Дата: 06 октября 1998 (1998-10-06)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: В РКА состоялось заседание Контрольного межгосударственного совета
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В РКА состоялось заседание Контрольного межгосударственного совета
В Москве, в здании Российского космического агентства состоялось
заседание Контрольного межгосударственного совета (в состав КС входят
представители национальных космических агентств стран-участниц проекта
МКС. А именно: NASA, РКА, Европейское космическое агентство, космическое
агентство Японии, космическое агентство Канады), где были определены
окончательные даты стартов первых двух модулей международной космической
станции (МКС).
Определено, что старт российского носителя "Протон" с
функционально-грузовым блоком (ФГБ) "Заря" состоится на Байконуре 20
ноября
1998 г. Это значит, что до 7 октября должна быть осуществлена заправка
системы
терморегулирования "Зари" этиленгликолем и начаты необратимые
технологические операции.
Определено, что старт американского "шаттла" с блок-лабораторией
Node-1
на борту будет выведен на орбиту 3 декабря 1998 г., после чего пристыкован
к
"Заре".
Определено также, что служебный модуль (СМ), старт которого намечен
на
июль 1999 г. уйдет на космодром Байконур в феврале 1999 года. В настоящее
время он проходит испытания в РКК "Энергия".
5.10.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
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=SANA=
Дата: 06 октября 1998 (1998-10-06)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: В Звездном городке состоялась пресс-конференция директора ЕКА Йорга
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В Звездном городке состоялась пресс-конференция директора ЕКА Йорга
Фестель-Бюхля
В минувшую пятницу в подмосковном Звездном городке состоялась
пресс-конференция директора Европейского космического агентства (ЕКА) по
пилотируемым программам и микрогравитации Йорга Фестель-Бюхля. До
сведения общественности было доведено, что до конца 1998 года будет
завершено формирование европейского корпуса астронавтов, в который войдут
16 астронавтов из Франции, Германии, Италии, Швейцарии, Испании и
Швеции. В настоящее время определены 12 астронавтов, среди которых француз
Жан-Пьер Эньере, готовящийся к полету в составе
российско-франко-словацкого
экипажа на российскую орбитальную станцию "Мир" в феврале 1999 года.
По словам Фестель-Бюхля, решение о формировании отряда было принято
ЕКА с целью углубления сотрудничества с Россией, в частности в реализации
проекта МКС.
5.10.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
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=SANA=
Дата: 06 октября 1998 (1998-10-06)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Сводка событий на станции "Мир"
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Сводка событий на станции "Мир"
Центр управления полетами сообщает: экипаж орбитальной станции "Мир"
в составе командира Геннадия Падалки и бортинженера Сергея Авдеева
отработал на орбите 50 дней.
Завершившаяся неделя была насыщена техническими экспериментами. В
частности, проводились исследования особенностей гидродинамических
процессов в невесомости, определение параметров атмосферы в
непосредственной близости от орбитального комплекса, измерения
акустических
и электромагнитных полей в жилых отсеках станции и модулей.
В рамках программы геофизических исследований запланирована серия
экспериментов, включающих съемки и спектрометрирование земной суши,
водоемов, облачного покрова. Эти работы будут выполняться с использованием
установленных на внешней поверхности комплекса многоспектрального
стереосканера и инфракрасного локатора "Алиса".
По докладам экипажа и данным телеметрии, полет проходит нормально,
самочувствие космонавтов хорошее.
5.10.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
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=SANA=
Дата: 06 октября 1998 (1998-10-06)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Северная Корея готова запустить новый спутник
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Северная Корея готова запустить новый спутник
"Северная Корея повторит запуск многоступенчатого космического
носителя несмотря на протесты со стороны США, Японии и их союзников", -
говорится во вчерашнем номере северокорейской правительственной газете
"Minju Joson". В передовой статье газеты написано: "Мы предупреждаем, что
запустим еще один спутник, когда в этом будет необходимость, независимо от
того, что говорят другие".
