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Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: WDC-A R&S Launch Announcement 12979: STS 88, SAT MEX 5, SWAS 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 12979 COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM NUMBER SPACECRAFT INTERNATIONAL ID (CATALOG NUMBER) LAUNCH DATE,UT STS 88 1998-069A 25549 04 DECEMBER 1998 SAT MEX 5 1998-070A 25558 06 DECEMBER 1998 SWAS 1998-071A 25560 06 DECEMBER 1998 DR. JOSEPH H. KING, DIRECTOR, WDC-A-R&S. [PH: (301) 286 7355. E-MAIL: KING@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV 07 DECEMBER 1998 13:30 UT] Further details will be in a forthcoming SPACEWARN Bulletin 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 SPACEWARN home page: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/ Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: British Astronomer Defends Manned Space Flight (Forwarded) Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Royal Astronomical Society Press Notice Date: 5 December 1998 For immediate release Ref. PN 98/27 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 British Astronomer Defends Manned Space Flight Dr Ian Crawford, an astronomer in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University College London, has spoken out in defence of manned spaced flight. As the successful launches of the first two sections of the International Space Station (ISS) re-open public and scientific debate on the value of manned activity in space, Dr Crawford, writing in the December issue of the Royal Astronomical Society's journal 'Astronomy and Geophysics', argues that the search for new scientific knowledge will benefit greatly from the development of human spaceflight infrastructure. Dr Crawford says, "Many scientists are sceptical about the suggested scientific applications of the ISS itself, but considerable advantages are likely to follow from an ability to assemble large structures in space, such as large space telescopes, lunar and planetary outposts, and eventually, interstellar space probes. The study of both the Moon and Mars would benefit from human exploration, especially the search for past life on Mars." The full text of Dr Crawford's article can be found at the following web site: http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~iac/spaceflight.html To contact Dr Crawford: Phone: 0171-419-3431 Fax: 0171-380-7145 e-mail: iac@star.ucl.ac.uk NOTE The views expressed in Dr Crawford's article are his own. Neither publication in 'Astronomy and Geophysics', nor the issue of this information note to the media, implies endorsement by the Royal Astronomical Society. Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: First Space Battlelab initiative may save $1 million (Forwarded) Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Air Force Space Command News Service FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 02, 1998 First Space Battlelab initiative may save $1 million SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE, Colo.(AFSPCNS) -- Air Force Space Command's Space Battlelab recently demonstrated that an inexpensive commercial telescope could save the Air Force up to $1 million or more. The 16-inch telescope is smaller and cheaper than the current Space Surveillance Network and is capable of providing accurate deep space tracking data that could augment SSN. This new capability, dubbed Space Surveillance Network Optical Augmentation, will consist of a series of smaller, unmanned observation sites that will support the four, fully manned SSN stations around the world that are owned and operated by the Air Force. "The greatest benefit of SOA is that when a manned SSN becomes inoperable due to weather or maintenance, SOA will keep our deep space satellites in sight," said project spokesman Maj. Walt Andress. The decision to fund SOA is currently being evaluated at Headquarters, Air Force Space Command, Peterson AFB, Colo. The Space Battlelab develops and tests the most innovative military space concepts in the world and currently has 12 other projects underway. SOA marks the Battlelab's first completed endeavor. For more information on the Space Battlelab go to their web site at: http://www.fafb.af.mil/battlelab. Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: New View Of Mars' North Pole Reported In Science Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: 6 DECEMBER 1998 AT 16:00:00 ET US Contact: Gabriel Paal gpaal@aaas.org 202-326-6421 New View Of Mars' North Pole Reported In Science Washington D.C. - Thanks to a new set of topographical measurements from the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, the surface features at Mars' north pole are now better known, on average, than some parts of Greenland and Antarctica. The data provide a different and far more detailed picture of the martian north pole than ever seen before and imply that the ice cap not only is smaller than previously thought, but also sits within a depression on the planet. Any water in the region should therefore flow towards the pole rather than the equator, a finding which seemingly runs counter to the prevailing view of polar water flow on Mars--and should thus prompt a rethinking of the planet's global hydrological cycle. These results and others, which have implications for understanding seasonal and long-term climate change on Mars, are reported in the 11 December issue of Science and will be announced at a news conference at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union on Sunday, 6 November. Although Mars' icy temperatures and its dry, apparently lifeless surfaces are very different from conditions on Earth, Mars' climate is more closely related to Earth's than any other planet in the solar system. The fate of water on Mars is key to understanding the planet's evolution and how the differences between the two planets have come about. The north polar ice cap is one of Mars' largest present-day reservoirs of water and other "volatile" substances (which evaporate easily). Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her colleagues used elevation measurements taken by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) on the Mars Global Surveyor to construct a precise topographic map of the martian north polar region. The results are hundreds of times more accurate than earlier measurements. Like an ice cube at the bottom of a bowl, the north polar ice cap appears to be nestled within a depression in Mars' surface that is much wider than previously thought. Therefore any liquid water that might exist in an aquifer just below the surface should flow towards the pole rather than the equator, as was previously assumed. Until now, researchers have proposed that ice cap meltwater flowing below ground towards lower latitudes could play a significant role in the planet's global hydrological cycle, but according to the MOLA data this does not seem to be the case. The ice cap also appears to be smaller than earlier measurements had indicated. Other observations from the MOLA data also shed light on the global water, or hydrological, cycle and climate change on Mars. The ice cap appears to be smaller now than it was in previous, and probably colder, times. The authors found a series of alternating bright and dark bands at the edges of the cap, a record of ice and dust deposits that should reflect changes in the seasons and longer-term climate patterns. The ice cap is also cut by deep canyons and spiral troughs. These features are unlike any found on Earth's ice sheets, but are probably formed by wind-related processes. MOLA also detected the presence of carbon dioxide clouds, which probably condense out of the martian atmosphere in cold winter temperatures. Identifying the ice cap's volume is an important step in figuring out the total abundance of water presently on Mars. Based on their data, the authors estimate that the ice cap's volume is less than half of the ice volume on Greenland. A news conference will take place at 12:15 p.m., Sunday, 6 December, at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union at the Moscone Convention Center, Room 112, 747 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA. Copies of the paper and related visuals will be available at the news conference and in the Press Room, Room 111. Dr. Zuber will be presenting the paper at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, 6 December. ### Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Laser provides first 3-D view of Mars' north pole (Forwarded) Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Douglas Isbell Headquarters December 6, 1998 Washington, DC (Phone: 202/358-1547) Cynthia M. O'Carroll Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD (Phone: 301/614-5563) Diane Ainsworth Jet Propulsion Laboratory Pasadena, CA (Phone: 818/354-5011) RELEASE NO: 98-209 (HQ 98-219) LASER PROVIDES FIRST 3-D VIEW OF MARS' NORTH POLE Measurements by a laser altimeter instrument orbiting aboard NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft are providing striking new views of the north pole of the red planet and the processes that have shaped it. This first three-dimensional picture of Mars' north pole enables scientists to estimate the volume of its water ice cap with unprecedented precision, and to study its surface variations and the heights of clouds in the region for the first time. The elevation measurements were collected by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) aboard Global Surveyor during the spring and summer of 1998, as the spacecraft orbited Mars in an interim elliptical orbit. MOLA sends laser pulses toward the planet and measures the precise amount of time before the reflected signals are received back at the instrument. From this data, scientists can infer surface and cloud heights. Approximately 2.6 million of these laser pulse measurements were assembled into a topographic grid of the north pole with a spatial resolution of .6 miles (one kilometer) and a vertical accuracy of 15-90 feet (5-30 meters). A peer-reviewed paper based on the measure-ments will be published in the Dec. 11 issue of Science magazine. The topographic map reveals that the ice cap is about 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) across, with a maximum thickness of 1.8 miles (3 kilometers). The cap is cut by canyons and troughs that plunge to as deep as 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) beneath the surface. "Similar features do not occur on any glacial or polar terrain on Earth," said Dr. Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. "They appear to be carved by wind and evaporation of ice." The MOLA data also reveal that large areas of the ice cap are extremely smooth, with elevations that vary by only a few feet over many miles. In some areas the ice cap is surrounded by large mounds of ice, tens of miles across and up to half a mile in height. "These structures appear to be remnants of the cap from a time when it was larger than at present," Zuber said. Impact craters surrounding the cap appear to be filled with ice and dust that was either deposited by wind or condensation, or perhaps remains from an earlier period when the ice cap was larger. The shape of the polar cap indicates that it is composed primarily of water ice, with a volume of 300,000 cubic miles (1.2 million cubic kilometers). The cap has an average thickness of 0.64 miles (1.03 kilometers) and covers an area 1.5 times the size of Texas. For comparison, the volume of the Martian north polar cap is less than half that of the Greenland ice cap, and about four percent of the Antarctic ice sheet. The estimated volume of the north ice cap is about 10 times less than the minimum volume of an ancient ocean that some scientists believe once existed on Mars. If a large body of water once existed on the red planet, the remainder of the water must presently be stored below the surface and in the much smaller south polar cap, or have been lost to space. Current models of Martian evolution do not easily explain such a large amount of unaccounted-for water. During its mapping of the north polar cap, the MOLA instrument also made the first direct measurement of cloud heights on the red planet. Reflections from the atmosphere were obtained at altitudes from just above the surface to more than nine miles (approximately 15 kilometers) on about 80 percent of the laser profiles. Most clouds were observed at high latitudes, at the boundary of the ice cap and surrounding terrain. Clouds observed over the polar cap are likely composed of carbon dioxide that condenses out of the atmosphere during northern hemisphere winter. Many clouds exhibit dynamic structure probably caused by winds interacting with surface topography, much as occurs on Earth when winds collide with mountains to produce turbulence. The principal investigator for MOLA is Dr. David E. Smith of Goddard. The MOLA instrument was designed and built by the Laser Remote Sensing Branch of Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics at Goddard. The Mars Global Surveyor Mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for the NASA Office of Space Science. Further information about MOLA and images created from its measurements of the north pole are available on the Internet at: http://ltpwww.gsfc.nasa.gov/tharsis/mola.html A color image of the north pole from the camera aboard Mars Global Surveyor is available at: http://www.msss.com/mars/global_surveyor/camera/images/ MENUS/poles_list.html Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: When the Sun "sneezes", ACE takes its temperature (Forwarded) Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... William Steigerwald Goddard Space Flight Center December 6, 1998 Greenbelt, MD (301) 286-5017 RELEASE NO: 98-210 EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE DECEMBER 6, 1998 AT 11:05 A.M. PST WHEN THE SUN "SNEEZES," ACE TAKES ITS TEMPERATURE For the first time, scientists are able to accurately determine the temperature of individual solar "sneezes," small explosions on the Sun called impulsive solar flares. The researchers used NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer spacecraft to observe a series of flares of this type in August, 1998. "These measurements are a first step to understanding how solar flares accelerate particles from the Sun to extremely high velocities," said Dr. Eberhard Moebius of the University of New Hampshire, who will present the research December 6 at the Fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, Calif. "These flares are relatively modest, compared to a typical solar flare. Before ACE, we had to average over a group of them to get a temperature estimate," added Dr. Joseph Mazur of the Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, Calif., a contributor to the research. The Solar Energetic Particle Ionic Charge Analyzer (SEPICA) instrument on board ACE derived the flare temperature by measuring the electric charge on high speed atoms shot from the flares. At high temperatures, electrons can be removed from atoms, giving the atoms a positive electric charge and allowing magnetic fields present in flares to accelerate them to high speeds. As temperatures rise, atoms lose more electrons until they have none left, a condition known as completely "stripped." "The atoms of various elements detected, from hydrogen to silicon, had been completely stripped, and iron was almost fully stripped. This corresponds to a flare temperature of about 18 million degrees Fahrenheit, much hotter than the surface of the Sun, which is only 10,000 degrees," said Mazur. "In the past, very often we were not sure whether these energetic particles came directly from solar flares or were accelerated between the Sun and the Earth. With the ACE payload, we have the means to exactly time their arrival and hence, infer the acceleration site, even for these very interesting small flares," said Moebius. "Exactly how magnetic fields within flares accelerate particles and release energy is unknown. Strange things happen in them. For example, for some reason, impulsive solar flares prefer to accelerate helium 3 atoms. The concentration of helium 3, a rare isotope of helium, in matter ejected from these flares is as much as 1,000 times greater than its average concentration throughout the rest of the Universe," said Moebius. As atoms lose electrons, they become electrically charged particles known as ions. Ions respond to magnetic fields; after their acceleration in a flare, they rush along invisible magnetic field lines extending from the Sun into interplanetary space, like race cars confined to a track. The Ultra Low Energy Isotope Spectrometer (ULEIS) instrument on ACE has identified many of these small flares when particles arrive directly along the interplanetary magnetic field lines (see the figure referenced at the end of this release). "The sensitive particle detectors on ACE tell us details about the interplanetary magnetic field. If the field were uniform, showers of particles from different flares would all last about the same time, approximately a day or so as the slower particles trail the fast ones. Occasionally, however, we see a particle shower from one flare suddenly 'turn off', while the shower from a different flare continues unaffected (see the figure referenced at the end of this press release, events # 5 & 6). Apparently some unknown feature of the interplanetary magnetic field must have severed the magnetic pathway between one of the events and ACE without severing the other. ACE provides another tool for diagnosing the structure of this unseen field," said Mazur. "The sensitive instruments on board ACE allow us to observe these events with a clarity and precision that has never been achieved before. As observations accumulate, hopefully we can unravel the mysteries of solar flares," said Mazur. NOTE TO EDITORS: Images to support this story may be found on the internet at: FTP://PAO.GSFC.NASA.GOV/newsmedia/ACE For more information about ACE, visit: http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/ace/ace.html For more information about solar flares and their effects on Earth, visit: http://www.sel.noaa.gov/primer/primer.html Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: The first El Nino observed and forecasted from start to finish: What w Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Lynn Chandler Goddard Space Flight Center Dec. 6, 1998 Greenbelt, MD (301) 614-5562 1 (888) 474-0912 (pager) John Leslie/NOAA 1 (800) 759-888 Pin # 1140197 (pager) RELEASE NO. 98-206 THE FIRST EL NINO OBSERVED AND FORECASTED FROM START TO FINISH: WHAT WAS LEARNED? For the first time in history, scientists around the world were able to observe a major climate event from the earliest stages of development through decline. These observations have brought 1) unprecedented insight into El Nino; 2) research data that will take years to analyze and 3) the opportunity to issue valuable predictions. The 1997-1998 El Nino "event of the century" was the best monitored and the first ever predicted El Nino on record, according to NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists who are presenting joint papers at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco tomorrow. Dr. Antonio Busalacchi, a NASA Goddard Space Flight Center scientist, reported that "the 1997-1998 El Nino will be the first time a major El Nino event and subsequent La Nina will have been observed globally from start to finish." Following the last strong El Nino in 1982-1983, the international science community deployed an extensive surface observing system in the tropical Pacific Ocean in support of monitoring and predicting El Nino. In addition, within the past 10 years, a series of oceans and atmospheric remote sensing satellites have been launched that supplement and enhance the observations being taken at the surface, and at depth, of the