Дата: 13 ноября 1998 (1998-11-13)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Ракета Delta выведет на орбиту российский телевизионный спутник
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Ракета Delta выведет на орбиту российский телевизионный спутник
Компании Hughes Space and Communications и Boeing готовятся к
запуску с мыса Канаверал российского телевизионного спутника Bonum-1,
который намечен на 19 ноября. Запуск совершается по заказу дочерней
фирмы компании Медиа-Мост. Спутник представляет собой усиленную
версию космического корабля HS 376. Контракт предусматривает
производство спутника, запуск его на орбиту, поставку наземного
оборудования для управления спутником и обучение персонала.
Управление спутником будет осуществляться со станции управления
Bonum-1 в Москве.
Bonum-1 - это 53-й по спутник серии HS 376, заказанный у Hughes.
Hа нем будут установлены 8 активных приемо-передатчиков
Ku-диапазона, которые смогут обеспечить передачу до 50 телевизионных
каналов. Спутник Bonum-1 будет обслуживать европейскую или
восточно-сибирскую территорию России (наведение будет осуществлено
после вывода на орбиту).
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
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=SANA=
Дата: 13 ноября 1998 (1998-11-13)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Изображения метеорного потока Леонид будет транслироваться через Web
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Изображения метеорного потока Леонид будет транслироваться через
Web
[NASA] 17 ноября 1998 г. ученые Лаборатории по изучению
космического пространства (Space Sciences Laboratory) Космического
центра им. Маршалла NASA собираются запустить метеорологический
зонд, на котором будет установлена цифровая камера. Зонд поднимется на
высоту около 30 км для наблюдения за метеорным потоком Леонид.
Фотографии и телевизионное изображение низкого разрешения,
полученные с помощью этой камеры будут транслироваться на
Web-странице Лаборатории на Web-узле NASA по адресу
http://science.nasa.gov.
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
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=SANA=
Дата: 13 ноября 1998 (1998-11-13)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Орбита Международной космической станции не будет изменена
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Орбита Международной космической станции не будет изменена
[Spaceviews] По сообщению Российского космического агентства,
Россия отозвала свой запрос относительно изменения орбиты
Международной космической станции с той целью, чтобы она
находилась в той же плоскости, что и орбита станции "Мир".
Hа прошлой неделе Россия обратилась к NASA за разрешением
запустить управляющий модуль "Заря" (первый элемент Международной
космической станции) на 10 часов позже ранее назначенного времени. В
этом случае он оказался бы на той же орбите, что и станция "Мир" и
произвести перенос оборудования и целых модулей с "Мира" на
Международную космическую станцию было бы относительно просто.
Вчера представитель Российского космического агентства заявил,
что запуск состоиться в ранее намеченное время - 20 ноября 1998 г. в 9
часов 40 мин (1:40 по восточному поясному времени).
Источник: InfoArt News Agency
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=SANA=
Дата: 13 ноября 1998 (1998-11-13)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Pre-Flight Briefings For STS-88 And Mars Missions Set For Nov 13
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Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington, DC November 6, 1998
(Phone: 202/358-1726)
James Hartsfield
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
(Phone: 281/483-5111)
NOTE TO EDITORS: N98-68
PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFINGS FOR STS-88 AND
MARS MISSIONS SET FOR NOV. 13
A series of background briefings on the upcoming STS-88
mission, the first Space Shuttle flight for assembly of the
International Space Station, will be held on Friday, Nov. 13,
starting at 9 a.m. EST, at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston,
TX. In addition, a mission science press briefing originating
from NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, to address the next NASA
spacecraft to be sent to orbit and land on Mars, and new
technology testbed probes designed to penetrate the planet's
surface, will occur on
Nov. 13 at noon EST.
All of the briefings will be broadcast live on NASA
Television with multi-center question-and-answer capability.
On STS-88, Endeavour's six astronauts will attach the first
two space station components in orbit. They will join the first
U.S.-built module, the Unity connecting node, with the orbiting
Zarya, a Russian-built, U.S.-owned control module scheduled to be
launched by Russia from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan on
Nov. 20. Later in the mission, three spacewalks will be conducted
to complete connections between the two modules. The flight will
begin the five-year orbital assembly of the station, one of the
most complex and challenging space endeavors ever attempted, and
will kick off a new era of international space exploration that
brings together the resources and expertise of 16 nations.