Статью в северокорейской газете официально распространило агентство
ЦТАК. В статье указывается также, что запуск спутника не представляет
угрозы
для других стран и содержатся обвинения в адрес США и Японии, которые
"использовали запуск космического аппарата для развертывания работ по
созданию системы противоракетной обороны".
6.10.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
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=SANA=
Дата: 06 октября 1998 (1998-10-06)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: "Galileo" продолжает передачу на Землю снимков Европы
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"Galileo" продолжает передачу на Землю снимков Европы
Межпланетная станция "Galileo" продолжает передачу на Землю снимков
юпитерианского спутника Европа, полученные во время сближения 26 сентября
с.г. Подобно другим собранным данным, изображения будут считаны с
магнитных носителей, обработаны и в виде пакетов переданы на Землю.
Передача информации будет продолжаться в течение всей начавшейся недели.
Лишь 7 октября передача будет прервана для проведения регламентного
обслуживания двигательной установки станции.
6.10.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
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=SANA=
Дата: 06 октября 1998 (1998-10-06)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: 1 октября в США проведены стендовые испытания двигателя для
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1 октября в США проведены стендовые испытания двигателя для
перспективного космического аппарата Х-33
В Stennis Space Center (штат Миссисипи, США) 1 октября проведены
первые
стендовые испытания двигателя для перспективного космичского аппарата
многоразового использования, разработка которого в NASA проводится под
индексом Х-33. Основной целью проведенных испытаний явилась проверка
временных параметров срабатывания клапанов двигателя, регулирующих работу
главного газового генератора. Кроме того, проводилась калибровка
количества
жидкого кислорода, жидкого водорода и других компонент топлива,
поступающих в двигатель. По сообщению представителей NASA, испытания
прошли успешно. Их результаты будут сообщены после обработки.
Проведенное испытание явилось важной вехой в разработке Х-33.
Двигатель разработан и изготовлен компанией Lockheed Martin Skunk Works по
контракту с NASA. Позднее в этом году должны состояться полномасштабные
машинные испытания двигателя. В 1999 году двигатель будет установлен на
опытном образце Х-33 для проведения летных испытаний. В течение трех лет
должны быть осуществлены 12 испытательных полетов, которые дадут ответ на
вопрос о возможности ввода аппарата Х-33 в эксплуатацию.
6.10.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
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=SANA=
Дата: 06 октября 1998 (1998-10-06)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Генеральный директор INTELSAT хочет приватизировать свою компанию
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Генеральный директор INTELSAT хочет приватизировать свою компанию
Генерадьный директор INTELSAT Conny KULLMAN заявил, что видит
будущность возглавляемой им организации в ее полной приватизации. Чтобы
INTELSAT эффективно конкурировал на рынке космических
телекоммуникационных систем, необходимо сделать ее чисто коммерческой. Об
этом Conny KULLMAN сообщил на Телекоомуникационном Форуме,
организованном Международным Институтом связи и проходившем в
Вашингтоне со 2 по 4 октября. Первым шагом в этом направлении он назвал
создание новой независимой компании New Skies Satellite, которая в будущем
должна перенять все функции INTELSAT.
INTELSAT - международная организация телекоммуникационных систем,
объединяющая 136 стран. Ей принадлежит глобальная система спутниковой
связи, созданная на базе спутников типа "Intelsat".
6.10.98
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
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=SANA=
Дата: 06 октября 1998 (1998-10-06)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Astronomers May Have Got It Wrong About Neutron Stars (Forwarded)
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New Scientist
UK Contact:
Claire Bowles, claire.bowles@rbi.co.uk, 44 171 331 2751
US Contact:
Barbara Thurlow, newscidc@idt.net, (202) 452-1178
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: 30 SEPTEMBER 1998 at 2:00 p.m. EDT
Astronomers May Have Got It Wrong About Neutron Stars
PULSARS that only emit X-rays, once considered "anomalous", now officially
outnumber those that emit radio waves. This is leading astronomers to rethink
their ideas about what happens after a typical dying star explodes as a
supernova.