equatorial Pacific Ocean. These global observations have provided unprecedented information on sea surface temperature, sea surface topography, sea surface winds, ocean color and precipitation. "The observations of the climate system, combined with sophisticated ocean-atmosphere prediction models, and the science communities increased understanding of the atmospheric response, led to an incredibly bold forecast of El Nino nearly six months prior to the onset of the major impacts," said Dr. Ants Leetmaa, NOAA scientist. "Working with the emergency management community and other users we were able to start applying the forecasts for practical use and widespread education about climate variability. With this event, we were light years ahead of the last major El Nino." Leetmaa added, "NOAA learned that the impacts of El Nino are typically communicated through changes in the number and intensity of storms in areas that make up the midlatitudes, such as the United States." As a result, he said, "the El Nino phenomenon sets the stage for more extreme weather events." Beyond the impacts on U.S. and global weather patterns, the observation system also provided unprecedented insight on the impact of El Nino on marine life. The observations of the marine environment for the first time have shown how the physical climate system during El Nino obliterated the lowest levels of the marine ecosystem and subsequent impacts at higher levels in the food chain, said Busalacchi. Among the lessons learned to date from the 1997-1998 event have been the need for the global observations in addition to just those in the equatorial Pacific Ocean and the need for more regionally specific forecast tools, added Leetmaa and Busalacchi. The experience of the 1997-1998 El Nino has illustrated the global scale of the El Nino phenomenon and its impacts. "Today's El Nino monitoring system, coupled with ocean-atmosphere models, and scientific understanding are capable of giving three to nine month advance warning of significant shifts in global precipitation and temperature patterns" said Busalacchi. "It has also demonstrated the need to refine such forecasts to regional scales and revealed where additional observations are needed." NOAA's Climate Prediction Center monitors, analyzes and predicts climate events for the entire nation -- from weeks to seasons, NOAA operates the network of data bouys and satellitles that provide vital information about the ocean and intitiates research projects to improve future climate forecasts. NASA's El Nino research is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a long-term research program designed to study the Earth?s land, oceans, air ice and life as a total system. For information about El Nino, please visit: http://nic.fb4.noaa.gov/index.html http://nsipp.gsfc.nasa.gov/enso/ For images visit: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/~gshirah/nino/ Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: NASA monitors smog pollution from tropical fires (Forwarded) Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Lynn Chandler Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD (301) 614-5562 December 7, 1998 1 (888) 474-0912 (pager) RELEASE NO: 98-207 NASA MONITORS SMOG POLLUTION FROM TROPICAL FIRES For the first time, real-time maps of tropospheric ozone levels in the tropics are available to the world. NASA researcher Dr. Anne Thompson and her colleague, Dr. Robert Hudson, University of Maryland, and their graduate student, Hua Guo have developed a new technique for retrieving near ground levels of ozone. Using NASA?s Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS), tropical ozone pollution from large fires now can be tracked at the same time as smoke, dust and UV exposure. "Using a single sensor for multiple products instead of piecing together data from multiple sensors is more accurate," said Thompson, an atmospheric scientist at NASA?s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. "TOMS already obtains images of the amount of smoke present in the atmosphere anywhere in the world. We?re just adding another element by applying a new algorithm." Scientists have a special interest in smoke aerosols caused by fires because smoke contributes to the overall global air-pollution levels than can impact the quality of air that humans breathe. They also want to monitor smoke from large fires which could contribute to global climate change. The public and government now can follow what policy makers call "trans-boundary pollution" in which pollution sources -- urban and fire -- over one country create ozone pollution over their neighbors or even far away. Indonesia fires sent smoke and ozone pollution to highly populated areas in Malaysia. Ozone from African savanna fires ends up over the Atlantic, the Pacific and even Brazil. Brazilian fires lead to ozone over the Atlantic and Pacific. Since the beginning of the Mexican fires in March and April of 1998, NASA atmospheric researchers closely monitored the smoke aerosols emitted from the fires with NASA?s TOMS. The smoke was thick enough that it was easily visible on the ground and resembled a light haze to medium fog in parts of Texas, Georgia, and Florida. On April 16 the smoke plume extended across the Eastern U.S., passing through Ohio, and into southern Canada. "The ability to have multiple products, UV, smoke, and tropospheric ozone from a single sensor, is very attractive," said P. K. Bhartia, TOMS Project Scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center. "This now truly puts us on the threshold of the EOS (Earth Observing System) era where we?ll have integrated spacecraft doing many things." By 2000, the EOS AM-1 spacecraft will add carbon monoxide, a key ingredient in tropospheric ozone formation and a major product of large fires, to the list of chemicals that can be followed from space. The small particles that comprise smoke, called aerosols, can affect the amount of energy reaching the Earth?s surface by reflecting and/or absorbing sunlight. Smoke aerosols also can affect clouds by acting as small particles (condensation nuclei) upon which clouds can form. Clouds containing smoke aerosols are believed to reflect and absorb energy in different ways than clouds formed from other particles such as dust or sea salt. The impact of the 1997-1998 tropical fires from El Nino shows that a record high of tropospheric ozone (the "bad ozone" or "smog" of pollution) was a product of the fires that followed the drought of the 1997 El Nino. The normal progression of ozone from biomass burning -- both seasonal agricultural burning over Africa that happens each year, followed by South American savanna and slash-and-burn/deforestation -- was dramatically altered as Indonesian fires built up in late August and peak in September and October 1997. The NASA-developed TOMS instrument, which measures ozone indirectly by monitoring ultraviolet light scattered by the atmosphere, also produces daily maps of the global distribution of ozone in Earth?s atmosphere and of the surface UV. TOMS is part of NASA?s Earth Science Enterprise, a long-term research program designed to study the Earth?s land, oceans, air, ice and life as a total system. The TOMS program is managed by Goddard for NASA?s Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. See images at: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov:2001/imagewall/UARS/trop_ozone.html Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: New Galileo Images Show Closeup Of Fault On Europa 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: Jane Platt FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 7, 1998 EUROPA FAULT GIVES CALIFORNIA'S SAN ANDREAS A RUN FOR ITS MONEY New pictures from NASA's Galileo spacecraft show a closeup view of a fault, or fracture, on Jupiter's icy moon Europa that stretches as long as the California segment of the infamous San Andreas fault. The Europan fault, known as Astypalaea Linea (pronounced ast-ipp-uh-LAY-uh LINN-ee-uh) was first discovered in 1996 when Dr. Randy Tufts, Galileo imaging team affiliate and research associate at the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, reviewed distant images taken years earlier by NASA's Voyager spacecraft. The new mosaic of Galileo images released today captures a 290- kilometer-long (180-mile) portion of the fault in Europa's icy surface. Scientists calculate its full length at about 810 kilometers (more than 500 miles), about the same distance as the part of the San Andreas fault that runs from the California-Mexico border north to the San Francisco Bay. "Comparisons between this Europan fault and faults on Earth may generate ideas we can use in studying earth movements here on our planet," said Tufts. "In addition, Astypalaea Linea is simply a beautiful structure." The new Galileo images show that about 50 kilometers (more than 30 miles) of movement, or "displacement," has taken place along the fault, which is located near Europa's South Pole. Bends in the fault have allowed the surface to be pulled apart as this movement took place along Astypalaea Linea, which is the largest known strike-slip fault on Europa and one of the largest strike-slip faults known to exist anywhere. A strike-slip fault is one in which two crustal blocks move horizontally past one another, somewhat like two opposing traffic lanes. This pulling-apart along the fault's bends created openings through which warmer, softer ice from below Europa's brittle ice shell surface, or frozen water from a possible subsurface ocean, could reach the surface. This upwelling of material formed large areas of new ice within the boundaries of the original fault. A similar pulling-apart phenomenon can be observed in the geological trough surrounding California's Salton Sea, and in Death Valley and the Dead Sea. However, in those cases, the pulled-apart regions can include upwelled materials, but may be mostly composed of sedimentary and erosional material deposited