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Дата: 20 октября 1998 (1998-10-20) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: The Universe as seen by ISO (Forwarded) Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... European Space Agency Press Information Note No. 33-98 Paris, France 15 October 1998 "THE UNIVERSE AS SEEN BY ISO" Latest ISO results to be presented at an International meeting in Paris -- 20-23 October Nearly 400 hundred infrared astronomers will attend a conference in Paris from October the 20th to the 23rd to review and discuss the latest results from the European Infrared Space Telescope, ISO. This will be the first major scientific conference devoted to ISO since the end of its in-orbit mission last May. Thus, it's a long-awaited occasion for the scientists to come to conclusions and start picturing the infrared face of the universe in detail. The meeting, entitled "The Universe as seen by ISO", will be held at UNESCO, Place de Fontenoy, 75007-PARIS where nearly 300 scientific papers ranging over all fields of Astronomy, from Solar System to Cosmology, will be presented and analysed by infrared astronomers. Press interested in the ISO results presentations are invited to attend the conference and to contact Monica Salomone, the ISO press representative at the registration desk. For further information, please contact: ESA Public Relations Division Tel: +33(0)1.53.69.7155 Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.7690 Background The infrared universe is relatively poorly known because infrared light comes from dusty and cold regions that are invisible to other telescopes. ISO, the best infrared space telescope so far, finally has swept away the dust and seen all the way through. ISO scientists, therefore, are ready for surprises. The recent discovery by ISO of the presence of water throughout the universe was already a hint of what is still to come. More findings can be expected from this meeting, and a few results are already summarized below. Rings of Andromeda: "ISO unveils the hidden rings of Andromeda " The Andromeda galaxy, one of the closest companions of our own galaxy, has been hiding from the astronomers' eyes one of its secrets: while always considered a typical spiral galaxy, ISO sees it now as a spectacular ringed galaxy. Andromeda is thus structured in multiple concentric rings, made of very cold dust -- at about -260 degree C. The cold dust cannot be seen by optical telescopes, that's the reason why the rings have always remained hidden in the common views of the galaxy. The new data suggest that Andromeda might be undergoing a transition phase to become a ringed galaxy which would be seen as such also by conventional telescopes in the distant future Gravitational arcs: "ISO detects the first known infrared bright gravitational arcs and shows distant young galaxies in collision" ISO has detected the first known infrared-bright gravitational arcs, which may be the distorted and magnified images of distant young galaxies in collision. Before ISO no gravitational arc had been detected at these wavelengths, so these results make a nice victory for those who, against all pessimistic predictions, bet on ISO's sensitivity to detect gravitational arcs by infrared light. The newly-observed arcs number more than thirty, and the galaxies they reveal are some of the farthest objects ever seen in the mid-infrared. To all other telescopes these objects have remained deeply obscured by dust. This means that ISO is unveiling the hidden side of the early universe, the processes that took place when the cosmos was about one third of its present age or even younger. Ring of organic matter: "ISO sees a ring of organic matter surrounding a star" A huge ring of organic matter surrounding a young star has been observed by ISO. This kind of structure has never been detected before. With this finding ISO shows again a clear example of how the stars and their environment work as the Nature's chemical factories: not only water is being produced there -- as ISO demonstrated -- but also complex organic molecules are present; these molecules are, essentially, the basic building blocks of all living organisms. More information on these results is available at the ESA Science web-pages (http//www.sci.esa.int/iso) and the ISO web site (http://www.iso.vilspa.esa.es). About ISO ISO was put into orbit in November 1995, by an Ariane 44P launcher from the European space base at Kourou in French Guiana. As an unprecedented observatory for infrared astronomy, able to examine cool and hidden places in the Universe, ISO successfully made more than 26,000 scientific observations. The liquid helium supply, used to cool the telescope and instruments close to the absolute zero of temperature, lasted almost a year longer than expected, but ran out on 8 April 1998 (see ESA Press Information Note No. 11-98 of 9 April). Daily information from the meeting Daily updated information on the results being presented in the conference will be available on the ESA Science web pages (http://www.sci.esa.int ) and the ISO web pages (http://www.iso.vilspa.esa.es), where pictures and background information on ISO are also available. Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 20 октября 1998 (1998-10-20) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: ESA astronaut to become first Spaniard in Space (Forwarded) Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... European Space Agency Press Information Note No. 34-98 Paris, France 15 October 1998 ESA astonaut to become first Spaniard in space European Space Agency astronaut Pedro Duque will become the first Spanish national to travel into space when he lifts off with an international crew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on 29 October. The crew of seven will also include US Senator John Glenn, the first American ever to orbit the Earth, back in 1962, and Japanese astronaut Chiaki Mukai. The main purpose of this nine-day space mission is to conduct a variety of science experiments, focusing on life sciences, physical sciences and advanced technology. ESA will have a good share of the payload on board, concentrated in a pressurised module where free-floating astronauts will perform experiments. This module, known as Spacehab, was built by industry, drawing on experience gained through ESA's Spacelab. During the mission, Duque will have the tasks of deploying communication antennae, switching on the Spacehab systems and looking after a record number of 19 portable computers being carried by Discovery to help run the Shuttle's systems and experiments. On 20 October, before this exciting mission begins, media representatives will have the opportunity to interview Pedro Duque in Houston from ESA's Satellite Tracking Station in Villafranca, near Madrid, via an audio-video link, between 15:00 and 16:00 hrs. To enable the press to follow the beginning of the mission on 29 October, a live video transmission of the launch is being organised and a press centre will be set up at ESA's Satellite Tracking Station at Villafranca. The event starts at 19:00 hrs, for a launch window opening at 20:00 hrs. Several ESA specialists and national and local VIPs will be present. During the mission there will be two link-ups between people on the ground and Pedro Duque in orbit, offering interesting opportunities for the media: * Monday 2 November: An educational event with Pedro Duque, the Shuttle Commander Curt Brown and Senator John Glenn talking to schoolchildren (location to be determined). * Thursday 5 November: in-flight news conference. Media representatives at ESA's Satellite Tracking Station at Villafranca will have 11 minutes to ask Pedro Duque questions in the framework of a 25-minute press conference with the whole crew. Note: All dates are based on a nominal launch on 29 October. Media representatives wishing to follow these events are requested to complete the attached reply form and send it to ESA Public Relations in Paris, fax. + 33 1 5369 7690. For further information on the mission and these events, contact: ESA Public Relations: tel + 33 1 5369 7155 ESA Villafranca: tel + 34 91 813 11 00 MINER Press Office, tel + 34 91 349 4838 For more information on the mission : htpp://www.pas.ksc.nasa.gov htpp://www.estec.esa.nl/spaceflight htpp://www.cdti.es htpp://www.shuttlepresskit.com Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 20 октября 1998 (1998-10-20) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: John Glenn to conduct U.Alabama-Huntsville experiments aboard STS-95 s Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... University of Alabama-Huntsville For additional information: Ray Garner, (256) 890-6414 Dr. Marian L. Lewis, (256) 890-6553 Phillip Gentry, (256) 890-6414 John Glenn to conduct UAH experiments aboard STS-95 shuttle flight next month When Sen. John H. Glenn Jr. makes his second journey into space next month, some of his time aboard the shuttle will be spent conducting life science experiments managed by The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). The 77-year-old Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth 36 years ago. He returns to space aboard the shuttle Discovery for NASA's STS-95 mission. The launch is scheduled Oct. 29, 1998. Research scientists from The University of Alabama in Huntsville have spent hours with Glenn, conducting training sessions with Glenn on the experiments. These UAH scientists include project manager Marian L. Lewis and mission manager Niki Myers. Glenn will