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Дата: 19 ноября 1998 (1998-11-19) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: NASA And Vanderbilt University Announce Scholarship Program Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Beth Schmid Headquarters, Washington, DC November 17, 1998 (Phone: 202/358-1760) Jill Bratina Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN (Phone: 615/343-6866) RELEASE: 98-207 NASA AND VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY ANNOUNCE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM NASA and Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, have joined to sponsor a "Chroniclers of Discovery" Scholarship Program to help inspire and train students to become effective communicators of science, engineering, and technology to the public. The two-tier scholarship combines the practical scientific and engineering experience of NASA; the academic expertise of Vanderbilt; the hands-on experience of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL; the science communications background of the Discovery Channel, Bethesda, MD; and the resources of the Tennessee Space Grant Consortium and the National Space Grant College & Fellowship Program. At the ninth/tenth grade level, scholarships will enable students to participate in a Science Communication Space Academy, and at the high school senior level, one student will win a full- tuition scholarship to attend Vanderbilt University, funded by NASA through the Tennessee Space Grant Consortium. "NASA is committed to communicating to the American public what we learn through our mission of scientific research, space exploration and technology development, to benefit the quality of life on Earth," said Frank Owens, director of NASA's Education Division. "This requires a new emphasis in preparing students for both technical and communications professions. This new educational program demonstrates our commitment to this important realization." The scholarships will be awarded in national competitions open to all eligible students. To be eligible, the student must also be accepted for admission to Vanderbilt. The winning high school senior then receives a full-tuition scholarship to Vanderbilt, which offers an interdisciplinary major in science communication. "The American public needs to be able to make informed decisions about the scientific and technological issues facing our society," said Dr. Rick Chappell, director of Vanderbilt's Office of Science and Research Communications. "We've seen a growing demand over the years for professional communicators who are trained in the sciences, and that's why we developed the Chroniclers of Discovery program." In addition to being given the scholarship, the student also will be invited to participate in a summer work-study program at the Discovery Channel, where he or she will be able to develop science communication skills in a practical setting. Discovery is helping to promote the scholarships through its popular educational programs and web site for teachers. Between 20 and 40 ninth and tenth grade winners will receive a scholarship to a special Science Communications Space Academy at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. These scholarships are funded by several state members of NASA's Space Grant Consortium National Network. Students will spend a week learning about science, astronauts and space, and will take part in a simulated space flight. In addition, the student astronauts will prepare for and participate in a simulated press conference once they've "landed" back on Earth, where they will be asked to communicate their science results and space flight experience in clear and interesting terms. Applicants will submit biographical information, teacher recommendations, and a written or videotaped story describing, in accurate and compelling terms, a past scientific discovery or technological advance. Entries -- following a specific set of guidelines -- are due by Jan. 15, 1999. A panel comprised of representatives from different science communications careers and from the supporting organizations will choose the winner of the Vanderbilt tuition scholarship. The Space Academy winners will be chosen by the Space Grant Consortia in their respective states. The Vanderbilt scholarship recipient will be honored at a special symposium on communicating discovery to be held at Vanderbilt in April 1999. Interested high school seniors should contact Vanderbilt University Admissions (615/322-2561) for information and guidelines on the Vanderbilt Scholarship. Ninth and tenth grade students should contact the U.S. Space and Rocket Center (1-800- 894-2575) for information and guidelines on the Science Communication Space Academy scholarships. -end- Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 19 ноября 1998 (1998-11-19) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Voyager 2 Update - November 17, 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 Voyager Mission Status November 17, 1998 The Voyager 2 spacecraft, now on the outer fringes of the solar system, was returned to normal flight operations Saturday, November 14, after a 66-hour communications black-out which began abruptly on Thursday, November 12. Ground controllers at the Deep Space Network station near Madrid, Spain, lost Voyager 2's signal on Wednesday night at about 11:57 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (07:57 Universal Time Thursday). At the time, the spacecraft was in the