Universe Today

Mars Express Contract Signed

The contract to develop the Mars Express spacecraft was signed by the European Space Agency and Euro-Russian Starsem. The launch date for the spacecraft is set for June 2003. This is Starsem’s second contract with the ESA.

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Twin Telescopes Built

Two new ground-based telescopes have been built for two remote locations – Hawaii and Chile. Named Gemini telescopes, they use large mirrors and sophisticated electronics to be 10 times more powerful than those previously built.

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Cosmonauts Try to Raise Money for Mir

Desperate to keep Mir in orbit, two Russian cosmonauts have begun a grassroots effort to find funding for the doomed space station. Vitaly Sevastyanov and Gherman Titov have created the “People’s Charity Foundation” as a way for ordinary Russians to contribute to the station’s funding. They’ll need to raise $100 – $250 million to keep it up another year.

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Hubble Glimpses Star Birth

Stellar nurseries are normally obscured by a cloud of dust and gas, but the recent birth of a star in the Papillon Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud was revealed to the Hubble Space Telescope, as its birth was particularly violent, and blew off the obscuring dust.

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China Launches US Satellites

Two additions to the Iridium satellite network were launched on a Chinese Long March 2C – the 15th consecutive Chinese launch success. China is contracted to launch 1/3 of Iridium’s 66 satellites.

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Japan Delays Moon Mission

Originally slated for launch later this year, Japanese space officials have pushed back the launch of the Lunar-A spacecraft for at least 3 years. The spacecraft is designed to orbit the moon, and deploy penetrator probes into the surface. Upon tests, however, these probes were found to malfunction when they hit the ground, requiring the Japanese to redesign the system from scratch.

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QuikScat Ready for Launch

Built in only 12 months, the QuikScat will provide climatologists and meteorologists with daily pictures of winds above the world’s oceans. The satellite will be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on a Titan II rocked on June 18th.

Space Daily

Team Assigned to Investigate Launch Failures

An independent team of experts are investigating Boeing’s recent launch failures, seperate from the government investigations. The team will review the Delta, Sea Launch, and Upper Intertial Stage, and provide their report by the fall.

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Electrical Problem May Have Caused IKONOS Failure

It seems that aerospace companies do nothing but post-mortems these days. Lockheed Martin believes that the IKONOS 1 rocket launched from an Athena II rocket never reached orbit because of an electrical problem, which stopped a protective cover from being ejected at the proper time. With the additional load of the cover, the rocket didn’t have enough energy to reach orbit.

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Warp Drive Becomes Theoretically Possible

It’s been quite a controversy: is a warp drive possible? Physicists have taken both sides of this argument, with one stating that it’ll take more energy than available in the Universe, and now, and new paper by Chris Van Den Broeck which states that it might require much less energy.

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Globalstar Launch Delayed Again

As predicted, terrible weather in Florida has delayed the latest launch of Globalstar satellites on a Boeing Delta II rocket. The launch has been postponed until Thursday, with two launch windows to improve their chances of actually launching.

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Weather Delays Globalstar Launch

The Boeing launch of a Delta II was postponed due to bad weather that covered much of Florida. The rocket was carrying a set of four Globalstar satellites. Although there will be another launch window the next day, the weather outlook looks bleak, and it’s unlikely they’ll be able to launch.

Astronomy Now

Dust Cloud Found Around Ganymede

Using instruments designed for just this task, Galileo has discovered a dust cloud orbiting Ganymede – Jupiter’s largest moon. It’s believed the cloud was created by high velocity meteorites knocking dust into space when they strike.

BBC News

Asteroid Search Needs Funding

At the recent International Monitoring Programs for Asteroid and Comet Threat (IMPACT) conference in Torino, Italy, astronomers generally agreed that there was a greater need for funding an international cooperation for the search of Near Earth Objects (NEOs).

SpaceViews

Another Asteroid Impact Possibility Discovered

Astronomers have discovered another asteroid that may impact the Earth in the relatively near future. 1998 OX4 will pass extremely close to the Earth in 2046, and there’s a 1-in-10 million chance that it will strike. This is the third announcement of such a close call, and astronomers believe the announcements will continue as an increasing number of asteroids are discovered.

SpaceViews

Moon Has a Sodium Tail

Astronomers have discovered a sodium-gas “tail” that stretches away from the moon for at least half a million miles. Unsure exactly what’s causing this tail, astronomers theorize that it might be caused micrometeorites striking the moon, with the sodium pulled into the tail by the Earth’s gravity.

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Computer Programmed to Detect Alien Life

NASA is developing a computer program which they believe will assist the search for extraterrestrial life. Designed to recognize every variant of microbial life on Earth, the program would be incorporated into future missions to Mars, such as a rover that searches for life by cracking open rocks.

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Recent Solar Ejection Worried Astronomers

For a few hours last Tuesday, astronomers didn’t know if a massive coronal ejection, containing superheated plasma, would strike the Earth. After first witnessing the ejection, astronomers used the Internet to compare current images of the sun from around the world and decided that a worldwide alert wasn’t necessary.

BBC News

WIRE Failure Caused by Power Glitch

An investigation into the failure of the Wide-Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) satellite has concluded that a surge in a circuit led to the failure of the satellite. When the satellite was turned on, the surge caused it to prematurely blow the bolts on a sunscreen which protected a hydrogen tank. The unprotected hydrogen sublimated, spinning the satellite out of control.

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Discovery Returns Safely to Earth

Space Shuttle Discovery touched down early Sunday morning at the Kennedy Space Center in a rare night landing – only the 11th time a space shuttle landed in darkness. The total mission length was 10 days and consisted primarily of restocking the International Space Station.