The briefings will begin with an overview of the early
International Space Station assembly flights and STS-88 in
particular at 9 a.m. EST. An overview of the Zarya module and its
mission, the Unity module and station assembly in orbit will begin
at 10:30 a.m.
The Mars mission science briefing will originate from NASA
Headquarters at noon EST.
The Mars Climate Orbiter is due for launch at 1:56 p.m. EST
on Dec. 10 on a Boeing Delta 2 launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral
Air Station, FL, on its way to orbit the red planet beginning in
September 1999. The Mars Polar Lander is due for launch at 3:21
p.m. EST on Jan. 3, 1999, on an identical Boeing Delta 2 from Cape
Canaveral, toward a landing near the planet's south pole on Dec.
3, 1999. Riding aboard the cruise stage of the lander are two
microprobes developed by NASA's New Millennium program, under the
name Deep Space 2. The microprobes will be released just before
atmospheric entry, and then will smash into the Martian surface
near the landing site to test 10 advanced technologies and search
for traces of subsurface water ice.
Extensive information on the Mars Surveyor 1998 missions and
Deep Space 2 is available on the Internet at the following home
pages:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/
http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/ds2/
A briefing on the spacewalks planned for STS-88 and the
spacewalk preparations that have been made for the station's
assembly will be held at 1 p.m. EST. At 2 p.m. EST, astronauts
and managers of the United States' first space station, Skylab,
will take a retrospective look at that program on the occasion of
its 25th anniversary.
The STS-88 astronauts will hold their preflight press
conference at 3:30 p.m. EST. Following the press conference, the
STS-88 crew will be available for individual interviews with media
at JSC or by phone if arranged in advance. Those interested in
individual interviews must contact the JSC newsroom at 281/483-
5111 by 1 p.m. EST on Thursday, Nov. 12, to be included in the
round-robin interviews.
NASA TV is available through the GE-2 satellite, transponder
9C, located at 85 degrees west longitude, vertical polarization,
with a frequency of 3880 Mhz, and audio at 6.8 Mhz.
STS-88 / MARS MISSION PREFLIGHT BRIEFINGS, Nov. 13, 1998
(All times are EST)
9 a.m.: MISSION OVERVIEW
Randy Brinkley, International Space Station (ISS) Program Manager
Dr. Kathryn Clark, Space Station Senior Scientist, NASA
Headquarters
Bob Castle, STS-88 Lead Flight Director
10:30 a.m.: ZARYA, UNITY AND ISS ASSEMBLY
Frank Culbertson, ISS Deputy Program Manager for Operations
Doug Drewery, Zarya Launch Package Manager
Bill Bastedo, Unity Launch Package Manager
Noon: MARS MISSION SCIENCE BRIEFING
Dr. Carl Pilcher, Science Director for Solar System exploration,
Office of Space Science,
NASA Headquarters
John McNamee, Mars Surveyor 1998 Project Manager, NASA's Jet
Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Dr. Richard Zurek, Mars Surveyor 1998 Project Scientist, JPL
Sarah Gavit, Deep Space 2 Project Manager, JPL
Dr. Bruce Jakosky, Planetary Scientist, University of Colorado,
Boulder
1 p.m.: STS-88 SPACEWALKS
Greg Harbaugh, Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Project Office
Manager, JSC
Scott Bleisath, STS-88 Lead EVA Officer
2 p.m.: SKYLAB 25th ANNIVERSARY RETROSPECTIVE
William Schneider, Skylab Program Manager
Joseph Kerwin, Skylab 2 Astronaut
Owen Garriott, Skylab 3 Astronaut
Bill Pogue, Skylab 4 Astronaut
3:30 p.m.: STS-88 CREW PRESS CONFERENCE
Bob Cabana, Commander
Rick Sturckow, Pilot
Jerry Ross, Mission Specialist 1
Nancy Currie, Mission Specialist 2
Jim Newman, Mission Specialist 3
Sergei Krikalev, Mission Specialist 4
-end-
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 13 ноября 1998 (1998-11-13)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Deep Space 1 Update - November 11, 1998
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MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
Deep Space 1 Mission Status
November 11, 1998
After operating as expected for approximately 4-1/2 minutes
after startup Tuesday, November 10, Deep Space 1's xenon ion
engine turned off for reasons that are still under investigation.