A supernova explosion occurs when a star runs out of nuclear fuel and shrinks
catastrophically under its own gravity. The result is a super-dense neutron
star about the size of Mount Everest. Current theories of how these stars
behave predict that they should all act as radio pulsars, sweeping a narrow
beam of radio waves around the sky like a lighthouse a hundred times a second.
So why didn't radio searches find more pulsars in supernova remnants?
"The trouble is that hardly more than 1 per cent of the 300-odd known young
supernova remnants contain associated radio pulsars," says Eric Gotthelf of
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center near Washington DC. But now the reason
they went missing is clear, Gotthelf says. Astronomers were looking in the
wrong part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
In the past few years, astronomers using the Japanese-American ASCA satellite
have found three "point-like" objects in the centres of supernova remnants
which are emitting pulses of X-rays. Now Gotthelf says that he has just picked
out three more of these "anomalous X-ray pulsars" (AXPs) in X-ray sources
observed by the satellite. Add these three to the list and anomalous pulsars
in supernovae remnants will outnumber the four known radio pulsars associated
with supernovae remnants for the first time, he reports in a paper to appear
in the journal Memorie della Societa Astronomica Italiana.
These findings will mean that radio pulsars are the exception rather than the
norm. "This is a complete reversal of our thinking," says Gotthelf. David
Hough of Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, confirms that these new
findings mean that "the book on how pulsars are born in supernovae may have
to be rewritten".
The X-rays coming from AXPs are produced by matter channelled by the star's
magnetic field lines and heated to enormous temperatures. AXPs spin a
thousand times slower than radio pulsars and are slowing down rapidly. This
is puzzling, because when a star shrinks to the relatively tiny size of a
neutron star it should automatically spin very fast. According to Gotthelf,
the most likely explanation is that AXPs are indeed born spinning fast, but
slow down quickly because they have a super-strong magnetic field, hundreds
of times stronger than in radio pulsars.
"Such a strong magnetic field would drag material around as the star spins,
sapping the star of rotational energy," says Gotthelf. A super-strong
magnetic field would also prevent the formation of the electrons needed to
produce radio waves. One possible explanation for the different magnetic
field strengths in radio pulsars and X-ray pulsars is that stars start out
with a natural variability in magnetic fields before they collapse.
At least two more sensitive X-ray satellites will be launched in the next
few years, and Gotthelf believes they will find many more radio-quiet
pulsars.
Author:Marcus Chown
New Scientist magazine, issue 3rd October 1998
PLEASE MENTION NEW SCIENTIST AS THE SOURCE OF THIS ARTICLE - THANK YOU
Andrew Yee
ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca
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=SANA=
Дата: 06 октября 1998 (1998-10-06)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: You can't leave Earth's orbit without us (Forwarded)
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Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organisation
Australia
Ms Rosie Schmedding (02) 6276-6520
Mobile (0418) 622-653
Fax (02) 6276-6821
CSIRO Media Release: 30 September 1998
Ref 98/236
YOU CAN'T LEAVE EARTH'S ORBIT WITHOUT US
Australia is playing a vital role in deep space research as part of a
CSIRO/NASA collaboration that has spanned 40 years, top space scientists
said today.
"Australia has been critical to the success of our programs all along -- and
the importance of that role is only going to increase," says NASA's Dr Miriam
Baltuck and CSIRO's Dr Dennis Cooper.
Three countries: Spain, the US (California) and Australia have their
electronic eyes trained on space, each taking over from where the last one
has left off, to ensure that what we are watching can be tracked 24 hours a
day. For tracking space probes or vehicles leaving earth's orbit this is
essential to ensure we keep them in sight at all times.
"It is a case of being in the right place -- that is approximately 120 degrees
of longitude from the US and Spain, and in the Southern Hemisphere," says Dr
Cooper, Chief of CSIRO Telecommunications and Industrial Physics. "It just so
happened that Australia was perfectly located to play a vital role in this
very important work."
