Электронная библиотека астронома-любителя. RU.SPACE.NEWS

Электронная библиотека астронома-любителя. Книги по астрономии, телескопостроению, оптике.

главная

библиотека

архив RSN

ссылки

Ru.Space.News:

год:

Интернет-магазин
Любимых игрушек!

Обзоры оружия и снаряжения

m31.spb.ru

0.036

Архив RU.SPACE.NEWS за 24 февраля 1998

Дата: 24 февраля 1998 (1998-02-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: WDC-A R&S Launch Announcement 12918: Global Stars Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... COSPAR/ISES WORLD WARNING AGENCY FOR SATELLITES WORLD DATA CENTER-A FOR R & S, NASA/GSFC CODE 633, GREENBELT, MARYLAND, 20771. USA SPACEWARN 12918 COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM NUMBER SPACECRAFT INTERNATIONAL ID (CATALOG NUMBER) LAUNCH DATE,UT GLOBAL STAR U-1 1998-008A 25162 14 FEBRUARY 1998 GLOBAL STAR U-2 1998-008B 25163 14 FEBRUARY 1998 GLOBAL STAR L-1 1998-008C 25164 14 FEBRUARY 1998 GLOBAL STAR L-2 1998-008D 25165 14 FEBRUARY 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 18 FEBRUARY 1998, 19:30 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: 24 февраля 1998 (1998-02-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: WDC-A R&S Launch Announcement 12919: Cosmos 2349 and Iridiums 50-54 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... COSPAR/ISES WORLD WARNING AGENCY FOR SATELLITES WORLD DATA CENTER-A FOR R & S, NASA/GSFC CODE 633, GREENBELT, MARYLAND, 20771. USA SPACEWARN 12919 COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM NUMBER SPACECRAFT INTERNATIONAL ID (CATALOG NUMBER) LAUNCH DATE,UT COSMOS 2349 1998-009A 25167 17 FEBRUARY 1998 IRIDIUM 50 1998-010A 25169 18 FEBRUARY 1998 IRIDIUM 51 1998-010B 25170 18 FEBRUARY 1998 IRIDIUM 52 1998-010C 25171 18 FEBRUARY 1998 IRIDIUM 53 1998-010D 25172 18 FEBRUARY 1998 IRIDIUM 54 1998-010E 25173 18 FEBRUARY 1998 R. PARTHASARATHY for DR.JOSEPH H. KING, DIRECTOR, WDC-A-R&S. [PH: (301) 286 7355. E-MAIL: KING@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV 20 FEBRUARY 1998, 14:00 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: 24 февраля 1998 (1998-02-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Glenn spins in Air Force centrifuge... [1/2] Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Air Force News Service Released: Feb 19, 1998 Glenn spins in Air Force centrifuge By Staff Sgt. Jason Tudor BROOKS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Senator John Glenn, who took his first trip into space almost 36 years ago, took a spin in an Air Force centrifuge here Feb. 19, bringing him one step closer to returning to space in October. Glenn, 76, completed two 9-minute missions simulating liftoff in the space shuttle. During each ride, he experienced gravitational forces about three times stronger than his own body weight. A team of more than 12 Air Force doctors, specialists and technicians ensured the Ohio senator and former Marine fighter pilot's ride would be uneventful. "It went great," Glenn said to a crowd of reporters gathered outside the Brooks facility. "I got a good drill. I was glad to do that." During the 18-minute span of the test, Glenn remarked several times that he felt "fine." He waved his arms several times as the G forces shifted him in the capsule. "It's like lifting dumbbells without anything in your hands," he said during the first 9-minute test session. Glenn was one of seven astronauts and one cosmonaut who received the centrifuge training during the day. The Air Force has performed these duties since 1991. Since then, more than 100 astronauts have filed through to take their spin in the device. Lt. Col. (Dr.) Jim Dooley, project officer for Glenn's visit, former Marine A-6 Intruder pilot and exercise physiologist, said he knew Glenn's experience would be uneventful. "It's not a difficult profile," Dooley said. "The experience is like having a 225-pound gorilla sit on your chest." Tech. Sgt. Mac Baker II controlled every aspect of Glenn's ride in the centrifuge. Baker said this ride was akin to a day at an amusement park, calling the profile benign. Baker's first job is to train fighter pilots in this centrifuge where pilots can experience up to nine Gs of force. "We call it training but it's really an orientation," Baker said. "Most roller coasters will reach 3 Gs, so this really isn't that tough. And, as for the issue of Glenn's age, doctors were on hand to monitor the senator's heart rate and rhythm. Col. (Dr.) John Marshall said Glenn's health has never been an issue to him reaching space again. "He's had a complete cardiopulmonary work-up," Marshall said, referring to the extensive tests done on Glenn's heart. "He's in excellent physical condition." Astronaut Pam Melroy, a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, finished the same profile earlier in the day. She said she is excited about Glenn's return to the astronautical fraternity. She also was very enthusiastic about the Air Force's role in space exploration. "I'm incredibly proud of the Air Force," Melroy