After the startup at 11:30 a.m. PST and subsequent shutdown
Tuesday, the operations team sent a number of commands to try to
restart the ion propulsion system. Each time, the system went
through its normal startup routine, but was unable to achieve
thrusting. Valuable diagnostic data were collected, and the team
observed that the rest of the spacecraft behaved exactly as
planned during the brief interval of thrusting and during
subsequent attempts to restart the thruster.
Engine turn-off behavior has been observed in the past in
solar electric propulsion systems both in Earth-based test and on
Earth-orbiting spacecraft. Deep Space 1 is designed to test and
validate the use of such propulsion in deep space for the first
time, so the ongoing diagnosis of Tuesday's behavior is in
keeping with the mission's goals.
Tuesday's planned activities had included stepping up the
thruster through different throttle levels over more than 16
hours, taking the engine to its peak thrusting level. This would
allow the team to assess the overall performance of the
spacecraft and the ion propulsion system at increasingly powerful
levels and to measure the power needed from the spacecraft's pair
of solar arrays to achieve each thrust level. Concurrently,
ground-based radio navigation was to take Doppler data to measure
the amount of thrust imparted by the ion engine system at each
throttle level. These activities will be conducted once the
resolution of Tuesday's premature shutdown is found.
Today, other technology validation activities will continue
while a portion of the team analyzes Tuesday's data and
formulates a plan for subsequent ion propulsion system
operations. Much of the key testing will be completed within the
first eight weeks after launch; the technologies on which the
spacecraft depends for its basic operation -- such as its solar
arrays and the transponder or radio transmitter/receiver -- were
proven to work within the first hours after launch.
To prepare for Tuesday's planned activities, the spacecraft
successfully executed a large turn Friday, October 30, to point
the ion engine toward the Sun. Sunlight heated portions of the
xenon feed system and the ion thruster core (which reached about
110 C (230 F)), and baked off some contaminants that held the
potential to interfere with the engine's operation. While the
spacecraft remained in that orientation, a small amount of xenon
from the ion propulsion system was allowed to flow through the
system to assure there were no blockages. The spacecraft returned
to its previous orientation the next day.
On Thursday, November 5, a heater inside the thruster's
cathode was turned on and the xenon system was pressurized. As a
final test before thrusting, xenon was ionized inside the
thruster on Monday, November 9, but was not accelerated.
Engineering data show that the test went as planned. The suite of
diagnostic sensors onboard to measure the effects of the ion
propulsion system on the local space environment worked as
planned.
Once Tuesday's behavior is diagnosed and resolved, the
engine is scheduled to be turned on intermittently for the
remainder of the mission, which ends in late September 1999.
The ion engine is among 12 technologies being tested on Deep
Space 1, the first mission of the New Millennium Program,
designed to validate new technologies so that they may be used on
space missions of the 21st century.
#####
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 13 ноября 1998 (1998-11-13)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: STARDUST Day In Oklahoma City On November 14
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Omniplex Media Advisory
November 11, 1998
Contact: Ben Clark
(303) 971-9007
STARDUST Day in Oklahoma City.
Saturday, Nov. 14th will be STARDUST Day at the Omniplex Science Center.
Featured during the day will be the debut of the STARDUST Planetarium Show
and the first public display of the STARDUST Cafe Museum Exhibit.
At 1:30 p.m., the highlight of STARDUST Day will be a Panel discussion which
includes several key persons of the STARDUST mission, representing Science,
Engineering and Outreach (Don Brownlee, Ken Atkins, Joe Vellinga, Peter
Tsou, and Ben Clark). STARDUST Outreach representatives Aimee Whalen and
Julie Malmquist will also be on hand.
The Planetarium Show will be made available to other Planetariums around the
country in the next few weeks. Following this event, the STARDUST Cafe will
be moved to Kennedy Space Center to support the launch at the beginning of
February. After launch, the Cafe Exhibit, which has been designed to be
portable, will be hosted by various museums in the U.S.