"But it is not only that," says Dr Baltuck, NASA's senior representative in
Australia and South East Asia. "Scientifically it has been a great match --
US scientists and Australian scientists have similar top-of-the-field
competence and similar fascination with the unknown."
Dr Baltuck will address the 49th International Astronautical Federation (IAF)
Congress this morning about forty years of NASA-Australian cooperation. NASA
and Australia have collaborated since before the launch of the first US
satellite in 1958. The most prominent part of this contribution has been in
the area of tracking and communications.
There have been more than a dozen NASA tracking facilities around Australia.
Over the years most of the work has been consolidated at Tidbinbilla in the
Australian Capital Territory. Cooperation also led to NASA-Australian aircraft
overflying a dozen countries in Oceania and South East Asia in 1996 and will
again in 1999 to assess the state of the environment in those areas.
"In more recent decades NASA and Australian scientists and engineers have
found common interests in technology and applications development aimed at
environmental studies, and use of remote sensing," Dr Baltuck says.
"We share similar environmental problems, particularly with the size of our
landmass and diversity of ecological sites. Remote sensing gives us a great
tool to see what is going on."
In the future NASA and CSIRO will continue to collaborate on projects such as
the Australian FEDSAT satellite, which is due to be launched in 2001.
The 49th IAF Congress is on at Melbourne Convention Centre this week.
More information:
Dr Dennis Cooper CSIRO 02 9372 4200 or 0414 724 222
Dr Miriam Baltuck NASA 03 9629 5111 (hotel) or 02 6281 8500/1 (office)
For more information about the Congress contact Jan Jacklin 0417 533 281
Andrew Yee
ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca
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=SANA=
Дата: 06 октября 1998 (1998-10-06)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Satellites May Be Shattered By Invisible Meteors (Forwarded)
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New Scientist
UK Contact:
Claire Bowles, claire.bowles@rbi.co.uk, 44 171 331 2751
US Contact:
Barbara Thurlow, newscidc@idt.net, (202) 452-1178
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: 30 SEPTEMBER 1998 at 2:00 p.m. EDT
Satellites May Be Shattered By Invisible Meteors
THE Leonid meteor storm that may light up the sky in Asia when it strikes
the Earth next month could pose a bigger threat to satellites than
astronomers had feared.
Every year, around mid-November, the Earth crosses the orbit of a comet called
Tempel-Tuttle and passes through debris the comet has shed. This burns up in
the upper atmosphere as a meteor shower. Every 32 to 33 years, the Earth runs
into an especially dense cloud of debris, turning the shower into a storm. At
the peak of the last storm, in 1966, the skies above North America were lit
up by 5000 meteors in just 20 minutes.
Astronomers are now bracing themselves for the next Leonid storm, predicted
to reach a peak around 17 November. Communications and other satellites could
be threatened by the bombardment -- and both NASA and the Russian Space Agency
have postponed launches until the danger has passed.
No one knows just how bad the damage will be. For example, astronomers can't
predict with certainty exactly where the densest part of the debris cloud is.
Now Duncan Steel, an astronomer with Spaceguard Australia in Adelaide, has
thrown another variable into the equation. If his model of the chemical
composition of the Leonid meteors is correct, attempts to observe the
approaching meteors may detect only a few per cent of them.
Steel says that data gathered during the recent visits by comets Hale-Bopp
and Hyakutake reveal that the dust these comets gave off was rich in volatile
organic compounds. If the same is true of the cometary debris that forms the
Leonids, most of the meteors may be invisible. This is because if they are
made of highly volatile material, many will burn up at relatively low
temperatures -- too low to leave behind glowing trails detectable from the
ground. Cool-burning meteors will also emit relatively few electrons, and
that will make them invisible to ground-based radars, which can only spot
electron-dense trails.