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3-D Images Reveal Moon’s South Pole

Using the NASA’s Deep Space Network of radar antennas, Cornell and JPL researchers have revealed the moon’s southern pole. Many craters near the pole are never lit by the sun, and it’s theorized they contain frozen water ice which could be of use to future moon colonists. This area will be the target for the Lunar Prospector’s final impact with the moon.

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Shuttle Releases Disco Ball Satellite

Before its descent back to earth, Space Shuttle Discovery released the Starshine, a small ball covered with 900 highly-polished mirrors. 25,000 schools around the world are expected to track the Starshine’s orbit before it re-enters the atmosphere and burns up eight months from now.

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Russia Can’t Afford Safe Landing for Mir

Now that Russia has announced they won’t be able to afford to keep Mir aloft, officials have admitted they don’t even have enough money to ensure it doesn’t hit an uninhabited part of the Earth when it crashes. Controlling the descent would require several Progress cargo ships dock with Mir and guide the station with their engines.

CNN Space

Europa Probably Doesn’t Have Life

Although it’s been speculated that Jupiter’s moon Europa could sustain life, new evidence casts suspicion on the possibility. This is due to the fact that the planet is most likely covered by a 6 mile thick ice sheet which would smother all light that could reach the oceans beneath.

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Discovery Leaves Space Station

After three days loading cargo onto the International Space Station, the Space Shuttle Discovery completed its mission and disengaged from the station. The crew unloaded 3.5 tons of cargo onto the new station, which won’t see permanent residents until the Russian crew module launches later this year.

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Columbia Prepared for Chandra Launch

As Discovery prepares for landing, Space Shuttle Columbia is readied for its launch this summer – beginning with the attachment of the fuel tank and boosters. The main purpose of this mission is to launch the Chandra X-ray Telescope. The shuttle launch is planned for August 8th, but is hoping it can get an earlier date depending on launch facility availability.

Astronomy Now

Lunar Prospector’s Deliberate Crash Planned

NASA officials have confirmed that the Lunar Prospector, currently circling the moon, will be crash-landed in the hopes of discovering water on the lunar surface. Weighing as much as a car, and traveling at 1,100 mph, they hope by colliding the spacecraft into the moon, it will kick as much as 40 pounds of water vapour into space – detectable by Earth instruments.

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Roton Tests Delayed

Although ground tests of the Roton Atmospheric Test Vehicle have been carried out, a full air test flight of the rocket is behind schedule. Originally planned for only a few weeks after its announcement ceremony on March 1st, it’s already been 3 months of delays – there’ll likely be more.

Space Daily

Eta Carinae Grows Unusually Bright

Once one of the brightest stars in the night sky of the Southern hemisphere, Eta Carinae has been releasing an increasing amount of energy – now twice as much as it did 20 years ago. The star is over 100 times the size of our sun, and relatively close to our solar system – only 7,500 light years. Strangely, astronomers have no explanation why this energy increase is happening.

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Elongated Asteroids Could Be Weaker

Nothing more that a loose collection of rocks held together by gravity, elongated asteroids are believed to be much weaker than spherical asteroids. Light impacts or gravitational effects can pull these asteroids apart. This theory also helps explain how asteroids can have moons.

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Io May Contain High Concentrations of Salt

Astronomers have discovered large concentrations of chlorine in the atmosphere of Io – higher concentrations than anywhere else in the solar system. It’s believed this chlorine, spewed into the atmosphere by huge volcanoes, forms into common table salt on the surface of the planet.

Space Daily

Mir Will Finally Be Shut Down

Unable the find the additional funding they need, Russian officials have decided to scrap Mir. The current cosmonauts will leave the station for the last time in August, and it will remain unattended as its orbit decays into the atmosphere, finally burning up sometime in August.

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Sun’s Orbit Around the Galaxy Calculated

Using a precise radio telescope, astronomers have calculated exactly how long it takes for the sun to make one revolution around the Milky Way: 226 million years. Last time the sun was in this position, dinosaurs roamed the planet. To make their calculations, astronomers used Sagitarius A*, a star believed to be exactly at the center of the galaxy.

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Space Chronicle

Hubble Captures Entire Star Lifecycle

Recent photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope show a region of space that displays all stages of star evolution. The image is of the nebula NCG 3603, and it contains a blue supergiant star called Sher 25 surrounded by rings of interstellar gas.

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Earth Microbes Survive in Mars Conditions

A microbe discovered deep in the ocean near hot vents has been found to be able to thrive in Martian conditions – an environment hostile to almost every kind of life on Earth. The bacteria doesn’t require oxygen, but converts hydrogen and nitrogen into methane gas. Not only does this discovery raise hopes of finding life on Mars, but also of future techniques to make Mars more Earthlike, by introducing life to the planet.

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Shuttle Astronauts Visit Space Station

As part of their mission, astronauts from the Space Shuttle began their supply mission to the International Space Station by checking out their future home. Although it’s noisy and cold, the ISS already feels like home. The astronauts will spend the next 3 days transferring their cargo over.

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Increased Solar Storms Could Be a Threat in Year 2000

Researchers are forecasting that 2000 will be at the height of the sun’s 11-year solar cycle – a time when it’s most active with solar flares. This increase solar activity could cause a range of problems, from interference with satellite transmission to endangering astronaut’s spacewalks.

MSNBC

New Class of Brown Dwarf Discovered

Astronomers have discovered what they believe is a new class of star, which they’re calling methane brown dwarves. Approximately 10 to 80 times the size of Jupiter, the stars are too small to have the nuclear reactions that make stars shine brightly.

Space Central

Amateur Rocketeers Fight for Space Prize

The Space Frontier Foundation is offering $250,000 to the first amateur rocket group that can get a payload of 4.4 pounds into space (124 miles). Many groups are vying for the prize, and they’re using many innovative methods to get there, including launches from balloons.

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