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Дата: 13 ноября 1998 (1998-11-13) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Ракета Delta выведет на орбиту российский телевизионный спутник Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... 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 Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 13 ноября 1998 (1998-11-13) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Изображения метеорного потока Леонид будет транслироваться через Web Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... 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 Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 13 ноября 1998 (1998-11-13) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Орбита Международной космической станции не будет изменена Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... 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 Hа сегодня все, пока! =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 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... 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 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 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 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... 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 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... 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 11.2њC. The largest temperature increase due to aero-heating seen was 60њC 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 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 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 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... 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) Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... 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 Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 13 ноября 1998 (1998-11-13) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Five Discovery Mission Proposals Selected For Feasibility Studies Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... 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- Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

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