releases and
information posted on the Internet.
In a statement issued Friday, August 7, SpaceDev claimed no
wrongdoing and planned to fight the SEC. "While the Company disagrees
with the views expressed by the SEC in its Order Instituting
Proceedings, the Company had attempted to resolve the issues raised by
the SEC through a settlement," the statement read. "The Company now
intends to vigorously contest the SEC's allegations."
SpaceDev president and founder Jim Benson told SpaceViews that
the SEC's action was comparable to "shooting at ants with an elephant
gun." He said he was confident that the SEC's case would be
dismissed.
"This is a legitimate, hardworking business," Benson told the
Associated Press. "This is a serious effort and it's being taken
seriously by the scientific community."
SpaceDev is traded on the over-the-counter bulletin board
(OTCBB) under symbol SPDV. As of late Wednesday afternoon, August 12,
the stock was trading at 1.562, off about 0.25 from its August 7
close.
Government Suspends Sea Launch
The U.S. State Department has suspended Boeing's license to
work with Russian and Ukrainian engineers on the Sea Launch project,
effectively bringing the project to a halt just months before its
first launch, the Washington Post reported Saturday, August 8.
The suspension, which was issued July 27 but not publicly
announced, was issued because of lax security Boeing had in its
communications between American and Russian and Ukrainian engineers.
The Post reported that a government official said the
suspension would be lifted once the government's security concerns are
met. Russian and Ukrainian engineers working at Sea Launch's offices
in Long Beach, California, have left for home in the last few days
because of the suspension.
The suspension comes at a time when American dealings with
foreign companies has come under intense scrutiny, stemming from
reports that Chinese officials obtained restricted technical
information from an American company in the aftermath of a 1996
explosion of a Chinese booster carrying an American satellite.
The Post article said Boeing officials were ill-prepared to
deal with the restrictions required by the State Department on
communications with Russian and Ukrainian engineers. Boeing might not
have been aware of some of the regulations, one industry executive
told the Post.
A Boeing spokesman said the problems existed from the
inception of the project in 1995 through early 1997, when the company
brought in additional experts to deal with the flow of technical
information.
The Sea Launch project is a multinational venture headed up by
Boeing to launch payloads from a portable launch site in the ocean.
The Ukrainian company KB Yuzhnoye/PO Yuzhmash provides the Zenit
booster and Russia's RSC Energia provides an upper stage for the
Zenit. Norway's Kvaerner Maritime built the command ship and launch
platform, a converted oil-drilling rig. Boeing serves as the "system
integrator" for the project.
Sea Launch was slated to launch its first booster late this
year. The launch will take place in on the Equator in the Pacific,
south of Hawaii. Launches from the Equator get the maximum push from
the Earth's rotation, requiring less energy from the booster to reach
orbit.
*** Science ***
New Studies Cast Doubt on Mars Life Claims
Several independent new studies published this week have added
their voices to the growing doubts that a Martian meteorite contains
evidence of past Martian life.
The work, much of it published in the current issue of the
journal Meteoritics and Planetary Sciences, attacks the two-year-old
claims of Martian life in meteorite ALH 84001 on several fronts, from
the temperature of formation of the meteorite to the shapes of the
"nanofossils" seen within it.
Researchers at the University of Hawaii reported that studies
of carbonate crystals seen in the meteorite show the carbonates formed
at high temperatures, not low ones as required for them to be a
product of biological processes.
Studies of various carbonate crystals under electron and
optical microscopes show the disk-shaped carbonates were squeezed in
and completely enclosed by rock. This is consistent with their
formation from a hot liquid that passed through fissured in the rock,
and not with percolation of a low-temperature liquid through the rock.
Another group at the University of Arkansas studied a number
of Martian and lunar meteorites under a scanning microscope. They
found a number of structures in the lunar meteorites that were
indistinguishable from features claimed to be "nanofossils" in ALH
84001. Since the Moon has likely been inhospitable to life throughout
its history, it casts doubt on claims that the Martian features as
fossils of tiny bacteria.