More information on Omniplex may be found at http://www.omniplex.org
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 13 ноября 1998 (1998-11-13)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Mars Global Surveyor Aerobraking Update - November 9, 1998
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Mars Global Surveyor Aerobraking Status Report
Monday, November 9 (DOY 309/19:00:00 to DOY 313/19:00:00 UTC)
Last Orbit Covered by this Report = 700
Total Phase I Aerobraking orbits accomplished = 180
Total Phase II Aerobraking orbits accomplished = 127
Total Science Phasing orbits accomplished = 290
Apoapsis altitude = 10073 km
Apoapsis altitude decrease since start of aerobraking = 43952 km
Periapsis altitude = 113.8 km
Current Orbit Period = 06:35:07
Orbit Period decrease since start of aerobraking = 38:24:26
Starting Phase II orbit period = 11:38:02
RECENT EVENTS:
Phase 2 aerobraking operations continue with the S/C maintaining excellent
health. Progress continues per plan as 21 minutes of orbit period have been
removed over the past 15 drag passes. The 6-orbit running mean is currently
down to 0.208 N/m2 due to last period's periapsis raise maneuvers. This
value remains within the upper corridor limit of 0.23 N/m2. Only 2 minutes
separate the baseline planned orbit period and the current. There were no
corridor control maneuvers ordered during this period.
Currently, sequence P698 is controlling the S/C activities. It will be
replaced early this evening with P701 which will control activities starting
with orbit 701 through orbit 704. These sequences are built with 4 primary
orbit and 2 backup orbit command sets. This allows for only 1 sequence build
per day with 12 hours of contingency orbits in case ground sequence
generation problems occur. All timing estimations continue to be well within
the 232s, excessive fuel use limit.
Subsystems continue to report excellent S/C health and performance. The -Y
solar array yoke has shown no change in structural performance. Stiffness
values, when valid, show no change in the panel structural degradation. The
system structural frequency has been maintained at about 0.153 Hz. Attitude
knowledge has been maintained throughout the period with excellent star
processing. The power subsystem reports strong performance with 12.6 %
maximum battery discharge depths each orbit. There is now 9.5 minutes of
primary charger re-charge margin. The minimum MOLA laser temperature
observed this period was 11.2°C. The largest temperature increase due to
aero-heating seen was 60°C on the -Y solar array, cell side. The
telecommunications subsystem continues solid performance.
In the STL, re-validation of the Pop-Up maneuver contingency sequence is
underway.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Periapsis for Orbit 701 DOY314/01:29:40 UTC Through
Periapsis for Orbit 707 DOY315/19:38:05 UTC
(Note: MST = UTC-7 hours DOY314=11/10)
SPACECRAFT COMMANDING:
There were 9 command files radiated to the S/C during this period. The total
files radiated since launch is now 2954. These commands were sent in support
of the following activities:
Nominal drag pass sequences (P687, P691, P694, P698)
Nominal corridor control maneuver sequences (None)
Command loss timer reset
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 13 ноября 1998 (1998-11-13)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Deep Space 1 Update - November 12, 1998
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MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
Deep Space 1 Mission Status
November 12, 1998
Software onboard Deep Space 1 which protects the spacecraft
in the event of unusual events detected a possible problem with
the spacecraft's star tracker Wednesday, November 11, prompting
the software to put the craft in a safe mode. The fault
protection software worked exactly as designed, and all of the
spacecraft's systems are in a healthy state, mission managers
report.
The star tracker, which measures the position of stars to
help control the spacecraft's orientation, stopped tracking at
11:41 a.m. PST. Eight minutes later, onboard fault protection
software responded by turning the star tracker off and back on.
The star tracker did not resume tracking, however, and eight
minutes later the fault protection software turned the device off
and on a second time. This also did not cause the star tracker
to resume tracking.
Eight minutes later -- at 12:05 p.m. PST -- the onboard
fault protection software responded by putting the spacecraft in
a safe mode in which the Sun sensor and solar arrays are pointed
at the Sun and the spacecraft slowly rotates once an hour.
Telemetry indicated that these pre-programmed steps were executed
exactly as planned, and the spacecraft is healthy. A few minutes
later, the star tracker resumed tracking. Engineers do not know
if the problem was caused by the star tracker hardware or the
spacecraft's software that communicates with the device.
Mission managers expect to send commands to Deep Space 1
tomorrow to return the spacecraft to normal cruise configuration.
At about the same time that the star tracker problem
developed, devices that are used to deploy the solar panels were
unexpectedly powered on. Because the solar panels are already
deployed, this had no effect on the spacecraft. At this point
there is no evidence of any connection to the star tracker
problem, but the flight team is studying the two sets of events
to understand them better.