said. "The Air Force has always had a role in space exploration. It's something we should always stay with." Glenn is slated to go on the STS-95 space shuttle mission in October, which will support a variety of research payloads including investigating the effects of space flight on the aging process. His first trip into space came Feb. 20, 1962, when he became the first person to orbit the Earth aboard "Friendship 7," a Mercury spacecraft. PHOTO CAPTIONS: [http://www.af.mil:80/news/Feb1998/n19980219_980207.html] Senator John Glenn is strapped in by NASA's Carlous Gillis, left, and Technical Sgt. Mac Baker, a centrifuge mission controller, at Brooks Air Force Base, Texas, on Feb. 19, 1998. Glenn completed two 9-minute missions in the centrifuge reaching a threshold of three G-forces, or three times his own body weight. Glenn was one of seven astronauts who performed the training today at Brooks. Glenn's training lasted about 30 minutes. (Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Steve Thurow) Senator John Glenn is strapped into the Brooks Air Force Base centrifuge by NASA's Carlous Gillis. Glenn was at the Texas base as part of his preparation for hisOctober space flight. (Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Steve Thurow) Airman Miguel Vargas, an aerospace physiologist at Brooks Air Force Base, Texas, monitors Senator John Glenn during strap-in prior to Glenn's centrifuge "G" qualification ride. (Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Steve Thurow) Tech. Sgt. Mac Baker, an aerospace physiologist at Brooks Air Force Base, Texas, monitors centrifuge operations during Senator John Glenn's "G" check ride. (Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Steve Thurow) ***** Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 февраля 1998 (1998-02-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: New El Nino Images Shows Warm Water Pool Is Thinning Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011 http://www.jpl.nasa.gov Contact: Mary Hardin (818) 354-0344 INTERNET ADVISORY February 19, 1998 NEW EL NINO IMAGE SHOWS WARM WATER POOL IS THINNING The most recent image from the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite shows the large, warm water pool, commonly referred to as El Nino, has thinned in volume along the central tropical Pacific, indicating that sea level is slowly beginning to return to a more normal state along the equator. The image shows sea surface height relative to normal ocean conditions on Feb. 5, 1998 and sea surface height is an indicator of the heat content of the ocean. The area and volume of the El Nino warm water pool that is affecting global weather patterns remains extremely large, but the pool has thinned along the equator and near the coast of South America. This 'thinning' means that the warm water is not as deep as it was a few months ago. Oceanographers indicate this is a classic pattern, typical of a mature El Nino condition that they would expect to see during the ocean's gradual transition back to normal sea level. Sea surface temperatures, as measured by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, (NOAA), are still well above normal throughout the tropical Pacific Ocean and are expected to remain that way into April and May. Using satellite imagery, buoy and ship data, and a forecasting model of the ocean-atmosphere system, NOAA has continued to issue an advisory indicating the so-called El Nino weather conditions that have impacted much of the United States and the world are expected to continue through the spring. The Feb. 5 image is now available online at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/elnino The U.S./French TOPEX/Poseidon mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology. ##### Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 февраля 1998 (1998-02-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: New Logo Selected For NASA's Next Mission To Mars Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... 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 Contact: Diane Ainsworth FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 19, 1998 NEW LOGO SELECTED FOR NASA'S NEXT MISSION TO MARS Space artist David Seal's colorful depiction of Mars and the next pair of spacecraft to explore its atmosphere and icy southern pole has been selected as the project insignia for NASA's 1998 Mars Polar Lander and Mars Climate Orbiter mission. The logo carries the inscription, "Unlocking Mars' history," in a bold gothic font, highlighting the scientific theme of the 1998 mission. On opposite sides of this triangular decal are the polar lander and next-generation Mars orbiter, which are set to launch from Cape Canaveral, FL, in late December 1998 and early January 1999. "The central idea of this insignia is shown in the globe of Mars, which is split down the middle to depict what Mars may have looked like in the past (on the left) and what it looks like today (on the right)," said Seal, a systems