"If small meteoroids in storms are largely composed of organics, then none
of the data collected to date gives a realistic assessment of the hazard
level," says Steel, whose conclusions are published this week in the journal
Astronomy and Geophysics (vol 39, p 24).
Current estimates put the risk of a serious impact between a meteor and a
large satellite at about one in a thousand. Steel says his study suggests
that this "seriously underestimates" the hazard. "If I am right, the economic
loss caused by the Leonids may be immense," he says.
Other astronomers agree that the reliability of the storm predictions depends
crucially on the composition of the meteors. "Steel's paper is very
interesting -- though whether it is actually correct is another matter," says
Iwan Williams of Queen Mary and Westfield College, London. "We may know after
the Leonids next month."
Steel's advice is not to rely too heavily on satellite communication and
navigation systems in the coming month. "I would not depend for my life on
the Global Positioning System being fully functional on 18 November," he
says.
Author: Robert Matthews
New Scientist issue 3rd October 1998
PLEASE MENTION NEW SCIENTIST AS THE SOURCE OF THIS ARTICLE - THANK YOU
Andrew Yee
ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca
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=SANA=
Дата: 06 октября 1998 (1998-10-06)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Los Alamos forms Center for Space Science and Exploration (Forwarded)
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Public Affairs Office (PAO)
Los Alamos National Laboratory
CONTACT: John R. Gustafson, 505-665-9197 (98-143)
Los Alamos forms Center for Space Science and Exploration
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Oct. 1, 1998 -- Los Alamos National Laboratory today
announced the start of a new center that will bring a wider variety of Los
Alamos capabilities to bear on national space science and exploration
programs.
"Los Alamos has earned a reputation as a leader in space research, both for
the instruments and missions we've flown and our analysis of data," said
Dave McComas, who heads the center. "But we have expertise and unique
technical capabilities in other areas that we believe can be equally
successful in supporting the nation's space exploration initiatives and
space science research efforts."
Los Alamos currently totals about $9 million in annual funding from NASA
for space research projects. In addition, the new center will direct the
investment of $5 million in internal Laboratory funding over the next five
years to promote innovative ideas and technology development.
Los Alamos' new Center for Space Science and Exploration evolves from an
existing program office that oversees NASA-funded research projects.
"Through CSSE, we will identify and promote interdisciplinary research that
increases the synergies between space programs and capabilities from across
the Lab," McComas said. "The mission of the new center is to promote
scientific excellence in space science and exploration at Los Alamos. This
will both enhance the scientific and technical underpinnings of our national
security efforts and provide new resources to the nation's space program."
In addition to keeping Los Alamos' ongoing space science research strong,
CSSE aims to strengthen Los Alamos efforts in the areas of planetary science
and resources utilization; biological effects of space travel and how to
look for signs of life on other planets; nuclear power and propulsion
systems; and new types of alloys and other materials and structures for use
in space.
These areas tie into existing expertise at Los Alamos such as geology and
environmental characterization; DNA analytical methods; advanced reactor
technology and nuclear propulsion; and material sciences and engineering.
Los Alamos also has more than 50 user facilities, ranging from advanced
material fabrication and characterization to supercritical fluids to
powerful computers. These facilities are available to outside researchers
through collaborative arrangements.
McComas noted that Los Alamos' expertise in building instruments for space
missions began with its programmatic assignment to provide instruments for
orbital monitoring for clandestine nuclear weapon detonations. This work
started with the Vela program in the early 1960s and continues today on the
Global Positioning System and Defense Support Program satellites; these
instruments have tangentially yielded a wealth of data for scientific study,
including the discovery of celestial gamma-ray bursters and the existence of
heavy ions in the solar wind.
Los Alamos' astrophysics work continues to evolve and today includes
significant roles in the High-Energy Transient Explorer-2; Russia's
Spectrum-X-Gamma mission; Milagro, an observatory for tracking high-energy
cosmic rays; theoretical studies of neutron stars and supernovae; and
operation of automated telescopes for transient observations at Fenton Hill,
a site near the Laboratory.