After they return the spacecraft to normal cruise
configuration, mission managers expect to finalize plans to work
with Deep Space 1's ion engine next week. The engine turned
itself off Tuesday, November 11, some 4-1/2 minutes after it was
powered on in its first full test during flight.
#####
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 13 ноября 1998 (1998-11-13)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: U.Florida joins NASA's virtual Astrobiology Institute to look for life
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University of Florida
Writer: Kristen Vecellio, vecellio@ufl.edu
Source: Steven Benner, (352) 392-7773, benner@chem.ufl.edu
Nov. 10, 1998
UF JOINS NASA'S VIRTUAL ASTROBIOLOGY INSTITUTE TO LOOK FOR LIFE ON MARS
GAINESVILLE -- Traditional science fiction has aliens who speak some form
of English or resemble humans. The problem is, chances are slim that
non-terrestrial life will have such earthling-like traits.
Chemists at the University of Florida hope to overcome that obstacle by
figuring out what alien life might look like.
"We cannot expect the future of space exploration to be like that in Star
Trek, where the aliens almost always resemble human actors," said Steven
Benner, chemistry professor at UF and the principle investigator for the new
Astrobiology Institute funded by NASA. "This makes it difficult to know how
to recognize non-terrestrial life."
NASA and UF have teamed up with institutions such as Harvard University,
University of California at Los Angeles, Woods Hole Marine Biological
Laboratory and the University of Colorado to form a virtual Astrobiology
Institute to study the origin and evolution of life in the galaxy.
UF's job, designing experiments to look for life without knowing exactly
what life looks like, can be difficult.
Benner and five UF chemists are looking for a universal feature in genetic
material that also may be found in potential Martian life. Benner said DNA
has evenly spaced, repeating negative electrical charges along it. These
repelling charges allow the DNA molecule to be copied, an essential process
in genetics. These charges could be a "universal" trait.
"While the rest of the genetic molecule will vary from life form to life
form and from planet to planet," Benner said, "they will, we expect, all
have the repeating, spaced electrical charges."
The life-on-Mars question has been around for centuries but gained renewed
interest two years ago when meteorites collected from Antarctica were
identified as rocks from Mars. One rock displayed what some scientists felt
might be fossilized remains of microscopic organisms once living on the Red
Planet.
This discovery still remains controversial, but it has accelerated interest
in exploration of Mars.
Benner said most people don't believe there are organic molecules on Mars
based on experiments done in 1976 by the Viking mission. Organic molecules
are thought to be necessary for life.
"Based on a general understanding of organic chemistry and an understanding
of organic chemistry in the cosmos, we can predict what the principle
organic molecules should be on the surface of Mars," Benner said. "These, as
it turns out, would not have been detected by the Viking 1976 experiments."
Benner is a member of the Mars Architecture Definition Team working at the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., to design a vehicle to go to
Mars, collect samples and return to Earth.
He said space missions to Mars are now scheduled for every two years, with
the first to be in 2003 with the Athena Rover to study the surface of the
planet.
The fascination with the possibility of life on Mars dates back to at least
the late 19th century, when astronomer Percival Lowell championed the idea
that irrigation canals covered the entire planet. His theory was discarded
in 1965, when the U.S. spacecraft Mariner 4 discovered there was only a very
thin atmosphere.
In 1976, the Viking missions, whose primary use was to search for life on
Mars, found none.
"We know a good deal about what life on Earth looks like at a chemical
level," Benner said. "We then try to generalize from that distinguishing
features of living systems on Earth that are likely to be universal in all
living systems."
-30-
Color or black & white photo available with this story. For information,
please call News & Public Affairs photography at (352) 392-9092.
PHOTO CAPTION: [http://www.napa.ufl.edu/ufnews/astrobph.htm]
Chemistry Professor Steven Benner holds a model of a DNA strand in his office
at the University of Florida. Benner is part of NASA's recently created
Astrobiology Institute, formed to study the origin and evolution of life in
the galaxy. Benner and five UF chemists are looking for a universal feature
in genetic material that also may be found in potential Martian life. Other
participants in the institute include Harvard University, University of
California at Los Angeles, Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory and the
University of Colorado. (UF photo by Jeff Gage)
Andrew Yee
ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca
Hа сегодня все, пока!