engineer in the Mission Design Group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. "This illustrates the science objectives of the mission, which are to study the history of Mars' climate and the behavior of related volatiles, such as water vapor and ground ice." Seal, who holds a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has designed many of NASA's spaceflight mission insignias, including the Mars Pathfinder, Mars Global Surveyor and Cassini mission logos. His computer-generated graphics have also appeared in numerous magazines, including Sky & Telescope, Astronomy, Science, Space News and Newsweek. Since joining JPL in 1991, Seal, 29, has worked on projects such as the Cassini mission to Saturn and the Shuttle Radar Topography mission. A resident of La Crescenta, CA, he specializes in orbital design, systems engineering and computer programming. The Mars Polar Lander and Mars Climate Orbiter are the second set of launches in a long-term program of Mars exploration known as the Mars Surveyor Program. The mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, CO, is NASA's industry partner in the mission. ##### Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 февраля 1998 (1998-02-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: SJI's Sky And Space Update - February 15, 1998 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... SAN JUAN INSTITUTE'S SKY AND SPACE UPDATE Summary information about the night sky and recent findings and events in solar system exploration and science. Updated every 2 weeks. LAST UPDATED: SUN. FEB. 15, 1998 Prepared by: Dr. Bruce Betts and Andre Bormanis OBJECTS TO LOOK FOR IN THE NIGHT SKY (MID-NORTHERN LATITUDES) VENUS is visible in the east-southeast in the early morning, looking like an extremely bright star. It is at its greatest brilliancy in the pre-dawn sky on the morning of Feb. 20. MERCURY is too close to the Sun to be seen. It will reappear in the early evening sky next month. MARS is very low in the southwest in the early evening. It looks like a yellowish-orange star. JUPITER enters conjunction with the Sun on Feb. 23. It will become visible again in the early morning sky next month. SATURN is moderately low in the southwest shortly after sunset. It is the brightest object in this part of the sky, looking like a yellowish star. SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE OBSERVERS: Planets located in the southern part of the sky for northern hemisphere observers will appear higher in southern hemisphere skies; those in the north will appear lower. THE MOON Last Quarter Moon occurs Feb. 19 at 7:27 a.m. PST (UT - 8 hours). New Moon occurs Feb. 26 at 9:26 a.m. PST, and passes directly in front of the Sun for a Total Solar Eclipse visible from parts of South America and the Caribbean. Unfortunately, observers in Southern California will only glimpse a slight partial eclipse (about 2% of the Sun will be covered) beginning at 8:31 a.m. PST, and ending 7 minutes later. NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN! A solar filter is required to view a partial eclipse. Alternatively, a pinhole in a sheet of aluminum foil can be used to project the image of the Sun onto a piece of paper for safe viewing. For more information on this eclipse, see http://www.skypub.com/eclipses. PLANETARY SPACEFLIGHT UPDATE NEAR: On January 22, 1998, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) satellite used Earth's gravity to change its orbital plane in preparation for an encounter with the asteroid 433 Eros. NEAR will rendezvous with 433 Eros early next year. A few lucky people were actually able to see NEAR as it passed the Earth: the spacecraft's nearly 100 square feet of solar panels reflected sunlight to several parts of the U.S. Although the reflection was not as bright as mission planners had expected, a few observers in California and Arizona reported seeing the spacecraft as it traveled across the constellation Perseus some 9000 miles above the Pacific. NEAR made its closest approach to Earth about an hour later, passing about 300 miles above Iran. NEXT DISCOVERY MISSIONS: NASA has chosen two new missions for its Discovery series of inexpensive planetary spacecraft. The GENESIS mission will send a spacecraft to a gravitationally stable point between the Earth and Sun for the purpose of collecting solar wind particles for a period of two years. The solar wind samples will eventually be returned to Earth for laboratory analysis. The CONTOUR (Comet Nucleus Tour) mission will launch a spacecraft for a series of three cometary close encounters. Contour will visit comet 2P/Encke in the year 2003, 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 in 2006, and 6P/d'Arrest in 2008. Contour will carefully inspect the nuclei of each comet, analyzing their dusty comas and taking spectra. THESE WEEKS IN SPACE HISTORY FEB. 15, 1564: Galileo Galilei, arguably the greatest scientist of the Renaissance, and the first person to point a telescope at the stars and record his