conduct several UAH experiments while aboard STS-95. The UAH experiment package, Biodynamics and Space Cell Culture, the "biodyn" payload for short, is expected to foster the commercial development of space through the production of bio-materials by living cells. Biodyn's experiments have been tailored to address medical conditions including those related to aging, such as heart and vascular disease, bone degeneration, diabetes and cancer. Biodyn includes experiments for UAH-affiliated companies involved in tissue engineering, such as bone implants and heart muscle patches. The experiment package includes plant cells capable of producing anti-cancer and anti- alcoholism compounds in a microgravity environment. Hardware aboard the shuttle, developed by UAH and its affiliates Synthecon Inc. and Space Hardware Optimization Technology Inc., will also grow cells that produce a genetically engineered protein that should help prevent rejection of organ and tissue transplants. "All of these biomedical products have great humanitarian value and together occupy an existing commercial market niche estimated in value in the billions of dollars," according to project manager UAH Research Scientist Marian L. Lewis. "The results could benefit millions of Americans and other people worldwide." For example, simple heart muscle patches can be developed on Earth, but multi-layered patches that could replace damaged heart muscle must be produced in a gravity-free environment, according to Lewis. Those multi-layered patches could eventually reduce the need for heart transplants, Lewis said. There are more than 50,000 people each year needing a heart transplant to survive and there are only 2,000 donors available annually. Another experiment involves UAH industry affiliate Millenium Biologix Inc. The company will prepare human bone transplants by seeding the company's artificial material with human bone cells. This tissue forms more readily in microgravity and could lead to revolutionary products from synthetic bone. These products have potential for dental implants, long bone grafts and coating for orthopedic implants, such as hip replacements. A California company will be flying an experiment in the UAH package that would improve the material used to surround insulin-producing cells in microcapsules implanted to combat diabetes. Research scientists with VivoRx Inc. believe the molecular structure of material used in those microcapsules could be more uniform in a microgravity environment and thus improve the product's effectiveness. The Biodyn payload is managed by UAH's Consortium for Materials Development in Space and is sponsored by the Space Processing Division of NASA's Office of Space Access and Technology. John Glenn returns to space Glenn's first trip into space took place on February 20, 1962, aboard a Mercury capsule, Friendship 7. He orbited the planet three times and spent almost five hours in space. The 77-year-old, four-term U.S. Senator from Ohio, will now return to space aboard the shuttle -- some 36 years after his initial flight into outer space. The STS-95 mission is expected to last eight days and 21 hours. Glenn is traveling as a payload specialist on the upcoming mission. He will take part in numerous experiments to study the connection between weightlessness and the aging process. "The basic purpose of why I'm going is not just to go sight-seeing," Glenn said earlier this year. "It's to do basic research and I'm going to do the very best I can do because I think it's important for millions of people into the future." Glenn will not be the first member of Congress to fly in space. Utah Senator Jake Garn flew on a shuttle mission in 1985 and Congressman Bill Nelson of Florida flew aboard the shuttle Columbia in early 1986. Glenn has more than 5,455 hours of flying time, including 1,900 hours in jet aircraft. Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 20 октября 1998 (1998-10-20) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: MANTRA Balloon Returns (Forwarded) Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... [From October 13, 1998 issue of The Bulletin, University of Toronto.] MANTRA Balloon Returns A U of T investigator's wayward balloon came home last week -- bullet holes and all. The gondola from the MANTRA (Middle Atmosphere Nitrogen Trend Assessment) research balloon arrived in Toronto after retrieval from a small island in the Baltic Sea. The unmanned Canadian Space Agency balloon was carrying a $500,000 instrument package when its planned 18-hour flight on Aug. 24 to study the ozone layer unintentionally turned into an odyssey across half of Canada, the Atlantic Ocean and most of Europe. Despite being shot at by Canadian Forces aircraft trying to prevent the giant helium balloon from drifting