Meanwhile, in a paper published in the August 14 issue of
Science, a team at the University of Massachusetts has found that a
chemical reaction used to explain the existence of microbes deep under
the Earth and possible on Mars is not feasible.
Scientists had believed that the formation of hydrogen gas in
basalt deep underground could support microbes. However, the
Massachusetts group found that hydrogen is not formed under those
conditions, depriving microbes of a key energy source.
The studies are some of many recent assaults on the claim,
first announced in August 1996, that ALH 84001 contains evidence of
Mars life. While the original team of scientists from NASA's Johnson
Space Center and Stanford University continue to believe their claims,
an increasing number of scientists are voicing their doubts.
"The evidence against life in the Martian meteorite has been
steadily accumulating during the past year," said Ed Scott of the
Hawaii Institute of of Geophysics and Planetology.
John Bradley, an adjunct professor at Georgia Tech who
published a separate paper arguing against life in ALH84001 last
month, was more blunt. "I do not know of a single other individual
who believes it at this point," he said.
Still, the announcement, even if incorrect, has focused the
attention of the planetary science community on the possibilities of
Martian life, and raised awareness in the nascent field of
astrobiology. "More scientists than ever before are studying Martian
meteorites for clues to past conditions on Mars," said Scott.
The reports are also coming out as the founding convention of
the Mars Society takes place in Boulder, Colorado. Everett Gibson, a
member of the NASA/JSC team that first announced evidence of past life
in the meteorite, was scheduled to speak at the conference.
Two Earth-Crossing Asteroids Discovered
A JPL telescope project designed to search for near-Earth
objects has discovered two asteroids whose orbits cross that of the
Earth, but astronomers emphasized that these asteroids pose no threat
to the planet for at least several decades.
The two asteroids, designed 1998 OH and 198 OR2, are notable
because of their size. Each is estimated to be 1-3 km (0.6-1.8 mi.)
in diameter, enough to cause serious global effects if one struck the
Earth. They join about 125 other "potentially hazardous objects",
sizable asteroids whose orbits take them near the Earth.
Neither asteroid is expected to pose any threat to Earth for
the foreseeable future, although follow-up observations will be made
to accurately determine their orbits. With current data, they know
that one of the asteroids, 1998 OH, can come no closer than 5 million
kilometers (3 million miles) to the Earth.
The asteroids were discovered using the Near Earth Asteroid
Tracking (NEAT) telescope, an automated 1-meter (39-inch) telescope
located on the summit of Haleakala, the tallest mountain on the
Hawaiian island of Maui.
"Our goal is to discover and track all the potentially
dangerous asteroids and comets long before they are likely to approach
Earth," said NEAT Principal Investigator Eleanor Helin, a JPL
astronomer. "The discovery of these two asteroids illustrates how NEAT
is doing precisely what it is supposed to do."
The discovery came after the NEAT telescope was upgraded last
month. "Our upgraded equipment has speeded up the data processing
allowing us to analyze up to 40 gigabytes of data each night,
equivalent to 1,200 images of the sky," said project manager Steven
Pravdo. "This shows that our efforts to find near-Earth objects are
paying off."
*** CyberSpace ***
The Mars Society
The Mars Society is a new organization dedicated to the exploration
and eventual settlement of Mars, through public outreach, support of
government-funded exploration, and future private exploration. The
organization's Web site features information on the upcoming founding
convention of the society, taking place in August in Boulder,
Colorado. There's also an online e-zine, "New Mars", and bulletins on
related topics, including efforts to get more funding for future Mars
missions.
http://www.marssociety.org/
Science@NASA
As you might expect, the research performed by NASA scientists spans a
wide range of fields. Science@NASA, a Web site by the Marshall Space
Flight Center (the same people who have provided previous winners on
space weather and microgravity), showcases some current science
research, from space science to materials science to Earth
observations. The creators of this site have done a great job
explaining current research in an interactive and interesting format,
so that a visitor doesn't need much background to understand the work
presented here and why it is important.
http://science.nasa.gov/
go-Ariane
If you're looking for information on European space activities, from
ESA to private aerospace firms, check out go-Ariane. This site has
updated news on ESA, Ariane launches, and related topics, schedules of
upcoming launches, historical and technical information, and more.