observations, was born. Galileo discovered mountains and craters on the Moon, sunspots, and the four largest satellites of Jupiter, which are collectively known as the Galilean satellites. FEB. 18, 1930: The planet Pluto was discovered by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. Pluto is generally the most distant planet in the solar system, but its highly elliptical orbit brings it slightly closer to the Sun than Neptune for a few years every 250 years. Pluto is presently closer to the Sun than Neptune. FEB. 20, 1962: Astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. Glenn, now a U.S. Senator from the state of Ohio, will return to space aboard the U.S. Space Shuttle sometime in October. RANDOM SPACE FACT For the first 100 million years or so after the formation of the solar system, a bright, naked-eye comet was visible in the skies of Earth roughly once a week. ********************************************************************** The San Juan Institute (SJI) is a non-profit corporation headquartered in San Juan Capistrano, CA with divisions there and in Tucson, AZ. SJI carries out research and education in planetary and Earth sciences and astronomy, with funding provided by government grants and private donations, which are always needed. Partial funding for the SSU has been provided by NASA's Solar System Exploration Division. ********************************************************************** San Juan Capistrano Research Institute Ph: 714-240-2010, Fax: 714-240-0482 31882 Camino Capistrano, Suite 107 Email: educate@sji.org San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675 Web site: http://www.sji.org Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 февраля 1998 (1998-02-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Sky & Telescope News Bulletin - February 20, 1998 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... SKY & TELESCOPE'S NEWS BULLETIN FEBRUARY 20, 1998 ONWARD VOYAGER After traveling through space for more than two decades, the Voyager 1 spacecraft is now the most distant human-made object. At about 6:10 Universal Time (11:10 EST) on February 17th, Voyager 1 surpassed the distance of long-time record holder Pioneer 10. Since being launched in 1977, Voyager has journeyed 10.4 billion kilometers from the Sun. It is racing out of the solar system at 17.4 km per second (39,000 mph). Despite its age and distance, the spacecraft is still functioning and sending back data. Researchers expect that it will reach the heliopause -- the boundary of solar influence -- and officially enter interstellar space in three to five years. As Project Manager Ed B. Massey points out, by the time Voyager's 20-watt signal reaches Earth, it is "so faint that the amount of power reaching our antennas is 20 billion times smaller than the power of a digital watch battery." The spacecraft should have enough electrical power to operate for another 20 years. At that point, the spacecraft will be more than 20 billion km away. TOTALITY IN THE CARIBBEAN On Thursday, February 26th, the Moon will not only be new, but positioned in a direct line between the Sun and Earth, and thus eclipsing the Sun. The lunar shadow will sweep across the Earth in just a few hours. The eclipse will be total in parts of northern South America and the Caribbean, where over the next several days, thousands of eclipse chasers will gather to witness one of nature's greatest spectacles. If you can't be there for totality, you have a couple of options. Observers in much of the United States and eastern Canada can view the partially eclipsed Sun. Visibility is south and east of a line from Southern California through Kansas, Michigan, Quebec, and Labrador. See the map and other information in the February SKY & TELESCOPE, page 82 (it's also on SKY Online at http://www.skypub.com/eclipses/eclipses.html). Another option is to watch the eclipse online -- more than a dozen individuals and organizations are gearing up to broadcast the event over the Internet. You can catch the action at SKY Online (http://www.skypub.com/eclipses/s980226c.html) where we'll post (or link to) live or nearly live images of the eclipse from throughout the Americas, including views from the Caribbean transmitted from one or more of the five SKY & TELESCOPE/Scientific Expeditions tour groups. There's more to the eclipse activities than people gazing upward and snapping a few souvenir photographs. NASA has outlined what some of its scientists will doing. Researchers from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center will study the magnetic activity of the solar corona. And there will be simultaneous observations made using the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and Ulysses spacecraft. TEMPEL-TUTTLE IN THE EVENING SKY With the eclipse-week Moon out of the way, the situation is somewhat improved for viewing Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, which is also slipping closer to the horizon. The comet, the parent of the Leonid