Los Alamos' space research program also has grown to form a lengthy list of
successes, including most recently the announcement of quantitative
measurements of the amount of frozen water at the moon's poles. Los Alamos
scientists designed and built three of the instruments on NASA's Lunar
Prospector, including the neutron spectrometer that yielded the key data on
water amounts.
Los Alamos has a role on a variety of other NASA missions, including the
Cassini mission to Saturn, the Ulysses spacecraft orbiting the sun's poles,
the Advanced Composition Explorer, which is measuring the solar wind
upstream of Earth, and several instruments on the POLAR Earth-orbiting
mission.
Looking ahead, Los Alamos is providing vital hardware for several future
NASA missions, including Deep Space Millenium 1, TWINS, IMAGE and Genesis.
Los Alamos researchers also are developing prototype ice-penetrating radar
technology for consideration for a future NASA mission to Europa, an
ice-covered Jovian moon that might possess a watery ocean.
"Now we're looking at the other areas where the capabilities we possess for
our programmatic mission can be applied to the needs of space exploration,"
McComas said. "We want to reach out to Laboratory biologists, nuclear
physicists or material scientists -- as well as scientists from other
disciplines -- and engage them in research or technology development that
can advance the aims of space exploration and science."
Some of these other areas where Los Alamos has begun investing in research
include geologic drilling techniques for planetary exploration; a magnetic
"nozzle" for steering a rocket; heatpipe technology for nuclear-based power
systems; use of lasers for stand-off composition measurements; and others.
Additional information on Los Alamos' NASA-funded projects and other
space-related research is available on the World Wide Web at
http://www.lanl.gov/csse.
Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California
for the U.S. Department of Energy.
Andrew Yee
ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca
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=SANA=
Дата: 06 октября 1998 (1998-10-06)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: NEAR Weekly Report for Oct. 2, 1998
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NEAR WEEKLY REPORT
October 2, 1998
MISSION OPERATIONS:
The NEAR spacecraft state/configuration has remained nominal (Flight
Computer #1 and Attitude Interface Unit #1 active).
The Magnetometer was reactivated on 9/25/98. On 9/30/98 the XGRS
instrument was turned back on with the exception of the high voltage
which is planned for today.
NEAR's attitude mode continues to alternate between GS-4 (Earth
pointing) during high gain antenna tracks and GS-5 (~Sun pointing) at
all other times. The GS-5 off-sun pointing limit was set back to 10 deg
on 9/30/98.
Completed test of "Critical OpNav" process and systems on 9/30/98 with
the successful playback of Critical OpNav image and attitude data
surrounding the OpNav. All data was successfully transmitted to JPL NAV
within minutes of playback from the spacecraft. This confirms mission
operation's capability to quickly turn around Optical images to NAV.
This will be tested more in the future.
Playback of onboard SSR data via timetagged commands has resumed as part
of the Earth Safe recovery process last week. Operations is verifying
continuity of recorded data spans and full recovery of all recorded
data.
Demonstrated remote viewing of NEAR telemetry pages at GSFC (XGRS Team)
and within APL's G&C Group. While some adjustments need to be made, it
appears the Relay Streams included in the latest release of Epoch will
work as advertised.
Future Plans:
Continuing with planned MOC ground system software/hardware
reconfiguration. Remaining changes to ground systems network
configuration and user accounts should be completed by October 9. A
period of "clean up" will follow.