Go-Ariane is one of the leading online resources for European space
information.
http://www.go-ariane.com/
SETI@home
Interested in contributing to the search for extraterrestrial
intelligence (SETI)? If you have a PC, consider contributing to
SETI@home, a project to help reduce the massive amounts of data
collected by SETI observing projects. A screensaver, running at your
computer while you're not using it, will help analyze sections of data
collected. The software is in the final stages of development, so be
sure to check out the Web site for more information about the project
and sign up to receive further information as the project gets
underway.
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/
CD-ROM Review: "Russians in Space" by The Ultimax Group
by Jeff Foust
CD-ROMs with information about the American space program are
relatively plentiful, but those with information about Soviet and
Russian efforts are much more difficult to find. "Russians in Space",
a Russian CD-ROM translated into English for sale in the United
States, helps fill this gap with a multimedia exploration of Russian
and Soviet space history.
The CD-ROM is divided into four sections: people, programs,
technology, and basics. Each sections includes useful written content
in addition to photos and videos. It's the photos and videos that
really make this CD-ROM, as they provide imagery not readily available
elsewhere for the average space enthusiast, from the launch of an
Energia-Buran to a map of the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.
The content seems a little hit-and-miss, though: the
cosmonauts section includes information on Gagarin and Tereshkova but
not Leonov or any of the modern Mir cosmonauts. Some of the section
descriptions seem to have suffered a little in the translation from
Russian: the "Personalia" (people) section includes section titles
"Those Who Made Rockets Fly" and "They Taught Rockets to Fly". The
former is about rocket designers and the latter about cosmonauts,
although it's not readily obvious.
Overall, "Russians in Space" is a good overview of the history
of Russian space efforts. The collection of photos, videos, and other
information will make this a useful resource for those seeking to
learn more about Russian space programs.
"Russians in Space" is a hybrid PC/Mac CD-ROM. It can run on
PCs with Windows 3.1, 95/98, and NT and requires a 386SX or faster
processor, 4MB RAM (8MB recommended), a 2x or faster CD-ROM drive,
SVGA graphic card (640x480 with 256 colors or better), and an
MPC-compliant sound card. It can run on Macs with System 7.0 or later
with a 68030 or faster processor, 4MB RAM (8MB recommended), a 2x or
faster CD-ROM, and at least a 256-color display. See
http://www.catalog.com/ultimax for more information. The cost is $29.95
plus shipping and handling, with 10% discounts for members of some
organizations, including the NSS and The Planetary Society.
*** Space Capsules ***
SpaceViews Event Horizon
August 13-16: Mars Society Founding Convention, Boulder, Colorado
August 15: Soyuz TM-28 docks with Mir
August 15: Deadline to submit names to be included on the
Stardust spacecraft
August 24: Delta 3 inaugural launch of the Galaxy 10 satellite
from Cape Canaveral, Florida
August 25: Ariane 4 launch of the ST-1 satellite from Kourou,
French Guiana
August 25: Proton launch of the Astra-2A satellite from Baikonur,
Kazakhstan
October 9-11: Space Frontier Foundation Conference, Los Angeles,
California
October 29: Launch of shuttle on mission STS-95 (John Glenn
flight)
Other News
NSS Demands Station Changes: As words leaks out of yet more delays in
the International Space Station project, the National Space Society is
calling for changes in how the project in managed. In a special
section of its Web site, the NSS laid out a five-part plan that calls
for a decision to remove or keep the Russians in the project,
commercialization of the station, and greater interest and involvement
by the Clinton Administration. More information and a petition are
available at http://www.nss.org/alerts/iss/home.html
Cerf Named JPL Visiting Scientist: A computer scientist that has
advocated the growth of the Internet throughout the solar system was
named as a Distinguished Visiting Scientist at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory Tuesday, August 4. Vint Cerf, a vice president at the
telecommunications giant MCI and co-developer of the TCP/IP protocol
used to convey Internet traffic, will work with JPL scientists and
engineers and other industry experts to develop new protocols for
handling communications among spacecraft. "It took 20 years for the
Internet to take-off here on Earth," he said. "It's my guess that in
the next 20 years, we will want to interact with systems and people
visiting the Moon, Mars and possibly other celestial bodies."