meteor stream, continues to move south through Pisces -- seemingly making a beeline toward Saturn. Observers report it is 8th magnitude and about 4 arcminutes in diameter. Here are positions for Tempel-Tuttle at 0 hours Universal Time in 2000.0 coordinates: R.A. Dec. February 21 01h 14m +12.2 deg. 23 01 14 +11.3 25 01 14 +10.5 THIS WEEK'S "SKY AT A GLANCE" Some daily events in the changing sky, from the editors of SKY & TELESCOPE. FEB. 22 -- SUNDAY * Mercury is in superior conjunction, behind the Sun. * As dawn begins to brighten on Monday morning, look low in the southeast for Venus just to the left of the waning crescent Moon. FEB. 23 -- MONDAY * The eclipsing variable star Algol should be at its minimum brightness, magnitude 3.4 instead of its usual 2.1, for a couple hours centered on 10:19 p.m. EST. For a complete schedule of Algol's eclipses for the rest of this observing season, go to http://www.skypub.com/whatsup/algol.html. * Jupiter is in conjunction behind the Sun. FEB. 24 -- TUESDAY * The red long-period variable stars T Hydrae and V Canum Venaticorum should be at maximum brightness (7th or 8th magnitude) around this date. FEB. 25 -- WEDNESDAY * As winter winds down, three carnivorous constellations of early spring climb the eastern evening sky in parallel. In the northeast is Ursa Major, the Great Bear, which includes the Big Dipper. In the east is Leo the Lion. And in the southeast is the head and front half of long, dim Hydra, the Sea Serpent. FEB. 26 -- THURSDAY * New Moon, and ECLIPSE OF THE SUN! The eclipse will be total in parts of northern South America and the Caribbean. It's partial for much of the United States and eastern Canada (south and east of a line from Southern California through Kansas, Michigan, Quebec, and Labrador). See the map and other information in the February Sky & Telescope, page 82 (it's also on SKY Online at http://www.skypub.com/eclipses/eclipses.html). The article has tips for viewing the Sun safely and projecting its image for classroom viewing. * Algol is at minimum light for a couple hours centered on 7:08 p.m. EST. FEB. 27 -- FRIDAY * A hairline waxing crescent Moon is close to dim Mars very low in the west at dusk. Try using binoculars; look far to the lower right of Saturn. This might be your final goodbye to Mars for the year. * Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is three or four ring-lengths east of the planet this evening through Monday evening. FEB. 28 -- SATURDAY * The crescent Moon shines below Saturn during and after dusk. ============================ THIS WEEK'S PLANET ROUNDUP ============================ MERCURY, JUPITER, URANUS, and NEPTUNE are hidden in the glare of the Sun. VENUS shines brightly in the southeast during dawn. MARS is disappearing into the sunset. It's very far to the lower right of Saturn. SATURN, in Pisces, shines at magnitude +0.6 in the west-southwest during and after dusk. PLUTO, magnitude 13.8, is at the Ophiuchus-Scorpius border in the south-southeast before dawn. (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 Standard Time, EST, equals Universal Time minus 5 hours.) More details, sky maps, and news of other celestial events appear each month in SKY & TELESCOPE, the essential magazine of astronomy. See our incredibly rich Web site at http://www.skypub.com/. Clear skies! SKY & TELESCOPE, P.O. Box 9111, Belmont, MA 02178 * 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@gs1.revnet.com and put the word "join" on the first line of the body of the message. To unsubscribe, send e-mail to skyline@gs1.revnet.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 02178-9111, 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! Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 февраля 1998 (1998-02-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Cassini Update - February 13, 1998 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Cassini Significant Event Report For Week Ending 02/13/98 MSO Significant Events input for week of Friday, 02/06 through Thursday, 02/12: Spacecraft Status: The Cassini spacecraft is presently traveling at a speed relative to the sun of approximately 127,000 kilometers/hour (~80,000 mph) and has traveled approximately 302 million kilometers (~188 million miles) since launch last October 15. The most recent Spacecraft status is from the DSN tracking pass on Thursday, 02/12, over Goldstone. The Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and is operating nominally, with the C6 sequence executing onboard. Inertial attitude control is being maintained using the spacecraft's hydrazine thrusters (RCS system). The spacecraft continues to fly in a High Gain Antenna-to-Sun attitude. It will maintain the HGA-to-Sun attitude, except for planned trajectory correction maneuvers, for the first 14 months of flight. Communication with Earth during early cruise is via one of the spacecraft's two low-gain antennas; the antenna selected depends on the relative geometry of the Sun, Earth and the spacecraft. The