=SANA=
Дата: 13 ноября 1998 (1998-11-13)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Astrophysicists Use Virtual Reality to Chase Earth's Tail (Forwarded)
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University of Warwick
Coventry, U.K.
Contact:
Peter Dunn, Press Officer
Public Affairs Office
Senate House
University of Warwick
Coventry, CV4 7AL
West Midlands
Tel: 01203 523708
Email: puapjd@admin.warwick.ac.uk
November 12, 1998
Astrophysicists Use Virtual Reality to Chase Earth's Tail
Astrophysicists at the University of Warwick are using a 3D virtual reality
system to research the Earth's electromagnetic tail. This tail, similar in
shape to other large solar system phenomena such as Solar flares, results
from the interactions of the Earth's own magnetic field with the
electromagnetic activity generated by the Sun. The tail is much studied by
astrophysicists, and agonised over by operators of telecommunications
satellites concerned about the serious affects on radio communications that
can be caused by occasional instabilities in the tail known as "substorms".
Dr Sandra Chapman, Anders Ynnerman and the Space and Astrophysics Group
(based in the Physics Department at the University of Warwick) are currently
trying to get a better understanding of this area of near Earth space by
modelling the behaviour of individual charged particles within the tail.
Their model suggested that the particles could follow a complex three
dimensional path that was difficult to decipher by simply viewing it on a
two dimensional piece of paper or computer screen. After days of deliberation
using two dimensional methods (which included at one point trying to make
a three dimensional model out of bits of multicoloured duct tape!) the
researchers decided that the charged particle was following the path of an
unusual but very familiar mathematical shape known as a moebius strip. Dr
Chapman then had an opportunity to examine data on some three dimensional
imaging virtual reality equipment in the US and Japan, and was able to
confirm in minutes that the answer they had agonised over for days was
correct.
It surprised no one then that when the opportunity came to bid for new
equipment under the Higher Education Funding Councils for England's Joint
Research Equipment Initiative (JREI) that Dr Chapman made a strong bid for
a virtual reality 3D imaging facility to be based at Warwick.
Her arguments persuaded all concerned and Warwick's Space and Astrophysics
Group now hosts a 3D virtual reality facility based around an "ImmersaDesk"
and a "Onyx 2" computer -- one of now only two such sets of equipment
available anywhere in the UK.
The equipment allows pairs of researchers to don special goggles to immerse
themselves in a virtual reality three dimensional space based on any three
dimensional modelling data they wish to examine. Dr Chapman's group will use
it to examine further the earth's own magnetosphere and geomagnetic tail.
However, the equipment will also be available to collaborators across
Warwick's science departments and there are already discussions as to how
the equipment may help colleagues in other departments with problems that
require 3D imaging of medical, engineering and mathematical problems.
For further information please contact: Dr Sandra Chapman, Tel: 01203 523390
email: S.C.Chapman@warwick.ac.uk
[NOTE: An image supporting this release is available at
http://www.warwick.ac.uk/news/pr/science/109]
Andrew Yee
ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca
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Дата: 13 ноября 1998 (1998-11-13)
От: Alexander Bondugin
Тема: Five Discovery Mission Proposals Selected For Feasibility Studies
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Douglas Isbell
Headquarters, Washington, DC November 12, 1998
(Phone: 202/358-1753)
RELEASE: 98-203
FIVE DISCOVERY MISSION PROPOSALS
SELECTED FOR FEASIBILITY STUDIES
In the first step of a two-step process, NASA has selected
five proposals for detailed study as candidates for the next
missions in the Agency's Discovery Program of lower-cost, highly
focused scientific spacecraft.
In a unique step for this program, NASA has also decided to
fund a co-investigator to provide part of an instrument to study
the interaction between the solar wind and the atmosphere of Mars.
It is scheduled to fly aboard the European Space Agency's Mars
Express spacecraft in 2003. NASA plans to consider such
investigations, categorized as "Missions of Opportunity," in all
future Discovery and Explorer program Announcements of
Opportunity.
The mission proposals selected for further study would send
spacecraft to orbit Mercury, return samples of the two small moons
of Mars to Earth, study the interior of Jupiter, excavate and
study material from deep inside a comet nucleus and investigate
the middle atmosphere of Venus.