process of shutting down power to its scan platform which contains science instruments, including the ultraviolet spectrometer. Preliminary analysis indicated that the commands were properly sent to the spacecraft. Turning off the scan platform is part of a power conservation plan to keep Voyager 2 operating until at least the year 2020. There are still five experiments operating on Voyager 2: the cosmic ray instrument, low-energy charged particle instrument, plasma science instrument, plasma wave instrument and the magnetometer. As the spacecraft's onboard plutonium power source decays, it is necessary to periodically reduce the spacecraft electrical power usage in order to maintain an adequate power margin. About 720 commands were sent Thursday to turn on the spacecraft's X-band transmitter; however, communication with the spacecraft was not immediately reestablished. Subsequent analysis of the probable failure modes suggested the spacecraft's onboard S-band exciter, a small oscillator used to generate the spacecraft's carrier frequencies, could have been shut off. About 360 commands were sent Friday evening to turn the spacecraft's S- band exciter back on. The flight team reacquired the spacecraft's signal Saturday evening at approximately 6:18 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (02:18 Universal Time on Sunday). Telemetry had been switched to a data rate of 40 bits per second from the standard operating rate of 160 bits per second. Spacecraft systems were functioning normally, although some hardware components were slightly warmer than expected. The flight team reported that the backup X-band transmitter was on at the time of signal reacquisition. Subsequent analysis of the spacecraft computer memory showed that the scan platform power-down sequence had executed exactly as planned. The team will continue to analyze data to determine the cause of signal loss. Voyager 2 is departing the solar system at 48 degrees to the south of the ecliptic plane at a speed of 15.9 kilometers per second (35,000 miles per hour). Round-trip light time from Earth to Voyager 2 is currently about 16 hours. The spacecraft is now 8.4 billion kilometers (5.2 billion miles) from Earth, or more than 56 times farther from the Sun than Earth is. Its twin, Voyager 1, the most distant human-made object in space, is healthy and operating normally. Voyager 1 is leaving Earth's neighborhood at 35 degrees to the north of the ecliptic plane at a speed of about 17.3 kilometers per second (38,752 miles per hour). Voyager 1 is currently 10.8 billion kilometers (6.7 billion miles) from Earth. ##### Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 19 ноября 1998 (1998-11-19) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Leonids meteor shower ... good news and bad news (Forwarded) Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Centre for Research in Earth and Space Technology Toronto, Ontario Leonids meteor shower ... good news and bad news November 17, Toronto -- Billed as the first meteor storm of the modern space age, the "two-part" Leonids storm didn't quite live up to scientists' expectations earlier this afternoon, but still offered viewers in the Far East a fantastic display during its two-hour peak beginning at roughly 2:20 pm EST. Ground observations collected by the Canadian science teams in Ulaan Baator, Mongolia and at Tindal Air Force Base, Australia, revealed a density of roughly 100-200 meteors per hour, posing little threat to Earth's satellite fleet. This number falls many times shy of the Leonids meteor storm of 1966, which coincided with the last trip by parent comet Tempel-Tuttle as part of its normal 33-year orbit around the Sun. "While it wasn't what we anticipated, it was a great opportunity for our science team to further develop our predictive model," said Richard Worsfold, CRESTech's Leonids project manager, who is with the Australia team at Tindal. "But, it's great news for satellite operators, who now only have to worry for part-B of the storm, which isn't until this time next year." In superlative terms, this year's Leonids will not go down in history as the first of the modern space age but as one of many showers. However, if "part B" of the storm takes place as predicted next year, as now seems to be the case, all records are still up for grabs. The 1999 storm, or shower, will be visible on November 17 next year, although this time visible over Europe and the Middle East and will quite definitely be the last opportunity for a major meteor storm for at least another 30 years. As of the shower's end, no satellites operators had reported anomalies. In all likelihood, these reports will, if applicable, be generated over the next several days or weeks at the discretion of satellite owners. Generally speaking, a storm requires sightings of at least 1000 meteors per hours, while a shower requires only about 100. Attached is a list of the recent meteor showers for comparison. * 1998 -- Leonids - 100 to 200 meteors/hour at peak * 1998 -- Draconid meteors - 300 meteors/hour at peak * 1993 -- Perseid meteors - 350 meteors/hour at peak * 1985 -- Draconid meteors - 500 meteors/hour at peak * 1969 -- Leonids - 350 meteors/hour at peak * 1966 -- Leonid meteors - 100,000 meteors/hour at peak (storm) The Centre for Research in Earth and Space Technology (CRESTech) is a not-for-profit science and technology organization created to conduct multidisciplinary collaborative research and development in Earth and space sciences. It is based