downlink telemetry rate is presently 40 bps. The spacecraft passed through Inferior Conjunction on February 9, with a minimum Sun-Earth-Spacecraft angle of 4.2 degrees. Because the spacecraft is held in a HGA-to-Sun attitude while in the inner solar system, the angle from the Earth to the spacecraft's LGA falls farther off the LGA boresight for the several weeks surrounding this geometric condition. During this period, the Deep Space Net transmitters and the spacecraft telecom subsystem are configured as necessary to direct signal strength either into Ranging for Navigation or telemetry for spacecraft health monitoring. The need for this additional management of spacecraft configuration will end on February 18. Spacecraft Activity Summary: On Friday, 02/06, and Saturday, 02/07, the spacecraft was in the ranging-only (i.e. telemetry off) configuration. On Sunday, 02/08, telemetry was turned on to acquire a track of data to monitor spacecraft health. Telemetry was turned off again prior to the end of the DSN track. This configuration change is being scheduled approximately twice per week during the ranging-only period surrounding Inferior Conjunction. On Monday, 02/09, the Solid State Recorder (SSR) record and playback pointers were reset, according to plan. This housekeeping activity, done approximately weekly, maximizes the amount of time that recorded engineering data is available for playback to the ground should an anomaly occur on the spacecraft. On Tuesday, 02/10, and Wednesday, 02/11, there were no changes in spacecraft configuration. On Thursday, 02/12, a Read-out was conducted of Propulsion Module Subsystem (PMS) Mass Properties. This activity was performed as part of standard preparations for Trajectory Correction Maneuver #2, scheduled for February 25th. Upcoming spacecraft events: Events for the week of 02/13 through 02/19 include: a reset of the SSR pointers (02/15), and SSR Flight Software Partition Maintenance (02/18). DSN Coverage: Over the past week Cassini had 7 DSN track periods (02/06, 02/08, 02/09, and 4 periods occurring 02/10 - 01/12). Two of the track periods were for telemetry; the others for ranging (Navigation). In the coming week there will be 11 DSN passes occurring daily from Friday (02/13), through Thursday (02/19). One of these will be for telemetry-only and eight will be for ranging-only. The final two passes of the coming week will have both ranging and telemetry, as the geometry of the Inferior Conjunction period will be behind us. Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 февраля 1998 (1998-02-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Cassini Update - February 20, 1998 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Cassini Significant Event Report For Week Ending 02/20/98 MSO Significant Events input for week of Friday, 02/13 through Thursday, 02/19: Spacecraft Status: The Cassini spacecraft is presently traveling at a speed relative to the sun of approximately 131,000 kilometers/hour (~82,000 mph) and has traveled approximately 324 million kilometers (~202 million miles) since launch last October 15. The most recent Spacecraft status is from the DSN tracking pass on Thursday, 02/19, over Madrid. The Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and is operating nominally, with the C6 sequence executing onboard. Inertial attitude control is being maintained using the spacecraft's hydrazine thrusters (RCS system). The spacecraft continues to fly in a High Gain Antenna-to-Sun attitude. It will maintain the HGA-to-Sun attitude, except for planned trajectory correction maneuvers, for the first 14 months of flight. Communication with Earth during early cruise is via one of the spacecraft's two low-gain antennas; the antenna selected depends on the relative geometry of the Sun, Earth and the spacecraft. The downlink telemetry rate is presently 40 bps. The spacecraft passed through Inferior Conjunction on February 9, with a minimum Sun-Earth-Spacecraft angle of 4.2 degrees. Because the spacecraft is held in a HGA-to-Sun attitude while in the inner solar system, the angle from the Earth to the spacecraft's LGA falls farther off the LGA boresight for the several weeks surrounding this geometric condition. During this period, the Deep Space Net transmitters and the spacecraft telecom subsystem are configured as necessary to direct signal strength either into Ranging for Navigation or telemetry for spacecraft health monitoring. The need for this additional management of spacecraft configuration ended on February 18. Spacecraft Activity Summary: From Friday, 02/13 through Tuesday, 02/17, the spacecraft was in the ranging- only (i.e. telemetry off) configuration with the exception of Saturday, 02/14, when telemetry was turned on for several hours to acquire a track of data to monitor spacecraft health. On Sunday, 02/15, the Solid State Recorder (SSR) record and playback pointers were reset, according to plan. This housekeeping activity, done approximately weekly, maximizes the amount of