Stardust Passes One Million Names Mark: More that one million names
have been submitted to fly on the Stardust comet sample return
mission, the National Space Society reported Thursday, August 6. The
names will be etched onto one of two microchips that will be attached
to the Stardust spacecraft, scheduled for launch early next year. The
spacecraft will fly by the comet Wild-2, collecting samples of
cometary particles that will be returned to Earth in 2006. The
original signup effort garnered 136,000 signatures last fall. The
second microchip was added in a promotion with the NSS in the spring
in conjunction with the release of the Paramount and Dreamworks
Pictures movie Deep Impact. The deadline for adding names was August
15.
New Mars Meteorite Found: Scientists reported last month that they had
found a new Mars meteorite, the thirteenth such object found on Earth.
The meteorite, found in the Sahara Desert and owned by a private
collector, weights 2 kg (4.4 lbs.) and is thought to be a shergotite,
the most common class of Mars meteorites. The meteorite is the first
Martian once discovered since 1994 and the first discovered outside
Antarctica since 1962.
Canadian Space Telescope: The Canadian Space Agency is moving forward
with plans to build the world's smallest space telescope, the agency
announced August 5. The Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars
(MOST) project will feature a 50 kg (110 lbs.) satellite with an
telescope no bigger than a pie plate to measure rapid oscillations in
stars, providing clues to their interior structure and ages. The CSA
is providing C$4 million (US$2.6 million) for project, which includes
participants from Canada and the United States.
Media Watch: John Glenn is on the cover of the August 17 issue of Time
magazine. The cover asks if Glenn's upcoming flight is a "gimmick",
but concludes, "No, a timely reminder that we can still have
beroes."... The September issue of Discover magazine, just hitting
newsstands now, features a cover story on "What Should We Do With The
Moon?" The article goes over a wide range of possibilities, from
industry to tourism, and includes quotes from a wide range of people,
from NASA moon advocate Wendell Mendell to Artemis Society head Greg
Bennett... What does astronaut Cady Coleman have in common with Bill
Cosby, Boston Celtics head coach Rick Pitino, and CEOs of several
major corporations? All are graduates of the University of
Massachusetts and all promote their alma mater in a radio ad playing
on New England radio stations...
This has been the August 15, 1998, issue of SpaceViews Update.
SpaceViews Update is also available on the World Wide web from the
SpaceViews home page:
http://www.spaceviews.com/
or via anonymous FTP from ftp.seds.org:
/pub/info/newsletters/spaceviews/update/980815.txt
For editorial questions and article submissions for SpaceViews or
Spaceviews Update, contact the editor, Jeff Foust, at jeff@spaceviews.com/
For questions about the SpaceViews mailing list, please contact
spaceviews-approval@ari.net.
____ | "SpaceViews" (tm) -by Boston Chapter
// \ // | of the National Space Society (NSS)
// (O) // | Dedicated to the establishment
// \___// | of a spacefaring civilization.
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Попытка японских специалистов состыковать спутники "Hikoboshi"...
Привет всем!
Вот, свалилось из Internet...
Попытка японских специалистов состыковать спутники "Hikoboshi" и
"Orihime" 13 августа вновь закончилась неудачей
Специалисты японского космического агентства NASDA 13 августа
предприняли новую попытку состыковать спутники "Hikoboshi" и "Orihime" с 7
августа совершающие автономный полет.
7 августа было запланировано проведение эксперимента, в ходе которого
спутники, совершавшие до этого полет в "связке", должны были
расстыковаться, а
затем вновь состыковаться. Расстыковка прошла успешно, а вот попытка
сближения и повторной стыковки не удалась - спутник "Orihime" не воспринял
команду на сближение. Специалисты опасались столкновения спутников, поэтому
предпочли развести их на километровую дистанцию и детально изучить причины
неудачи.