from above. Tufts believes Astypalaea Linea is probably no longer active, because large ridges formed more recently crosscut it without interruption. Opposite sides of the fault can be reconstructed in puzzle-like fashion, matching the shape of its sides as well as individual older lined areas that had been broken by its movements. The overall motion along the fault seems to have followed a continuous narrow break along the entire length of the feature, with a path resembling steps on a staircase crossing the pulled-apart zones. Between the zones, this break coincides with ridges that separate them. Tufts and fellow University of Arizona researchers, in a group led by Dr. Richard Greenberg, suspect that the fault motion is induced by the pull of variable daily tides generated by Jupiter's gravitational tug on Europa's icy crust. This tidal effect produces a phenomenon they call "walking." "In walking, tidal tension opens the fault, subsequent tidal stress causes it to move lengthwise in one direction, and then the tidal forces close the fault up again. This prevents the area from moving back to its original position; it may move forward with the next daily tidal cycle," Tufts explained. "The walking analogy describes perfectly what we think happens at the fault, resulting in a steady accumulation of these lengthwise offset motions. Walking may explain the appearance of many other faults and areas of cracks and ridges on Europa." Unlike Europa, here on Earth, large strike-slip faults such as the San Andreas are set in motion by plate tectonic forces from the planet's mantle. Based on the Europa findings, Tufts said, "The data may teach us more about the detailed structure that develops at bends in Earth's faults, including the San Andreas." The latest Galileo images of Astypalaea Linea are available on the Internet at the following websites: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo http://www.jpl.nasa.gov http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov Galileo has been in orbit around Jupiter and its moons for the past three years. Its primary mission ended in December 1997, and the spacecraft is currently in the midst of a two-year extension known as the Galileo Europa Mission. Galileo is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is a division of Caltech, Pasadena, CA. For information about animation of Astypalaea Linea, contact the JPL Media Relations Office at (818) 354-5011. ##### Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Launch Of One Mars Mission And Results From Another Featured On NASA T Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Douglas Isbell NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC December 7, 1998 (Phone: 202/358-1547) George H. Diller Kennedy Space Center, FL (Phone: 407/867-2468) Frank O'Donnell Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA (Phone: 818/354-5011) RELEASE: N98-70 LAUNCH OF ONE MARS MISSION AND RESULTS FROM ANOTHER FEATURED THIS WEEK The first of two upcoming launches of NASA's 1998 Mars Surveyor missions, and exciting scientific findings from the Agency's current Mars mission will be featured this week on NASA Television. NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft is scheduled for launch aboard a Boeing Delta 2 launch vehicle on Thursday, December 10. The day before this launch, on December 9, the lead scientist for the camera aboard the NASA spacecraft currently in orbit around the red planet, Mars Global Surveyor, will discuss the Top 10 images returned to Earth so far by that mission, including several new releases. Today and tomorrow, the NASA TV Video File will feature replays of the first three-dimensional visualizations of the north pole of Mars, based on data from the laser altimeter aboard the Global Surveyor, released Sunday, December 6, at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. These data have enabled scientists to estimate the volume of its water ice cap with unprecedented precision, and to study its surface variations and the heights of clouds in the region for the first time. The Mars Climate Orbiter has two launch opportunities on December 10. The first target opportunity is at 1:56:38 p.m. EST. A second opportunity at 3:02:23 p.m. EST is available if necessary. Liftoff will occur from Pad A at Launch Complex 17 on Cape Canaveral Air Station, FL. When it first arrives at the red planet, Mars Climate Orbiter will be used primarily to support its companion Mars Polar Lander spacecraft, planned for launch on Jan. 3, 1999. After that, the Climate Orbiter's instruments will monitor the Martian atmosphere and image the planet's surface on a daily basis for one Martian year, the equivalent of two Earth years. During this time, the spacecraft will observe the circulation of atmospheric dust and water vapor, as well as characterize seasonal changes on the surface. A prelaunch news conference is scheduled for Wednesday, December 9, at 11 a. m. EST in the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) News Center auditorium and will be carried live on NASA TV. Following this briefing, the NASA TV Video File at Noon EST will feature animation and video footage of the Mars Climate Orbiter mission and the images from the press briefing to follow. This 12:30 p.m. EST press briefing at KSC will feature the Top 10 images of Mars returned by the camera aboard Global Surveyor. Participants in this briefing will be Dr. Michael Malin, Principal Investigator for the camera, from Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, and Joe Boyce, 1998 Mars Surveyor Program Scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Those media without permanent accreditation who wish to cover the launch of Mars Climate Orbiter, including the prelaunch news conference, should send a letter of request to the NASA KSC News Center on news organization letterhead. It should include name and Social Security number or passport number. Letters should be faxed to 407/867-2692. NASA Television is available on GE-2, transponder 9C, located at 85 degrees West longitude, with vertical polarization. Frequency is 3880.0 megahertz, with audio on 6.8 megahertz. STS-88 mission events may preclude live TV coverage of some Mars Climate Orbiter launch activities; in that case, launch footage will be replayed as soon as mission events allow. Audio only of Mars Climate Orbiter events will also be available on the "V" circuits, which may be dialed directly at 407/867-1260, 407/867-7135, 407/867-4003, 407/867-4920. The NASA KSC codaphone will carry Mars Climate Orbiter prelaunch status reports beginning on Monday, December 7, and may be dialed at 407/867-2525 -end- Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: This Week On Galileo - December 7-13, 1998 Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... THIS WEEK ON GALILEO December 7-13, 1998 This week the Galileo flight team will send a new set of commands to the spacecraft to conduct real-time and recorded science. These new activities will take advantage of Deep Space Network (DSN) antenna time which was originally intended for playback of science data from Galileo's most recent flyby of Europa on November 22. The majority of these data were not recorded on the spacecraft, because it suffered two anomalies and on-board software halted execution of the encounter commands. On Thursday, in addition to these new activities, the spacecraft performs regular maintenance on its propulsion systems. Three observations will be recorded on the spacecraft's on-board tape recorder this week. In the first observation the spacecraft camera takes images of Saturn's moon Titan, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The data retrieved from this observation will be used to calibrate some of the camera's filters. In the second, the near-infrared mapping spectrometer looks at the star Sirius. This data will also be used for instrument calibration. Finally, the fields and particles instruments will collect recorded data for five hours as the spacecraft moves through the center of a region known as the plasma sheet. This region lies along Jupiter's magnetic equator, and is slightly offset from the planetary equator due to a small tilt in Jupiter's magnetic field. Plasma, which is composed of ionized gases that originate from Jupiter's moon Io, is strongly concentrated in this region, allowing relatively strong electric currents to flow. The plasma sheet crossing will occur in the duskward part of the magnetosphere, 109 Jupiter radii (7.8 million kilometers or 4.8 million miles) from the planet. In this largely unexplored region, Jupiter's magnetic field and the solar wind both influence the state of the plasma sheet. After the observations are complete, the spacecraft will begin processing and transmission of the stored data. In addition, the fields and particles instruments continue their survey of Jupiter's magetosphere. For more information on the Galileo spacecraft and its mission to Jupiter, please visit the Galileo home page: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: TOPEX/Poseidon Finds Global Sea Level Change During El Nino 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 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 7, 1998 TOPEX/POSEIDON FINDS GLOBAL SEA LEVEL CHANGE DURING EL NINO The 1997-98 El Nino event may have been a major contributor in the average global sea level rising about 2 centimeters (0.8 of an inch) before it returned to normal levels, according to scientists studying TOPEX/Poseidon satellite measurements of sea surface height. "This is the first time we have been able to identify that El Nino may cause a change in average global sea level," said Dr. R. Steven Nerem, a TOPEX/Poseidon science team member at the Center for Space Research at the University of Texas at Austin. "Understanding these short-term variations is important for understanding and detecting long-term variations caused by climate change." "TOPEX/Poseidon measures average