time that recorded engineering data is available for playback to the ground should an anomaly occur on the spacecraft. On Wednesday, updates to spacecraft mass value and RCS thruster parameters were sent to the spacecraft. These activities were performed as part of standard preparations for Trajectory Correction Maneuver #2, scheduled for February 25th. On Thursday, 02/19, there were no changes in spacecraft configuration. Upcoming spacecraft events: Events for the week of 02/20 through 02/26 include: a reset of the SSR pointers (02/20), uplink of the TCM #2 mini-sequence and a reset of the SSR pointers (02/24), execution and playback of the TCM #2 mini-sequence (02/25). DSN Coverage: Over the past week Cassini had 11 DSN tracks occurring daily from Friday (02/13), through Thursday (02/19). One of these was for telemetry-only and eight were for ranging-only. The final two passes of the past week had both ranging and telemetry, as the geometry of the Inferior Conjunction period is now behind us. In the coming week, in support of TCM-2, there will be 14 DSN passes. Letters of Agreement: Agreements on funding levels and major tasks for each of the 24 scientific investigations, including Program support for those investigations, have been or are being prepared. Agreement has now been reached and Letters of Agreement signed for 19 of the 24 investigations. The newest three include the Cosmic Dust Analyzer, the Cassini RADAR, and the Huygens Surface Science Package investigations. Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 февраля 1998 (1998-02-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Mars Surveyor 98 Update - February 13, 1998 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Mars Surveyor 98 Project Status Report February 13, 1998 John McNamee Mars Surveyor 98 Project Manager Orbiter and lander integration and test activities are proceeding on schedule with no significant problems. The flight Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) instrument was installed on the lander on Feb 9 and the camera achieved excellent performance in functional testing. Tests at Lockheed Martin indicate that MARDI is capable of imaging the surface after landing at millimeter level resolution. In addition, the MARDI field of view provides images of the surface which extend approximately 4 meters from the surface location of the lander. The MARDI installation and checkout completes the lander payload integration activities until the flight TEGA (Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer) is installed in June 1998. The Mars Color Imager (MARCI) will be integrated on the orbiter on Feb 18 and acoustic testing of the orbiter spacecraft begins on Feb 19. Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 февраля 1998 (1998-02-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: WDC-A R&S Launch Announcement 12920: COMETS Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... COSPAR/ISES WORLD WARNING AGENCY FOR SATELLITES WORLD DATA CENTER-A FOR R & S, NASA/GSFC CODE 633, GREENBELT, MARYLAND, 20771. USA SPACEWARN 12920 COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM NUMBER SPACECRAFT INTERNATIONAL ID (CATALOG NUMBER) LAUNCH DATE,UT COMETS 1998-011A 25175 21 FEBRUARY 1998 JOSEPH H. KING, DIRECTOR, WDC-A-R&S. [PH: (301) 286 7355. E-MAIL: KING@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV 23 FEBRUARY 1998, 17:20 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: 24 февраля 1998 (1998-02-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: NASA Celebrates The Achievements Of Minority University Students and P Subject: NASA Celebrates The Achievements Of Minority University Students and P Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Sonja Alexander February 23, 1998 Headquarters, Washington, DC (Phone: 202/358-1761) Steve Roy Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL (Phone: 205/544-6535) RELEASE: 98-34 NASA CELEBRATES THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF MINORITY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND PROFESSIONALS As part of a continuing effort to partner with minority universities to expand their involvement in the Nation's science and technology challenges, NASA is sponsoring the second annual University Research Center Technical Conference this week at the Von Braun Center, 700 Monroe Street, Huntsville, AL. The conference is hosted by Alabama A&M University and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, both located in Huntsville. To achieve its goal to increase research opportunities for both disadvantaged and disabled students, NASA has established University Research Centers at minority institutions-including 11 historically black colleges and three Hispanic-Serving Institutions. These centers provide students and faculty a NASA focus for research in various branches of aerospace sciences. The program highlights the significant inroads NASA is making to address the historical imbalances among U.S. science and engineering