into commercial flight lanes, it serenely rode high-altitude winds for nine days before landing on its own. Professor Kim Strong of physics, principal researcher for the MANTRA project, said all the instruments are still serviceable, despite one, maybe two obvious bullet holes in the gondola. "We should be able to reuse all the instruments," she said. The balloon's mission was to evaluate atmospheric composition by measuring the absorption of sunlight by atmospheric gases. All the data collected in the planned 18-hour flight was transmitted to a ground station before the gondola?s release mechanisms failed and the balloon sailed away. The investigators were lucky to retrieve the instruments at all, Strong said; if MANTRA had come to earth a few miles in any direction, it could have been irretrievably lost in the Baltic. Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 20 октября 1998 (1998-10-20) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Cassini Update - October 16, 1998 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Cassini Significant Events for 10/09/98 - 10/15/98 Spacecraft Status: The most recent Spacecraft status is from the DSN tracking pass on Monday, 10/12, over Madrid. The Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and is executing the C10 sequence nominally. The speed of the spacecraft can be viewed on the "Where is Cassini Now?" web page (http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/today/). Spacecraft Activity Summary: Saturday, 10/10, routine maintenance was performed on the SSR flight software partitions. Sunday, 10/11, quarterly Periodic Instrument Maintenance was performed as planned on board the spacecraft. This activity involves 11 out of the 12 onboard instruments and runs for a 24 hour period. Wednesday, 10/14, the Solid State Recorder (SSR) record and playback pointers were reset. Upcoming events: Activities scheduled for the week of 10/16 - 10/22 include: Active IVP Vector Update and RTE 158 Test on 10/19, and an SSR Pointer Reset on 10/21. Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 20 октября 1998 (1998-10-20) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: NASA Selects 345 Innovative Small Business Projects Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Michael Braukus Headquarters, Washington, DC October 16, 1998 (Phone: 202/358-1979) RELEASE: 98-191 NASA SELECTS 345 INNOVATIVE SMALL BUSINESS PROJECTS NASA has selected 345 research proposals for negotiation of Phase I contract awards for NASA's 1998 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. The combined award total is expected to be approximately $24 million. SBIR goals are to stimulate technological innovation, increase the use of small business (including women-owned and disadvantaged firms) in meeting federal research and development needs, and increase private-sector commercialization of results of federally funded research. The 1998 solicitation closed on July 7, 1998. NASA received 2,335 proposals submitted by small, high-technology businesses from across the United States. NASA's ten field centers reviewed proposals for technical merit and feasibility and relevance to NASA research and technology requirements. The selected firms will be awarded fixed-price contracts valued up to $70,000 each to perform a six- month Phase I feasibility study. Companies that successfully complete the Phase I activities are eligible to compete for Phase II selection the following year. The Phase II award allows for a two-year, fixed-price contract up to $600,000. The NASA SBIR Program Management Office is located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, with executive oversight by NASA's Office of Aero-Space Technology, Washington, DC. Individual SBIR projects are managed by the NASA field centers. - end - EDITOR'S NOTE: A listing of the companies selected for the program can be accessed on the Internet at URL: http://sbir.nasa.gov Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 20 октября 1998 (1998-10-20) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Sky & Telescope News Bulletin - October 16, 1998 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... SKY & TELESCOPE'S NEWS BULLETIN OCTOBER 16, 1998 NEPTUNE'S RING ARCS AND IO'S AURORAS Solar-system specialists from around the world met this week in Madison, Wisconsin, for the 30th meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences. Recent imaging results from the Hubble Space Telescope and Galileo orbiter were presented that reveal impressive new details about outer solar-system worlds. Richard Terrile (JPL) described his team's success in using HST's NICMOS infrared camera to track down elusive clumps of matter, called arcs, in Neptune's ring system. Although not seen since the Voyager 