global sea level at 10-day intervals with a precision of 0.4 centimeters (0.16 inches), so detecting the 2-centimeter (0.8-inch) change associated with the El Nino was relatively easy," Nerem said. "However, these results tell us that detecting sea level variations caused by climate change will be more difficult because such changes are significantly smaller than the variations we have observed during the El Nino." Nerem and his colleagues are presenting their findings at the American Geophysical Union's Fall Meeting in San Francisco Monday, December 7. Key to understanding the changes in the ocean are the global maps made by TOPEX/Poseidon. The sea level rise was not confined to the tropical Pacific, but also was observed in the Indian Ocean and the southern Pacific. Nerem's team then calculated the average global sea level. "These six years of satellite data are a good start, but we really need a decade or more of continuous measurements before we can accurately detect any climate-induced change," said Dr. Lee- Lueng Fu, the TOPEX/Poseidon project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA. "We need sustained observation records to understand the variations in the ocean." Global mean sea level change on seasonal and inter-annual time scales is a measure of the changing heat content of the ocean. The 2-centimeter (0.8-inch) rise during the El Nino implies that, on average, the global ocean may be gaining heat. "Average global sea level began rising in late March 1997, peaked at 2 centimeters (0.8 inches) above normal in early November 1997, and then began falling back to normal by the end of July 1998. Sea surface temperature changes began rising in late October 1996, peaked at 0.4 degrees C (0.7 degrees F) in late December 1997, and fell back to 0.1 degrees C (0.2 degrees F) at present," according to Nerem. Developed by NASA and the French Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite, launched in August 1992, uses an altimeter to bounce radar signals off the ocean's surface to get precise measurements of the distance between the satellite and the sea surface. These data are combined with measurements from other instruments that pinpoint the satellite's exact location in space. Every 10 days, scientists produce a complete map of global ocean topography, the barely perceptible hills and valleys found on the sea surface. A follow-on mission to TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1, is scheduled for launch in 2000. An archive of TOPEX/Poseidon El Nino/La Nina images is available at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/elnino JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, manages the TOPEX/Poseidon mission for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, Washington, DC. The Earth Science Enterprise will combine measurements like those from TOPEX/Poseidon with other information about the land, sea, air, and life on Earth to develop a greater understanding and predictive capability of the global environmental system. ##### Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: TOPEX/Poseidon Team To Receive Pecora Award At AGU 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 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 6, 1998 TOPEX/POSEIDON TEAM TO RECEIVE PECORA AWARD AT AGU The TOPEX/Poseidon Team is the recipient of the 1998 William T. Pecora award which will be presented by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin at the conclusion of his keynote address at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting in San Francisco at 5:30 p.m. Pacific time, Sunday, December 6. The William T. Pecora Award, sponsored jointly by the Department of the Interior and NASA, is presented annually to recognize outstanding contributions of individuals or groups who study the Earth with remote sensing. The award was established in 1974 in memory of Dr. William T. Pecora, former Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, and Under Secretary, Department of the Interior. Pecora was a motivating force behind the establishment of a program for civil remote sensing of the Earth from space. His early vision and support helped establish what we know today as the Landsat satellite program. Charles Yamarone, the TOPEX/Poseidon Project Manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Jean Louis Fellous, Assistant Director of the Earth Science and Applications Programme Directorate from the French space agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), will receive the award on behalf of the TOPEX/Poseidon Team. The TOPEX/Poseidon satellite uses an altimeter to bounce radar signals off the ocean's surface to get precise measurements of the distance between the satellite and the sea surface. These data are combined with measurements from other instruments that pinpoint the satellite's exact location in space. Every 10 days, scientists produce a complete map of global ocean topography, the barely perceptible hills and valleys found on the sea surface. Launched in August 1992, TOPEX/Poseidon's measurements are accurate to within 4.2 centimeters (1.7 inches). The TOPEX/Poseidon satellite has been instrumental in tracking the evolution of the 1997-98 El Nino event. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, manages the satellite for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, Washington, DC. ##### Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: SOHO Recertification Board recommendations (Forwarded) Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... ESA Science News http://sci.esa.int 07 Dec 1998 SOHO Recertification Board recommendations The SOHO recertification board, jointly chaired by ESA and NASA, met at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) on 2 and 3 December. The Board made a number of conclusions and recommendations, the first of which was to commend the 'outstanding achievements of the SOHO recovery team'. Conclusions and Recommendations * The Board acknowledges the outstanding achievements of the SOHO Recovery Team * The spacecraft is operating in a sun-pointing mode with all instruments on and collecting high-quality science data * Roll gyro redundancy has been lost, which increases the risk associated with recovery from future spacecraft anomalies * The Board endorses implementation of several measures to increase ground system effectiveness in order to reduce risk to operations * Recommendations include a strengthened management structure and processes with increased staffing and includes a phased approach to transition to normal operations * Implementation of the response to the recommendations will contribute significantly to the mitigation of risk of future operations and ensure the obligations of both agencies. Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: NASA Invites You to Name Deep Space 2's Twin Microprobes Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... NASA Invites You to Name Deep Space 2's Twin Probes http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/ds2/contest/index.html Two brave explorers travel to a mysterious, distant world. They go where no one has gone before and boldly begin to explore. They discover new things about this world. In sharing this information they help to shape human understanding about our Universe. Who are these intrepid explorers? Alas, so far, they are nameless. But you can help to change that. The explorers are the twin miniature probes of the Deep Space 2 mission to Mars being conducted by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. In January 1999 the probes, each weighing 5 lbs and encased in a protective shell the size of a basketball, will be launched to Mars riding piggy-back on another spacecraft, the Mars Polar Lander. Each probe contains a suite of miniature instruments and systems designed to conduct experiments on the red planet. Arriving near the southern polar region of Mars in December 1999, the two shells will detach themselves from the larger spacecraft and plummet to the ground at a speed of about 450 mph. Upon impact with the Martian surface, the shells will shatter and release the probes. Each of the miniature probes, surviving forces 60,000 times the force of gravity on Earth, will then separate into two parts. The lower part, called the forebody, will plunge into the ground possibly as deep as 1 meter (about 3 feet). It will remain attached by a data cable to the upper part of the probe, called the aftbody, which will remain on the surface. During the 1 to 3 days the probes are expected to gather data, the forebody of each will send a drill into the surrounding soil to collect a sample. The sample will be brought back into the probe to test for the presence of frozen water. The forebody also has temperature sensors that can determine how quickly it loses heat and thus how well the soil insulates the probe. It will send its findings through the data cable to the aftbody, which will then relay the data to the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, in orbit around Mars since September 1997. Surveyor will relay the probes' data back to Earth. The Mars probes are attempting a feat never done before in space exploration. They will be the first probes to actually plunge beneath the surface of an alien world. From our previous Mars missions, we can see by the markings on the surface that water once flowed abundantly on the red planet. So one of the great mysteries of Mars is where did the water go? If there is any water frozen in the soil beneath the surface at either of the two selected landing sites, the probes will detect it. The Mars probes are on a mission primarily, though, to test instruments and technologies being used for the first time in space exploration. If they work as expected, they will open the door to understanding celestial bodies within our Solar System in greater detail than we have been able to do in the past. In the future, perhaps 5 to 10 similar probes could be attached to