Upcoming Spacecraft Activities:
October 14: TCM 15 (Fancy Burn)
October 21: Propulsive momentum dump
Debra Fletcher
Phone (Washington): 240-228-8274 The Johns Hopkins
University
Phone (Baltimore): 443-778-8274 APPLIED PHYSICS
LABORATORY
Fax: 240-228-3237 / 443-778-3237 11100 Johns
Hopkins Road
E-mail: debra.fletcher@jhuapl.edu Laurel, MD 20723-6099
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=SANA=
Дата: 06 октября 1998 (1998-10-06)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Lockheed Martin/NRO satellite successfully launched (Forwarded)
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Lockheed Martin Astronautics
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Evan McCollum, 303-977-5364 or 888-617-1239 (pager)
e-mail: Evan McCollum
October 3, 1998
Release DEN #028
LOCKHEED MARTIN / NRO SATELLITE SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED
DENVER, Colo., -- The Lockheed Martin Astronautics-built Space Technology
Experiment (STEX) satellite was successfully launched this morning from
Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Astronautics built the satellite for the
National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). It was launched by a Taurus rocket.
This is the first satellite the NRO has publicly identified and acknowledged
before launch. The NRO is the U.S. government agency responsible for
reconnaissance satellites.
The 1,540 pound (699 kg) STEX is designed to demonstrate 29 high performance
spacecraft technologies in orbit. Many of the components are less expensive,
more efficient and lighter weight than comparable systems on existing
satellites and may be used to improve or enhance both military and civilian
spacecraft.
"By leveraging the technologies demonstrated by STEX, we expect to enable
spacecraft manufacturers and the government to improve the performance of
overhead intelligence collection systems and other spacecraft while reducing
costs," said Dr. Raymond S. Colladay, president of Lockheed Martin
Astronautics.
Among the STEX experiments are:
* A new mechanism designed to significantly reduce the shock the spacecraft
experiences when it is separated from the rocket that launched it.
* A Russian "Hall effect" Xenon electric propulsion system that provides
orbit adjustments more efficiently than traditional chemical propulsion
systems.
* An experiment that will deploy a 3.7 mile-long (six km) tether to
investigate the potential use of such devices in space. For example,
satellites may be able to raise and lower their orbits using tethers.
* An advanced star tracker the satellite uses to determine its position in
space by referencing the location of preselected stars. This model is
smaller, lighter, faster, more precise and more capable than previous
units.
* High density nickel-hydrogen batteries designed to be lighter weight,
last longer and provide more energy.
* High efficiency solar arrays featuring reflectors that concentrate the
sun's energy on the panels, providing electrical power more efficiently,
at a lower cost and with reduced weight.
* A solid state data recorder using the most dense memory in production
today.
* Light weight composite structures with integrated thermal control.
* A high performance computer with high density data storage.
The cost of the STEX mission is less than $90 million, including launch costs
and ground support. Astronautics developed and built STEX at the company's
facility near Denver, Colo., for the NRO's Advanced Systems and Technology
directorate in partnership with the Air Force Research Lab and the Naval
Research Lab.
Astronautics is one of the operating units of Lockheed Martin's Space &
Strategic Missiles Sector headquartered in Bethesda, Md. Astronautics designs,
develops, tests and manufactures a variety of advanced technology systems for
space and defense. Chief products include planetary spacecraft and other space
systems, space launch systems and ground systems.
# # #
[NOTE: Images supporting this release are available at
http://www.ast.lmco.com/astroweb/gallery_stex.shtml]
Andrew Yee
ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca
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=SANA=
Дата: 06 октября 1998 (1998-10-06)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: NASA developing software to improve spacecraft docking (Forwarded)
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John Bluck
NASA Ames Research Center Sept. 23, 1998
Moffett Field, CA
650/604-5026 or 604-9000
jbluck@mail.arc.nasa.gov
RELEASE: 98-51AR
NASA DEVELOPING SOFTWARE TO IMPROVE SPACECRAFT DOCKING
Docking one spacecraft with another will be much easier, thanks to smart
computer software being developed at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett
Field, CA. The neural net software will "learn" the motion behavior of a
spacecraft as it flies so it will not undershoot or overshoot docking
targets.
The Ames "neurocontroller" will be able to automatically dock a spacecraft
of unknown mass with another by flying the spacecraft short distances in
different directions and learning the handling characteristics of the craft,
according to Dr. Robert Mah, an Ames research scientist.