13 августа было начато сближение спутников. Однако, когда они
находились на
расстоянии 145 метров друг от друга, стало понятно, что система сближения
спутников по-прежнему работает со сбоями и осуществить стыковку не удастся.
Чтобы избежать столкновения, процесс дальнейшего сближения был прекращен, а
спутники разведены на расстояние 1200 метров друг от друга.
Японские специалисты намерены детально проанализировать причины
последней неудачи и предпринять новую попытку стыковки после 18 августа.
17.8.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Вчера в городе Иука (штат Миссисипи) прошла церемония открытия нового
Привет всем!
Вот, свалилось из Internet...
Вчера в городе Иука (штат Миссисипи) прошла церемония открытия нового
завода космической техники
Вчера в городе Иука (штат Миссисипи) состоялась торжественная церемония
открытия нового завода компании Alliant Techsystems. В церемонии
участвовали
более 100 представителей руководства компании, местных властей, NASA и
компаний, имеющих партнерские отношения с Alliant Techsystems.
Hовый завод имеет более 10 тысяч квадратных метров производственных
площадей и позволит создать рабочие места для 100 человек. В его цехах
будет
организовано производство крупногабаритных элементов ракеты-носителя
"Delta-4", разрабатываемой компанией Boeing Corporation. Все элементы будут
затем направляться на сборочный завод в городе Декатур (штат Алабама) для
испытания и дальнейшего монтажа. Первая партия, в соответствии с контрактом
между Boeing Corporation и Alliant Techsystems, будет отправлена во втором
квартале 1999 года.
17.8.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: 16 августа назван состав комиссии по расследовании причин аварии
Привет всем!
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16 августа назван состав комиссии по расследовании причин аварии
ракеты-носителя "Titan-4A"
Командование ВВС США 16 августа назвала имена членов комиссии, которым
предстоит выяснить причины аварии ракеты-носителя "Titan-4A", происшедшей
12
августа.
Председателем комиссии назначен заместитель командующего ВВС генерал
Robert C.Hinson, его заместителем - полковник Daniel Dansro, членами
комиссии -
начальник службы безопасности работ 30-го космического крыла (базируется на
космодроме Ванденберг) полковник Alexander Carlisle, подполковник Mark
Dowhan,
майор Richard Johnson и капитан Lewonnie Belcher.
Комиссии предстоит выяснить причины аварии ракеты-носителя "Titan-4A",
во
время которой был потерян совершенно секретный груз Агентства национальной
безопасности США.
17.8.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: 15 августа NASA опубликовала новые снимки, сделанные межпланетной...
Привет всем!
Вот, свалилось из Internet...
15 августа NASA опубликовала новые снимки, сделанные межпланетной
станцией "Mars Global Surveyor"
15 августа NASA распространила новые снимки, полученные с борта
межпланетной станции "Mars Global Surveyor", совершающей полет по орбите
вокруг
Марса.
Снимки были сделаны 7, 8 и 10 августа и на них изображена северная
часть
области Tartarus Montes (центр в точке с координатами 27,92 градуса
северной
широты и 184,66 градусов западной долготы). Hа них изображен безымянный
кратер вулканического происхождения диаметром более 9 километров. Снимки
интересны тем, что съемка склонов кратера производилась в косых лучах
восходящего солнца, что позволяет хорошо рассмотреть многие детали рельефа.
Кратеры вулканического происхождения привлекают повышенное внимание
специалистов, так как полагают, что вблизи них есть шанс обнаружить воду.
17.8.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
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Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Обнаружена новая комета
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Обнаружена новая комета
Южноевропейская обсерватория Европейского космического агентства ESA
распространило снимки кометы C/1998 P1.
Эта комета была открыта 10 августа астрономом-любителем Peter Williams
из
города Хиаткот (близ Сиднея, Австралия). Hа следующий день комету наблюдали
астроном Hans Kjeldsen из Дании и Hermann Boehnhardt из Чили.