The five missions were among 26 full mission proposals
submitted to NASA. "The degree of innovation in these proposals
climbs higher each time we solicit ideas," said Dr. Ed Weiler,
acting associate administrator for space science at NASA
Headquarters. "Deciding which one or two of these exciting
finalists will be fully developed will be a very difficult choice
-- any one of them promises to return unique insights into our
Solar System. Meanwhile, the solar wind instrument will fill in
some critical gaps in our understanding of the history of water on
Mars."
Following detailed mission concept studies, which are due for
submission by March 31, 1999, NASA intends to select one or two of
the mission proposals in June 1999 for full development as the
seventh and possibly eighth Discovery Program flights.
The selected proposals were judged to have the best science
value among 30 total proposals submitted to NASA in response to
the Discovery Announcement of Opportunity (AO-98-OSS-04) issued on
March 31, 1998. Each will now receive $375,000 to conduct a four-
month implementation feasibility study focused on cost, management
and technical plans, including small business involvement and
educational outreach. As stated in the AO, the initial mission
cost estimates will not be allowed to grow by more than 20 percent
in the detailed final proposals.
The selected proposals are:
- Aladdin, a mission to gather samples of the small Martian
moons Phobos and Deimos by firing projectiles into the moons'
surface and gathering the ejecta during slow flybys. It would
then return the samples to Earth for detailed study. Aladdin
would be led by Dr. Carle Pieters of Brown University in
Providence, RI, at a total mission cost to NASA, including
launch vehicle and operations, of $247.7 million.
- Deep Impact, a flyby mission designed to fire an 1,100-pound
(500 kilogram) copper projectile into the comet P/Tempel 1,
excavating a large crater more than 65 feet (20 meters) deep,
in order to expose its pristine interior ice and rock. Deep
Impact would be led by Dr. Michael A'Hearn of the University of
Maryland, College Park, at a total cost of $203.8 million.
- The Interior Structure and Internal Dynamical Evolution of
Jupiter, or INSIDE Jupiter, an orbiter spacecraft to study the
giant gas planet's interior, and its relationship to the
atmosphere, through intensive measurements of Jupiter's
gravitational and magnetic fields. INSIDE Jupiter would be led
by Dr. Edward Smith of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, CA, at a total cost of $227.3 million.
- The Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and
Ranging mission, or Messenger, an orbiter spacecraft carrying
seven instruments to globally image and study the closest
planet to the Sun. Messenger would be led by Dr. Sean Solomon
of the Carnegie Institution, Washington, DC, at a total cost of
$279.3 million.
- The Venus Sounder for Planetary Exploration, or Vesper, an
orbiter with four instruments to measure the composition and
dynamic circulation of the middle atmosphere of Venus and its
similarities to processes in Earth's atmosphere. Vesper would
be led by Dr. Gordon Chin of NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center, Greenbelt, MD, at a total cost of $195.8 million.
Aladdin and Messenger were finalists in the previous round of
Discovery Program mission selections in 1997.
The solar wind science hardware to be built as part of the
selected Mission of Opportunity is intended for an instrument
called the Analyzer of Space Plasmas and Energetic Atoms, or
ASPERA-3. The principal investigator for this instrument is Dr.
R. Lundin of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Kiruna,
Sweden. The co-investigator being funded by NASA is Dr. David
Winningham of the Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX.
NASA will provide approximately $5.3 million for the electron and
ion spectrometer to be prepared for launch in 2003 aboard the Mars
Express mission.
The investigations proposed in response to this AO were
required to address the goals and objectives of the Office of
Space Science's Solar System Exploration theme, or the search for
extrasolar planetary systems element of the Astronomical Search
for Origins theme. The missions must be ready for launch no later
than Sept. 30, 2004, within the Discovery Program's development
cost cap of $190 million in Fiscal 1999 dollars over 36 months,
and a total mission cost of $299 million.
The next launch of a Discovery mission is scheduled for Feb.
6, 1999, when the Stardust mission will be sent on its way to
gather a sample of comet dust and return it to Earth in January
2006. The first Discovery mission, the Near Earth Asteroid
Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft, is due to arrive at its target
asteroid, 433 Eros, on Jan. 10, 1999, for at least a year of
close-up observations from an orbit around the Manhattan-sized
body.
-end-
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