"The neurocontroller automatically enables precise, safe docking by learning
just as human beings learn -- by experience handling the spacecraft," Mah
said. The neural net software used in the controller is similar to that used
to automatically focus home camcorders.
"Current methods used to dock spacecraft will be improved to make docking
easier for astronauts," Mah said. "Docking a spacecraft by manual joystick
control depends on the skill of the operator."
Manual docking can be slower than desired, and in some cases precious fuel
can be wasted. Conventional software has been used to automatically dock
spacecraft, when the spacecraft mass properties are known, according to Mah.
"But conventional automated docking doesn't work well when the exact mass is
unknown or changing robot arm positions alter spacecraft flight
characteristics," Mah said.
A future "worker bee" spacecraft that would be used during construction in
space, might grab a construction part and rotate, Mah said. "The arm and the
part held by the spacecraft have a tendency to keep rotating," he added.
In contrast, the same spacecraft equipped with the neurocontroller would
immediately learn the new "feel" of the way the spacecraft rotates in space
while firing its impulse jets. The smart software would then precisely slow
the spacecraft's rotation by "burning" the jets for just the right amount of
time.
The Ames neurocontroller has not yet been tested in space. "We hope to do
space tests eventually, but first we need to fine tune the software in the
lab, making more realistic simulations with test vehicles floating on a
cushion of air over a special granite table," Mah concluded.
More information about the Ames spacecraft neurocontroller can by found on
the Internet at URL:
http://ic-www.arc.nasa.gov/ic/projects/neuro/SMART_SYSTEM/index.html
Andrew Yee
ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca
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=SANA=
Дата: 06 октября 1998 (1998-10-06)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: WDC-A R&S Launch Announcement 12965: USA 140
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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 12965
COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM NUMBER
SPACECRAFT INTERNATIONAL ID (CATALOG NUMBER) LAUNCH DATE,UT
USA 140 1998-055A 25489 03 OCTOBER 1998
DR. JOSEPH H. KING, DIRECTOR, WDC-A-R&S.
[PH: (301) 286 7355.
E-MAIL: KING@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV
05 OCTOBER 1998, 11:50 UT]
Further details will be in a forthcoming SPACEWARN Bulletin
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
SPACEWARN home page: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/
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=SANA=
Дата: 06 октября 1998 (1998-10-06)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Statement following conclusion of Moscow meetings [on ISS launch sched
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Dwayne C. Brown
Headquarters, Washington, DC October 2, 1998
(Phone: 202/358-1726)
James Hartsfield
Johnson Space Center, Houston,TX
(Phone: 281/483-5111)
Release: H98-176
STATEMENT FOLLOWING CONCLUSION OF MOSCOW MEETINGS
The launches of the first International Space Station components -- the
Zarya module and the Unity module -- remain on schedule following a series
of technical meetings in Moscow that concluded today with a meeting of
representatives from all international partners.
In today's meeting, all station partners reviewed and concurred with a plan
to maintain the current launch schedule for Zarya, which will launch on a
Russian Proton booster Nov. 20 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, and
for Unity, which will launch on the Space Shuttle Endeavour Dec. 3 from the
Kennedy Space Center, FL.
The international partner representatives, members of the International Space
Station Control Board, also reviewed plans for launch of the Russian-provided
Service Module, the station's early living quarters, and confirmed its launch
delay to July 1999. The international partners will reconvene in December at
Kennedy, in conjunction with the launch of Unity, to further refine the
station's assembly sequence.
NASA and the Russian Space Agency (RSA) also reached an agreement under which
NASA could purchase services and hardware from RSA for $60 million (U.S.). The
agreement could be implemented through an existing contract between NASA and
RSA upon concurrence from Congress. Payment of the $60 million will be tied
to confirmation of RSA's completion of milestones necessary to ensure the
completion of critical early assembly activities related to the final
integration and launch of the Service Module and initial Soyuz and Progress
spacecraft.
Andrew Yee
ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca
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=SANA=
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