a single spacecraft and released at different locations around a planet. In this way, scientific data can be collected from multiple locations at the same time, allowing us to understand the entire weather "picture" of a planet or its seismic activity. Like the Mars rover named for Sojourner Truth and the Carl Sagan Memorial Station that explored the surface of Mars during the Pathfinder mission in 1997, these new Mars explorers need names that will reflect something about their difficult, first-of-a-kind mission and also tie them together as a pair. Thus, NASA is sponsoring a contest to pick the best names for the twin miniature probes that reflect the importance of this mission. To enter the contest, choose two people (must be no longer living) from history, mythology, or fiction; or choose two places or things that are in some way related or associated with each other. Your entry may also include a combination of these, such as a mythological person and a place that are associated with each other. Describe in 100 words or fewer why your entries would make good names for the miniature probes. The names should embody the spirit of exploration, of risk-taking pioneers breaking barriers, or of accomplishment under extreme conditions. Please do not send any acronyms (abbreviations using only the first letter of each word, like "NASA") or names of super heroes, such as "Batman" and "Robin," as suggestions for names. You might consider these questions when picking the names or writing your essays: 1. Do you know of any historical brother or sister duos, partners, or couples (not living) that worked together to expand the world of science? How did these people contribute to space science, astronomy, or exploration? How do the names you have chosen reflect what will happen with the mission? Do the life stories of the people you have chosen show how they overcame barriers, opened up new frontiers, or explored extreme environments? Did these people push back the frontiers of knowledge? Did they take risks to achieve their goal? Was the goal in itself a great risk? 2. How do the mythological or fictional characters, places, or things symbolize our exploration of the universe? 3. Do the names of the people, places, or things stand for exploration, risk-taking, breaking barriers, technology, or a sense of discovery? Contest Rules: *Anyone is eligible to submit one entry (with two names) naming the twin probes. Non-U.S. citizens are eligible to enter the contest. *Entries must include an essay of 100 words or fewer describing why the chosen names best represent the mission. *All entries, whether submitted electronically or by regular mail, must be received by April 30, 1999. *Entries must be submitted in English. *Entries will be reviewed by a group of judges composed of NASA personnel and distinguished members of the American public with an interest in the space program. The judges will make a recommendation to NASA. In the case of duplicate names, the selection will be based on the written composition. *All entries become the property of NASA. Winners will be announced at the end of 1999 and will be contacted via regular mail. Their names will also appear on the Deep Space 2 web site. Winners' names and essays may be featured in news releases and other media materials. To Enter the Contest: *You may submit your entry electronically using an on-line form: http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/ds2/contest/form.html *Alternatively, submit your names for the probes, along with the reason for picking these names, by regular mail to: Deep Space 2 Naming Contest Jet Propulsion Laboratory 4800 Oak Grove Drive Mail Stop 301-235 Pasadena, CA 91109-8099 Include your name, telephone number, address, the name of your school (if you are a student), age (if under 18) and the name of your local newspaper with your entry. Awards: *The Grand Prize will be stated in the near future. Please check this site again later. *All twenty-five finalists will receive a beautiful Deep Space 2 poster signed by the project team. Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Satellite Records Millions Of Lighting Strikes For Study (Forwarded) Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Los Alamos National Laboratory Contact: Sandy Embry, shorti@lanl.gov Satellite Records Millions Of Lighting Strikes For Study SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 8, 1998 -- Scientists are gaining new insights into the electrodynamic processes surrounding lightning by examining measurements of more than two million individual lightning strokes recorded by a sophisticated radio receiver aboard the FORTE satellite. The measurements are sufficiently detailed that the researchers can pick out signals from the separate processes that build to form an atmospheric discharge, providing a new, high-quality tool for deepening understanding of the physical processes governing lightning. The researchers also are linking FORTE recordings with ground-based measurements from the National Lightning Detection Network and from a network of sensors that measure low-frequency electromagnetic emissions, or "sferics," and changes in the direction of the electric field. Matching FORTE's readings with others could identify those radio signatures useful for remotely identifying important storm systems, convective cells that spawn tornadoes, for example, or unleash damaging hail. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory present a slew of papers based on the FORTE data at this week's annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union. FORTE -- which stands for Fast On-orbit Recording of Transient Events -- was developed jointly by Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories. Launched August 1997, the satellite began acquiring radio data almost immediately, and kicked into high gear when it unfolded a 30-foot-long antenna that had been stowed in a foot-high canister for launch. The sophisticated radio receiver samples a wide range of radio frequencies at a very high rate, essential since the impulsive radio emissions associated with lightning last less than a thousandth of a second. The receiver can make a recording and reset its trigger almost instantaneously. A large onboard data storage capacity lets FORTE hold hundreds of measurements it can ship to Earth when it circles over the ground station. FORTE also has two sensors that detect and measure the optical emissions from lightning. FORTE was developed to demonstrate advanced technologies for detecting nuclear weapon detonations and thus help curb nuclear proliferation. "Lightning is of interest to Los Alamos' national security missions because there is a parallel between the spectrum of lightning emissions and the electromagnetic pulse created by a nuclear weapon detonation," said Los Alamos physicist Abe Jacobson, who heads the FORTE science team. "FORTE's measurements will allow us not only to build a better 'trigger' to discriminate between natural and human-caused events of interest, but we get tons more data about natural phenomena. We can see changes in the pattern of data as the satellite passes over a storm," Jacobson said, which will help increase understanding of storm processes. FORTE's circular, low-Earth orbit is inclined 70 degrees to the equator, so it makes several passes per day over lightning-prone tropical regions, notably South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Due to its global coverage and its large data-acquisition and archiving capability, FORTE provides a tremendously improved opportunity to gather statistics on the characteristics of lightning radio-frequency emissions, Jacobson said. "Global warming could drive the hydrologic cycle with increasing vigor. We're getting a handle on how to use radio frequency and optical signals for remote sensing of storm processes," Jacobson said. FORTE's radio technology is a follow-on to the successful Blackbeard experiment carried aboard Los Alamos' ALEXIS satellite, launched in 1993. Blackbeard added to the scientific literature observations of TIPPs, Trans-Ionospheric Pulse Pairs. These were extremely short, intense, paired radio pulses known to originate from near storm systems, but otherwise of unknown origin. FORTE has conclusively shown that TIPPs are generated by lightning, the second pulse produced by a reflection of the first pulse off Earth's surface. Blackbeard's radio technology could detect only the strongest lightning-related events, and TIPPs are generated by extremely strong discharges. FORTE's more sophisticated technology can distinguish all the lightning signals that are generally buried in the noise of manmade radio emissions and show that TIPPs are at the tail end of the distribution of events. FORTE can also see signals from the individual events that develop and radiate from the buildup and discharge of a lightning stroke, whereas Blackbeard looked only at the integrated signal. Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy. -30- AGU SESSIONS FEATURING FORTE-RELATED PRESENTATIONS Tuesday, 1:30 p.m. PST A22A-02, "Observation and Geolocation of Lightning from Space Using the FORTE Lightning Location System (LLS), Dave Suszcynsky, presenter. A22A-15, "Worldwide Rates of Lightning Generated Radio Emissions as Detected by FORTE," R.S. Zuelsdorf, presenter. A22A-16, "Observations of Short Duration, Isolated, Transionospheric Pulses with the FORTE Satellite," Joe Fitzgerald, presenter. A22A-20, "FORTE Observations of Simultaneous RF and Optical Emissions From Lightning," Dave Suszcynsky, presenter. A22A-21, "Comparison of FORTE RF and field-change array observations," Bob Massey, presenter. A22A-22, "Optical and RF Emissions From Superbolt-class Lightning Events as Observed by the FORTE satellite," Matt Kirkland, presenter. A22A-23, "Temporal characteristics of radio-frequency pulses emitted by lightning, as observed by the FORTE satellite," Abe Jacobson, presenter. Wednesday, 9 a.m. PST A31D-01, "Observations of Lightning From Space Using the FORTE Photodiode Detector," Matt Kirkland, presenter. A31D-02, "Correlation of FORTE satellite radio-frequency lightning observations with NLDN stroke reports," Abe Jacobson, presenter. A31D-03, "Initial Comparisons of Optical and Radio Frequency Satellite Observations of Thunderstorms with Ground Based Sferics, " Paul Argo, presenter. A31D-04, "The Los Alamos Electric-Field-Change Sensor Array," Kyle Wiens, presenter. A31D-05, "Observations of Compact Intracloud Discharges," Dave Smith, presenter. Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: Radiation Belts Around Earth Adversly Affecting Satellites/Earth's Own Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Office of Public Relations University of Colorado-Boulder 354 Willard Administrative Center Campus Box 9 Boulder, Colorado 80309-0009 (303) 492-6431 Contact: Daniel Baker, 303-492-4509 Jim Scott, 303-492-3114 Dec. 7, 1998 Editors: Contents embargoed until 8:30 a.m. PST Dec. 7, when Daniel Baker will participate in an AGU press briefing on the Van Allen Belts. Radiation Belts Around Earth Adversly Affecting Satellites Much of the energetic electron activity in Earth's radiation belts, once thought to be generated by the sun and solar wind, actually is accelerated to light-speed by Earth's own magnetic shell, creating periodic havoc with satellites. Daniel Baker, director of the University of Colorado at Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, said new findings indicate that electrons in the Van Allen radiation belts circling Earth are energized to speeds much higher than researchers had thought. The Van Allen belts are two main zones in Earth's magnetosphere where charged particles are confined by the planet's magnetic fields. "We used to think that the Van Allen Belts slowly waxed and waned and were not particularly dynamic," he said. "But these belts have now been shown to be powerful, energetic particle accelerators, generating excitement and awe in the scientific community." Named for physicist James Van Allen who discovered them in 1958, the belts consist of two doughnut-shaped regions containing electrons and protons centered thousands of miles above Earth's surface. Speeding particles in the near-Earth environment from the sun, solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere -- commonly known as "killer electrons" -- have had a dramatic effect on human technological systems, said Baker. "This includes many of the satellites that are up there now and future spacecraft like the space station, which have the potential to be severely impaired electronically by light-speed electrons." Baker presented his latest findings at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union held Dec. 6 to Dec. 10 in San Francisco. A paper authored by Baker and colleagues in the Oct. 6 issue of Eos, a publication of AGU, indicate an intense flux of electrons from Earth's magnetosphere likely played an important role in the failure of the Galaxy 4 spacecraft last May. The event led to a temporary loss of pager service to 45 million customers. Activity in the two known Van Allen radiation belts grew so intense in May 1998 that a new belt was created, said Baker. The activity was detected by several NASA spacecraft, including NASA's WIND, SAMPEX and Polar satellites, all part of the multi-agency International Solar and Terrestrial Physics Program. "We have gotten a much clearer picture of cosmic particle acceleration in the Van Allen Belts from these satellites," said Baker, an investigator on the Polar and WIND experiments. "New observations indicate very rapid changes in these belts on timescales of months, weeks, days, hours and even seconds." The new findings that killer electrons can be accelerated inside the Van Allen belts may help scientists better protect satellites by powering them down or using back-up systems during electronic storms. "This knowledge will help us better prepare for the next solar maximum period when the sun is most active, expected in late 2000 or early 2001," said Baker. Scientists plan to coordinate observations from more than a dozen spacecraft, which may allow them to produce "space weather" maps of particle acceleration that could be potentially damaging to satellites. "In many ways, every spacecraft will act as a high-energy detector," said Baker. In addition, CU-Boulder recently was selected to design, build, operate and control a NASA satellite that will study the response of Earth's Van Allen radiation belts to the powerful solar wind. The $12.8 million satellite project, known as the Inner Magnetosphere Explorer, or IMEX, is being directed by Professor John Wygant of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Co-Investigators include Baker and LASP Associate Researcher Xinlin Li. CU-Boulder is expected to receive about half of the funding for the project. IMEX will study the energetic charged particles -- primarily protons and electrons -- comprising Earth's radiation zones. In 1996, Baker's research indicated the operational failure of a Canadian communications satellite, Anik E1, appeared to be linked to severe space weather. ***** [Extracted from Goddard Space Flight Center's ISTP webpage.] EMABARGOED FOR RELEASE ON DECEMBER 7 AT 8:30 A.M. PST Earth's Own Magnetosphere, Not Solar Wind, Accelerates the Particles of the Radiation Belts Forty years after James Van Allen discovered the radiation belts, scientists have found that Earth's space environment is a massive particle accelerator, boosting electrons to near light speed in a matter of minutes. By using the coordinated measurements from two dozen spacecraft together with sophisticated computer models, scientists should soon be able to make "weather maps" of this acceleration, allowing predictions of the intensity of the radiation belts and the location of the most active regions. The acceleration of particles inside the radiation belts can affect the operation of satellites. The Van Allen radiation belts are a pair of doughnut shaped rings of ionized gas (or plasma) trapped in orbit around Earth. The outer belt stretches from 19,000 km (11,500 miles) in altitude to 41,000 km (25,000 miles); the inner belt lies between 13,000 km (7600 miles) and 7,600 km (4,500 miles) in altitude. For decades, space physicists theorized that the Sun and its solar wind provided most of the high-energy particles found in Earth's radiation belts. But new observations from the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) program and other missions suggest that Earth's own magnetic shell in space, or magnetosphere, is a more effective and efficient accelerator of particles. According to Dr. Geoffrey Reeves of Los Alamos National Laboratory and an investigator for ISTP, the solar wind and Sun are insufficient sources for the radiation belts. "There are just not enough high-energy electrons in the solar wind to explain how many we observe near Earth," said Reeves, who discussed the findings on December 7 in San Francisco during the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Data from NASA's Polar and SAMPEX spacecraft, as well National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Defense satellites, show that the radiation belts change in response to a variety of solar events. High-speed streams of solar wind, coronal mass ejections, and shock waves from the Sun all can compress and excite the magnetosphere. But it is the pressure and energy of these events, not the particles buried in them, that energizes the particles trapped inside the radiation belts. "It is amazing that the system can take the chaotic energy of the solar wind and utilize it so quickly and coherently," said Dr. Daniel Baker of the University of Colorado, an investigator for ISTP and SAMPEX. "We had thought the radiation belts were a slow, lumbering feature of Earth, but in fact they can change on a knife's edge." Discovered in 1958, the radiation belts have long been treated as a relatively stable and predictable phenomenon. But in studying recent space weather events, space physicists have found that the intensity of the belts can vary by 10, 100, or even 1000 times in a matter of seconds to minutes. "The radiation belts are almost never in equilibrium," said Reeves. "We don't really understand the process, but we do know that things are changing constantly." For instance, in early May 1998, a series of solar events provoked the most powerful storm in the radiation belts of the current solar cycle. Following a succession of coronal mass ejections and flares on the Sun, several major magnetic storms brought auroras to Boston and Chicago, and ISTP ground observatories in Canada and Antarctica measured electric currents in the ionosphere about 3-4 times the norm. The leading edge of the magnetosphere, which usually sits at 76,000 km (45,000 miles) from Earth toward the Sun, was pushed in to 25,000 km (15,300 miles). In the wake of this disturbance, the natural gap (or "slot" region) between the two radiation belts was filled by a new radiation belt, as energized particles were trapped where they wouldn't naturally settle. The new belt lasted for nearly six weeks. "The May 1998 event was a harbinger of what may come during the approaching solar maximum," said Baker. At the height or maximum of the 11-year solar cycle -- predicted for 2000-2001 -- coronal mass ejections and other solar events that disturb the radiation belts are likely to be much more common. Observations from the May event are prompting researchers and space weather forecasters to reconsider the radiation belt models relied upon by the engineers who design and operate satellites. "We now have a fleet of satellites that gives us a more complete picture of what's going on in the radiation belts," said Reeves. "We are using this data to construct pictures, essentially 'weather maps' of what's going on in the radiation belts." "Within the research community, there has been continuous