Комета была замечена в созвездии Компас и получила обозначение C/1998
P1. В реестре комет она имеет номер 6986. Пока комета находится на большом
расстоянии от Солнца и очень слаба. Ее яркость в 25 раз меньше, чем яркость
самой слабой из звезд, видных невооруженным взглядом. Точные элементы
орбиты
пока не определены.
В последнее время, после появления фильмов "Аммергедон" и "Глубокое
воздействие", открытие любой кометы или астероида вызывают повышенное
внимание широкой общественности. Комета C/1998 P1 не отнесена к категории
небесных тел, угрожающих Земле, но при приближении к Солнцу может стать
украшением звездного неба своими размерами.
17.8.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
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Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Ученые ошиблись, полагая, что "марсианский" метеорит в Антарктиде...
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Ученые ошиблись, полагая, что "марсианский" метеорит в Антарктиде
имеет признаки внеземной жизни
В журнале "Meteoritics and Planetary Science", издающемся в
Университете
штат Арканзас, опубликована серия статей, посвященная исследованию
"марсианских" метеоритов и, в частности, знаменитого метеорита Allan Hills
84001
из Антарктиды.
В одной из статей утверждается, что все "признаки жизни", обнаруженные
у
метеорита из Антарктиды, имеют место и в других метеоритах не марсианского
происхождения. Исследовались метеориты, попавшие на Землю с Луны и на них
обнаружены точно такие же окаменелости бактерий, как и на метеорите Allan
Hills
84001. Исследователи Университета штата Арканзас полагают, что при
прохождении плотных слоев атмосферы температура была настолько высока, что
никакие бактерии не смогли бы их выдержить, даже если бы находились на
поверхности метеоритов или внутри них.
В 1996 году пятнадцать исследователей сообщили, что в метеорите Allan
Hills
84001 обнаружены окаменелости бактерий, имеющие внеземное происхождение.
Однако чуть позже утверждения об этом перестали носить безаппеляционный
характер, а сейчас авторы сенсации предпочитают не поднимать этот вопрос
вовсе.
17.8.98 Источник: InfoArt News Agency
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Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Расследование причин аварии ракеты-носителя "Titan-4A" будет долгим...
Subject: Расследование причин аварии ракеты-носителя "Titan-4A" будет долгим...
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Расследование причин аварии ракеты-носителя "Titan-4A" будет долгим и
трудным
"Расследование причин аварии ракеты-носителя "Titan-4A", происшедшей 12
августа, будет долгим и трудным", - заявил генерал Robert Hinson,
возглавляющий
комиссию, которая должна изучить все обстоятельства катастрофы и выяснить
ее
причины.
Генерал также сообщил, что морская операция по обнаружению и подъему на
поверхность всех обломков ракеты и спутника, по своим масштабам, уступает
только аналогичной операции 1986 года по подъему останков космического
корабля "Challenger".
17.8.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
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Дата: 17 августа 1998 (1998-08-17)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Компания SpaceDev закупила патенты гибридных ракетных двигателей
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Компания SpaceDev закупила патенты гибридных ракетных двигателей
Американская частная компания SpaceDev, ставшая на минувшей неделе
объектом критики со стороны Комиссии по ценным бумагам США, объявила вчера
о
приобретении трех патентов гибритных ракетных двигателей у American Rocket
Company (Amroc). Кроме того, у Amroc закуплена техническая документация,
эскизные проекты, результаты испытаний и другие данные, связанные с
разработкой и производством гибридных ракетных двигателей.
Президент компании SpaceDev James Benson заявил: " Мы полагаем, что эта
технология могла бы быть полезна при решении разнообразных коммерческих
задач. Гибридная технология относительно проста, более безопасна и дешева
по
сравнению с другими типами двигателей. Она имеет множество рынков сбыта,
некоторые из которых могут быть полезны для SpaceDev".
В подписанном соглашении компании SpaceDev предоставлены
исключительные права на использование гибридных технологий по всему миру в
ближайшие пять лет. Если у SpaceDev дела будут развиваться успешно, то она
сможет продлить соглашение с Amroc еще на пять лет.
17.8.98 Источник: InfoArt News Agency
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