in Toronto, Canada and supported by the Ontario government?s Centres of Excellence program. For more information on CRESTech's Leonids Program, please visit www.crestech.ca, or contact: Andre Bellefeuille CRESTech Communications (416) 665-5464 office,or (416) 707-9120 cell Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 19 ноября 1998 (1998-11-19) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Miniaturized Transmitter To Be Used In Efforts To Save Babies Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Renee Juhans Headquarters, Washington, DC November 18, 1998 (Phone: 202/358-1712) John Bluck Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA (Phone: 650/604-5026) Janet Basu University of California, San Francisco, News Services (Phone: 415/476-2557) RELEASE: 98-208 MINIATURIZED TRANSMITTER TO BE USED IN EFFORTS TO SAVE BABIES Early next year, a NASA-developed "pill transmitter" is expected to begin monitoring mothers and their babies following corrective fetal surgery. The "pill" will monitor body temperature, pressure and other vital signs in the womb, radioing this critical information to physicians. NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, is developing the pill, which is about one-third-of-an-inch across and one-and-one-third-inches long, in cooperation with the Fetal Treatment Center at the University of California, San Francisco. Later, an even smaller pill will be developed that can be swallowed by astronauts so that NASA can track their vital signs during space travel. "Nearly every time doctors operate on a fetus, the mother will later undergo pre-term labor that must be monitored," said Dr. Carsten Mundt, an electrical engineer on the Sensors 2000 team at Ames. "Pre-term labor is a serious problem that is difficult to predict and monitor with conventional equipment, and often leads to the death of the baby." "But if you implant our pill, you can measure pressure changes in the uterus that result from contractions," Mundt said. "When doctors are able to monitor the magnitude and frequency of contractions, the physicians can identify the onset of pre-term labor early enough to prevent it from becoming life threatening to the fetus." Earlier, pediatric surgeons at the Fetal Treatment Center pioneered a cesarean surgical approach to treat fetuses suffering from various birth defects including congenital diaphragmatic hernia. In this condition, a hole in the baby's diaphragm lets internal organs shift from inside the abdomen into the chest cavity, leaving insufficient room for lung development. Sixty to 75 percent of babies born with this condition perish. During some of these earlier surgeries, physicians implanted larger sensor- transmitters to monitor mothers and their fetuses. Recently, Fetal Treatment Center surgeons changed their technique from cesarean to a less-intrusive endoscopic method during which they make small incisions and insert tube-like devices through the mother's abdominal wall. Normally, an endoscope is used to see into the interior of a body or hollow organ. Endoscopic instruments are now also used more frequently in surgeries requiring smaller incisions. "This minimally invasive method represents the future of fetal surgery," said Michael Harrison, M.D., founding director of the Fetal Treatment Center, who in 1981 performed the world's first corrective surgery on a fetus before birth. "Because there are no commercially available sensor- transmitters small enough to fit through the tubes used in the new endoscopic surgery technique, scientists and engineers on our team developed the pill-shaped device so that it can pass through the tubes," said Ames team member Mike Skidmore. "Our first pill-shaped device can transmit temperatures as well as the pressure of uterine contractions." Ames scientists are testing a prototype version of another pill that can measure and transmit pH, or acidity in the fetus, according to Dr. Chris Somps, a scientist on the Sensors 2000 team. "Plans also call for even smaller pills that will measure the electrical activity of the fetal heart," he said. "These pills will transmit fetal heart data, as well as measurements of the baby's body chemicals including ionic calcium, carbon dioxide and glucose." "We would also like to use this technology to study what happens to astronauts during space travel," said Skidmore. "Not only could they swallow the smaller pill transmitters we plan to develop, but we have a conceptual design of small, flat transmitters that can be taped to the body like plastic bandages." "There are many possible medical uses for this technology; pills could monitor intestinal pressure changes, or stomach acidity in ulcer patients," Mundt said. "The acid-base balance in the body is a basic measure of health." -end- Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 19 ноября 1998 (1998-11-19) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Mars Global Surveyor Aerobraking Update - November 16, 1998 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Mars Global Surveyor Aerobraking Status Report Monday, November 16 (DOY 316/19:00:00 to DOY 320/19:00:00 UTC) Last Orbit Covered by this Report = 726 Total Phase I Aerobraking orbits accomplished = 180 Total Phase II Aerobraking orbits accomplished = 153 Total Science Phasing orbits accomplished = 290 Apoapsis altitude = 8950 km Apoapsis altitude decrease since start of aerobraking = 45075 km Periapsis altitude = 113.5 km Current Orbit Period = 05:56:37 Orbit Period decrease since