progress in modeling the space environment, but very little of that research has made it into the space weather operations community," said Dr. Terrance Onsager of NOAA's Space Environment Center. "Most of the models in use today do a reasonable job of predicting average conditions, but few of them take into account the dynamics and how quickly the system can change." "Some of the new models that we are developing will allow us to visualize the radiation environment over vast regions of space and then specify and predict the conditions at any location," Onsager added. "We are beginning to synthesize mature models with the new stream of real-time measurements from space in order to give industry and the government the information it needs to work in space." -END- EDITOR'S NOTE: A NASA Video File relating to this story will air on December 7 at noon Eastern time. NASA Television is available on GE-2, transponder 9C at 85 degrees West longitude, with vertical polarization. Frequency is on 3880.0 megahertz, with audio on 6.8 megahertz. Video File Advisories can be found at ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/tv-advisory/nasa-tv.txt EDITOR'S NOTE: Images, movies, and captions associated with this release are available on the Internet at: http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/istp/news/9812 and FTP://PAO.GSFC.NASA.GOV/newsmedia/RAD Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: NASA Selects Future-X Flight Demonstrator And Experiments Привет всем! Вот, свалилось из Internet... Jim Cast Headquarters, Washington, DC December 8, 1998 (Phone: 202/358-1779) June Malone Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL (Phone: 256/544-0034) RELEASE: c98-w NASA SELECTS FUTURE-X FLIGHT DEMONSTRATOR AND EXPERIMENTS NASA has selected The Boeing Company, Downey, CA, for negotiations leading to possible award of a four-year cooperative agreement to develop the first in a continuous series of advanced technology flight demonstrators called "Future-X." Total value of the cooperative agreement, including NASA and Boeing contributions, is estimated at $150 million, with an approximate 50/50 sharing arrangement. Work under the cooperative agreement will begin immediately depending on successful negotiations. Pending results of these negotiations, alternative designs are available for NASA selection. In addition, three companies and three NASA Centers were selected for seven Future-X flight experiments with a total estimated value of $24 million. The Future-X effort will be managed by the Space Transportation Programs Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL. Future-X vehicles and flight experiments will demonstrate technologies that improve performance and reduce development, production and operating costs of future Earth-to-orbit and in-space transportation systems. Technologies tested through Future-X will help industry and NASA develop and build future generations of space launch vehicles that are more advanced and cheaper than previous vehicles. Under the cooperative agreement Boeing and NASA would advance 29 separate space transportation technologies through development and flight demonstrations of a modular orbital flight testbed called the Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV). The ATV would be the first-ever experimental vehicle to be flown in both orbital and reentry environments. "The cutting-edge technologies to be demonstrated through Future-X are aimed at increasing U.S. competitiveness in the worldwide commercial space transportation market and decreasing future government costs for space access," said Frederick Bachtel, manager of the Space Transportation Programs Office at the Marshall Center. "I believe we're turning the key that opens the door to affordable space transportation." NASA is pursuing technologies that will benefit both military and commercial aerospace. Specifically, the Air Force has identified the critical technology and operations demonstrations that support their reusability requirements. Future-X accomplishes many of these demonstrations. "NASA has worked closely with the U.S. Air Force in seeking high-payoff technologies that maximize U.S. opportunities to reduce the cost of space transportation," said Bachtel. The three companies selected to provide flight experiments were Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX; Draper Laboratory, Cambridge, MA; and AeroAstro, Herndon, VA. The three NASA Centers selected to provide Future-X flight experiments were Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA; Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH; and Marshall Space Flight Center. Ames was selected to provide two experiments. Selected industry-led experiments include: a half-effect thruster system flight demonstration of new onboard in-space propulsion technologies by Southwestern Research, estimated at $2.5 million; an experiment to demonstrate an onboard intelligence planning system for autonomous abort landings by Draper, estimated at $740,000; and an experiment to demonstrate technologies that will significantly reduce the access-to-space costs of small payloads by AeroAstro, estimated at $800,000. Selected NASA-led experiments with substantial industry involvement include: Ames-led experiments to demonstrate advanced technologies of an integrated-vehicle health-management system, and to demonstrate ultra-high temperature ceramics for reusable, sharp hypersonic leading edges, estimated at $4.5 million and $4.2 million respectively; a Lewis-led experiment to demonstrate propulsion technologies that will reduce the weight and size of advanced cryogenic upper stages, estimated at $4.3 million; and a Marshall- led experiment to demonstrate advanced propellantless in-space propulsion technologies through an electrodynamic tether which works as a thruster, estimated at $6.6 million. The companies and NASA Centers were selected to provide the flight demonstrator and flight experiments from a total of 50 proposals submitted in response to NASA Research Announcement 8-22. - end - Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Alexander Bondugin Тема: NASA Announces Contest To Name Deep Space 2's Two Microprobes 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: John G. Watson FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 4, 1998 NASA ANNOUNCES CONTEST TO NAME DEEP SPACE 2'S TWO MICROPROBES NASA has announced the start of a contest to name its Deep Space 2 mission's two microprobes, scheduled to be launched next month on journey to Mars. "Just as Mars Pathfinder's Sojourner rover received its name through a contest, we would like to invite the public to become involved in helping to name Deep Space 2's twin probes," said Project Manager Sarah Gavit of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "What better way to involve school children and parents alike in this exciting, one-of-a-kind mission?" Deep Space 2, launching with the Mars Polar Lander on January 3, will send its two microprobes to impact and penetrate the surface of Mars in December 1999. Each of its two entry systems consists of a basketball-sized aeroshell with a softball- sized probe inside. Released from the cruise stage of the Mars Polar Lander, the probes will dive toward the surface of Mars. Upon impact, the forebody of each probe will bury itself up to about one meter (three feet) underground, while the aftbody remains on the surface to transmit data through the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft back to Earth. Unlike any spacecraft before, the Deep Space 2 probes will smash into the planet at speeds of up to 200 meters per second (400 miles per hour). The mission's main purpose is to flight- test new technologies to enable future science missions -- demonstrating innovative approaches to entering a planet's atmosphere, surviving a crash-impact and penetrating below a planet's surface. As a secondary goal, the probes will search for water ice under Mars' surface. Participants in the probe naming contest can choose either two people from history, mythology or fiction (not living) or two places or things that are in some way associated with each other, or a combination. Their choices should be accompanied by a short written composition of up to 100 words explaining why their entries would make good names for the miniature probes. "The names should symbolize our exploration of the universe, embodying the spirit of risk-taking pioneers breaking barriers," explained Gavit. Complete details, along with on-line entry forms and further information about Deep Space 2, are available at http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/ds2/ . The deadline is April 30, 1999, and winners will be announced the following November. Finalists will receive one copy each of a Deep Space 2 poster signed by the project team. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California. ##### Hа сегодня все, пока! =SANA=

Дата: 10 декабря 1998 (1998-12-10) От: Oleg Vassilyev Тема: ASTRID-2 успешно выведен на орбиту. Hello, All! Сегодня, 10 декабря, 1998 в 14 часов 57 по московскому времени был произведен запуск РH Kосмос-3М с KА "HАДЕЖДА" международной системы COSPAS-SARSAT с попутной полезной нагрузкой - спутником "ASTRID-2" Шведской Kосмической Kорпорации. Отделение основного спутника "HАДЕЖДА" вместе с "ASTRID-2" произошло успешно, и через 3 часа 27 минут после старта ракеты носителя, в 16 часов 24 минуты по московскому времени, точно в расчетное время, произошло отделение попутного спутника "ASTRID-2" от основного спутника. Разделение и начало свободного полета было произведено над территорией Швеции, над Стокгольмом. Ракета-носитель "Kосмос-3M" изготовлена в Омске на Производственном объединении "Полет". Спутник ASTRID-2 был запущен по контракту между Экспериментальным Kонструкторским бюро "Полет" (город Омск, Россия) и Шведской Kосмической Kорпорацией (http://www.ssc.se). SY, Oleg.

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