2 flyby in 1989, the ring arcs turned up very close to the positions predicted from Voyager data and several stellar occultations. However, the sightings failed to match the locations predicted by Carolyn Porco (University of Arizona). Several years ago she developed a theory, now widely accepted, for how resonant interactions with the small moon Galatea cause the arcs form in the first place. This means that dynamicists still don't fully understand how the enigmatic arcs form and endure. Among the meeting's most colorful results came from Paul Geissler (University of Arizona) and his colleagues. Geissler showed long-exposure Galileo images of Io taken when this moon was hidden in Jupiter's shadow. These reveal that Io is immersed in a faint auroral glow. However, rather than peaking at the moon's poles, the aurora is strongest over the locations pointing directly toward and away from Jupiter. These correspond to where Io is "connected" to Jupiter by a tremendous electrical current of some 400,000 volts. A trillion watts of energy courses through the satellite via this current, and the electricity causes the tenuous gas in Io's atmosphere to glow. Geissler points out that the aurora appears strongest directly over the locations of known volcanic plumes. REBORN SOHO SHOOTS THE SUN Hopes are high for the full recovery of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. Nine of the spacecraft's 12 instruments have been turned on, and the first images since June 24th were received on October 12th. According to Bernhard Fleck, SOHO project scientist at the European Space Agency, four of the spacecraft's instruments are fully functional and five others are being checked out. He notes, "So far no signs of damage due to thermal stress during the deep freeze have been detected." COMET GIACOBINI-ZINNER IN THE SPOTLIGHT With Comet Williams (C/1998 P1) less than 20 degrees from the Sun, it's out of the running for observers. However, comet watchers report that Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner is between magnitude 9.5 and 10. It is predicted to brighten to a hair better than 9th magnitude by the end of November. This week, Giacobini-Zinner is about 35 to 40 degrees above the southwest horizon at the end of evening twilight in the constellation Ophiuchus. The farther south you are, the higher the comet will appear. For a finder chart, see page 107 of the November Sky & Telescope, or visit http://www.skypub.com/comets/comets.html. Here are positions for Comet Giacobini-Zinner for 0 hours Universal Time (2000.0 coordinates) for the coming week: R.A. Dec. October 17 18h 05m +03.4 deg. October 19 18h 11m +02.5 deg. October 21 18h 18m +01.6 deg. THIS WEEK'S "SKY AT A GLANCE" Some daily events in the changing sky, from the editors of SKY & TELESCOPE. OCT. 18 -- SUNDAY * The "Spring Star," Arcturus, has far outstayed its season. At this time of year it's the brightest star twinkling low in the west during late twilight. It sets soon thereafter. * Jupiter's Great Red Spot should cross the planet's central meridian around 8:23 p.m. EDT. Lately the spot has been very pale with a dark outline and a small, reddish-brown patch in its south side. For all predicted Red Spot transit times this observing season, see http://www.skypub.com/whatsup/redspot.html. OCT. 19 -- MONDAY * The Orionid meteor shower is getting under way. It's a long-lasting shower, displaying several peaks from about October 20th to 26th. The best time to watch is from 1 or 2 a.m. daylight saving time until dawn. This year the Moon is out of the sky. Under ideal observing conditions you may see about 15 swift meteors per hour radiating from the direction of Orion's upraised club. * The eclipsing variable star Algol should be in one of its periodic dimmings, magnitude 3.4 instead of its usual 2.1, for a couple hours centered on 10:53 p.m. EDT. Algol takes several additional hours to fade and brighten. For a list of all of its predicted minima through next winter, see http://www.skypub.com/whatsup/algol.html. OCT. 20 -- TUESDAY * New moon (exact at 6:09 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time). * Jupiter's biggest moon, Ganymede, crosses the planet's face tonight from 8:27 to 11:37 p.m. EDT, followed by its tiny black shadow from 11:52 p.m. to 3:02 a.m. EDT. A complete list of Jupiter's satellite events this month is in the October Sky & Telescope, page 106. * Jupiter's Red Spot should transit around 10:01 p.m. EDT. OCT. 21 -- WEDNESDAY * October is when the lonely "Autumn Star," Fomalhaut, is about as high in view during evening as it ever gets. Look for it twinkling well to the lower right of bright Jupiter. They're separated by two or three fist-widths at arm's length. OCT. 22 -- THURSDAY * Algol should be at minimum light for