start of aerobraking = 39:02:56 Starting Phase II orbit period = 11:38:02 RECENT EVENTS: Aerobraking operations continue to be uneventful as planned. The past 15 drag passes have provided 21.5 minutes of orbit period reduction. The rate of period reduction continues to out perform the baseline plan by 8.8 minutes. The margin is a valuable asset as long as orbit phasing does not become adversely affected. The project is now trying to decrease the average dynamic pressure to a value closer to 0.20 N/m2 which should maintain the 8.8 minute margin. The 6-orbit running mean is currently 0.270 N/m2 which is above the 0.23 corridor control trigger limit. Periapsis raise maneuvers have been executed on orbits 714 and 726. The results of the latter maneuver has not yet been seen, therefore the running mean continues to climb due to the lag. Currently, sequence P724 is controlling the S/C activities. It will be replaced early this evening with P728 which will control activities starting with orbit 728 through orbit 731. Since the orbit period is below 6 hours, a new sequence is being built in slightly less than 24 hours. Currently, the Navigation team predicts the period for 5 future orbits. The 1st is not used and the next 4 provide timing for the primary orbits in a sequence. Two additional orbits are included using the 6th and 7th predicted orbit periods as backup, but are not intended to be used. The decision to increase the number of primary orbits to 5 and thus the predicted orbits to 6 may be made at this week's reset meeting on Wednesday. Orbit timing predictions continue to be very good, although a slight delta V under prediction has been observed over the past 4 days. Subsystems continue to report excellent S/C health and performance. The -Y solar array yoke has shown no change in structural performance. The panel stiffness calculation has only been valid 3 times during the period but shows no degradation when the data is available. Attitude knowledge has been maintained throughout the period with excellent star processing. The power subsystem reports strong performance with 11.7 % maximum battery discharge depths each orbit. There is now 10.1 minutes of primary charger margin. The minimum MOLA laser temperature observed this period was 11.2њC during the corridor control maneuver on orbit 714. The largest temperature increase due to aero-heating was 67њC on the -Y solar array, cell side. The telecommunications subsystem continues solid performance. A short two hour S/C communications outage was experienced on DOY 317 (11/13) due to Lunar occultation. UPCOMING EVENTS: Periapsis for Orbit 727 DOY320/20:01:42 UTC Through Periapsis for Orbit 735 DOY322/18:53:53 UTC (Note: MST = UTC-7 hours DOY320=11/16) SPACECRAFT COMMANDING: There were 9 command files radiated to the S/C during this period. The total files radiated since launch is now 2972. These commands were sent in support of the following activities: Nominal drag pass sequences (P712, P716, P720, P724) Nominal corridor control maneuver sequences (A714, A726) Command loss timer resets Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 19 ноября 1998 (1998-11-19) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Deep Space 1 Quick Facts Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... DEEP SPACE 1: Quick Facts http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/ds1/quick_facts.html Mission Name: Deep Space 1 (DS1) Objective: To test 12 advanced technologies in deep space to lower the cost and risk to future science-driven missions that use them for the first time. Project Manager: David Lehman Major Contractors/Contribution: Spectrum Astro Inc., Gilbert, AZ (Spacecraft partner ); NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH, Hughes Electron Dynamics Division, Torrance, CA, Spectrum Astro, Moog Inc., East Aurora NY and Physical Science Inc., Andover, MA, (Ion Propulsion System); AEC-Able Engineering Inc., Goleta, CA, Tecstar, City of Industry, CA, Entech, Keller, TX, NASA's Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH (Solar Concentrator Arrays); NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (Remote Agent); U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ, SSG Inc., Waltham, MA, University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Tucson, AZ, Boston University Center of Space Physics, Boston, MA, Rockwell International Science Center, Thousand Oaks, CA (Miniature Integrated Camera Spectrometer [MICAS]); Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM (Plasma Experiment for Planetary Exploration[PEPE]); Motorola Government Space Systems Division Technology Group, Scottsdale, AZ (Small Deep Space Transponder); Lockheed Martin, Valley Forge, PA (Ka-Band Solid-State Power Amplifier); Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory, Cambridge, MA (Low-Power Electronics); U.S. Air Force's Phillips Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, NM, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, CO (Multifunctional Structure); Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, Boeing Co., Seattle, WA (Power Activation and Switching Module). Total Cost: $152.3M (FY95-99) Development Costs (new start to launch + 30 days): $94.8M Operations Costs: $10.3M Launch Service(including launch vehicle): $43.5M Science: $3.7M New Start Date: October 1, 1995 Launch Date: October 24, 1998 Launch Vehicle: Delta 7326-9.5 Med-Lite (first use of this model) Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida Mission Events: Validation Of: -SCARLET (solar arrays) October 1998 -Small Deep Space Transponder October 1998 -MICAS (Miniature Integrated Camera Spectrometer) November 1998 -Ion Propulsion System November/December 1998 -Autonomous Navigation December 1998 Flyby Of: -Asteroid 1992 KD On July 29, 1999 At 10 km Altitude End Of Mission Date: September 1999 Launch Mass: 486.32kg (includes spacecraft and propellants) High Gain Antenna Diameter: 0.274 meters Communications Frequencies: X, Ka Max Data Rate: 20 kilobits per second Max Power: 2500W (a majority of this power, 2100W, is used to power the ion engine) Date info. last updated: 11/5/98 Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 19 ноября 1998 (1998-11-19) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Leonid Meteor Storm Springs Early Surprise/Leonids peak earlier than e Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Royal Astronomical Society Press Notice Date: 18 November 1998 Released at 1.00 a.m. Ref. PN 98/24 Issued by: Dr Jacqueline Mitton RAS Public Relations Officer Office & home phone: Cambridge ((0)1223) 564914 FAX: Cambridge ((0)1223) 572892 E-mail: jmitton@dial.pipex.com Leonid Meteor Storm Springs Early Surprise Early reports suggests that the expected Leonid meteor storm did indeed take place -- but around 16 hours sooner than forecast. Astronomers working at the UK's Isaac Newton Telescope on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands estimated that they were seeing meteors at a rate of 2000 per hour as dawn broke around 5 a.m. GMT on Tuesday 17th November, with numbers still going up. Amateur astronomers and member of the public in the UK and other western European countries have been reporting large numbers of meteors -- hundreds per hour -- between about 1.00 and 6.00 a.m. on the 17th. By noon GMT, the rate seemed to have declined substantially, according to reports from observers in the US, where it was still dark. The peak of the storm probably occurred over the Atlantic Ocean around 6 a.m. GMT. Astronomer Dr Alan Fitzsimmons of the Queen's University, Belfast, was one of the lucky observers to witness the storm in the clear dark skies over the La Palma Observatory. "The number of bright meteors is astounding" he wrote as the storm grew in intensity at about 5.30 a.m.. "Every couple of minutes you get a bright flash behind you and you turn around to see the trail fading. The brightest meteors have bright green trails, and often bright red heads. We are approaching one meteor per second and the rate still seems to be increasing, but twilight is now beginning." The precise timing and strength of an exceptional meteor storm such as this is extremely difficult to predict. Astronomers bold enough to make forecasts had suggested the peak was most likely to be seen around 8 p.m. GMT, and any storm best seen from the Far East. Once the observations made this year are analysed, it should be easier to predict whether there could be a repeat performance in 1999. No information has yet been received on whether any satellites or spacecraft suffered damage as a result of the meteor storm. ***** ESA Science News http://sci.esa.int 18 Nov 1998 Leonids peak earlier than expected This year's Leonids shower was a wonderful event for those who finally enjoyed clear skies and stayed up long after midnight on 16 November, or got up early on the 17th. All indications are now that the peak of the Leonids shower was well ahead of the predicted time for the maximum rates (predicted time 19:15 to 20:00 UTC 17 November). Preliminary results indicate that the Earth passed the maximum about 16 hours earlier. This is, however, well within the uncertainties. Besides the threat meteor storms pose to spacecraft, there is also a significant interest in their scientific study. Meteors provide us with information about the larger grains (size of a grain of sand to a few centimetres) emitted from the nucleus of comets and about their dynamics, i.e. orbits in space. The study of their trails when they burn up in the upper atmosphere gives us information on the composition of the grains. Our poor understanding of how the dust grains are emitted from comets and of their density and shape -- all factors that influence their dynamics -- is responsible for the large uncertainties that exist when predicting the occurrence of storms. But here Rosetta, ESA's mission to comet Wirtanen, will provide the crucial information. Besides studying in detail the composition of a cometary nucleus, the spacecraft will follow the comet along its path from its most distant point from the Sun through perihelion (about the Sun). It will provide detailed information of the dust emission process -- the emission speeds as a function of grain size -- and study if the emission is continuous or in outburst, (so-called jets). All this will contribute to a significantly better understanding of cometary processes and to a more accurate prediction of phenomena like meteor showers and storm. G. Schwehm Rosetta project scientist USEFUL LINKS FOR THIS STORY ESA's John Zarnecki speaking on BBC (RealAudio) http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/215000/audio/_216474_zarnecki.ram Rosetta project http://sci.esa.int/rosetta/ BBC news report http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/special_report/1998/11/98/the_leonids_98/ newsid_216000/216446.stm Leonids Live http://www.LeonidsLive.com/ Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

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