advanced degree recipients. Last year, 262 faculty members conducted NASA research with 549 participating students. This resulted in 451 peer-reviewed research papers accepted for publication, 11 new patents and 10 new commercial products in development. The program also resulted in students attaining 106 bachelor's degrees, 76 master's degrees and eight doctorates in science and technology fields. The University Research Center program was started in 1991, and has grown from an initial seven universities to the fourteen current participating institutions. Working as a partner with the research centers, NASA involves students and faculty from minority institutions in producing technical innovations through opportunities in aerospace research. Funding for the NASA University Research Center program is provided jointly by the NASA Office of Equal Opportunity Programs and the NASA Strategic Enterprises, including Earth Science, Space Science, Human Exploration and Development of Space, and Aeronautics and Space Transportation Technology. More information about the NASA University Research Center Program can be found at: http://mured.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/WWW/AWARDS/URC/awards.html - end - Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 24 февраля 1998 (1998-02-24) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Mars Global Surveyor Update - February 20, 1998 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Mars Global Surveyor Flight Status Report Friday, 20 February 1998 For the second consecutive month, conditions in the Martian atmosphere have remained calm, and aerobraking progress continues to proceed at a slightly faster than normal pace. As of today, Surveyor is completing one revolution around Mars every 15.7 hours. This orbit period is 93 minutes shorter than that predicted for this time prior to the winter holidays last year. The ability of the flight team to maintain the current level of aerobraking progress will depend on continued cooperation from the Martian atmosphere. Dr. Richard Zurek of the atmospheric advisory group reports that data from Surveyor's instruments indicates a slowly increasing amount of dust in the Martian air over the last month. Consequently, the flight team will continue to remain cautious because dust storms have a great potential to slow aerobraking progress. Historically, most global dust storms tend to occur during summer in the southern hemisphere on Mars. Although summer on the red planet began on February 7th, there is no indication at this time of the onset of another major dust storm similar to the one experienced over the Thanksgiving weekend in 1997. In other news this week, the flight team sent commands to the spacecraft on Wednesday to power off the Mars Orbiter Camera and Thermal Emission Spectrometer science instruments. The reason for this decision is that aerobraking operations and associated activities consume the majority of time during a single orbit. With the time of revolution around Mars shrinking orbit by orbit, there is no longer enough time to conduct both aerobraking and science operations. Despite the power off of the science instruments, the radio science team continues to collect data. This collection is made possible by the fact that the spacecraft currently passes behind Mars on every orbit as seen from the Earth. During this time, communications with the Earth is lost because Mars blocks the radio signal from the spacecraft. However, just before Surveyor enters this occultation zone, the radio signal passes through the thin Martian atmosphere on its way to Earth. An analysis of the distortion of the signal's strength and tone as it fades enables the radio science team to determine the atmospheric properties at specific locations on Mars. Science data collection by all of the instruments will resume in late March when the period of revolution around Mars has shrunk to 11.6 hours. At that time, aerobraking will be temporarily suspended by raising the low point of the orbit out of the atmosphere. This plan will allow for a concentrated period of science data collection during the spring and summer months of this year. Aerobraking will resume in September, and Surveyor will reach its Mars mapping orbit in late March or early April 1999. After a mission elapsed time of 470 days from launch, Surveyor is 213.04 million miles (342.86 million kilometers) from the Earth and in an orbit around Mars with a high point of 14,566 miles (23,442 km), a low point of 73.8 miles (118.8 km), and a period of 15.7 hours. The spacecraft is currently executing the P140 command sequence, and all systems continue to perform as expected. The next status report will be released on Friday, March 13th. Status report prepared by: Office of the Flight Operations Manager Mars Surveyor Operations Project NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 91109 Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

сайт служит астрономическому сообществу с 2005 года