The next MEPCO is coming ... to Bulgaria, in early August, 1999!
For details on this astronomical conference just before the total solar eclipse click here!

Did North Korea launch a satellite or not? Amazingly, this question cannot be answered decisively even one week after the controversial North Korean missile launch of August 31st: First believed to have been a military long-range missile on a test flight over Japan, N. Korea announced on Sept. 4th that is was actually a space launch! According to their news agency, the 3-stage rocket "correctly put the satellite into orbit at 12 hours 11 minutes 53 seconds in four minutes 53 seconds. [...] The satellite is running along the oval orbit 218.82 km in the nearest distance from the earth and 6,978.2 km in the farthest distance. Its period is 165 minutes 6 seconds." The report, full of detailed numbers, continues: "The satellite is equipped with necessary sounding instruments. It will contribute to promoting scientific research for peaceful use of outer space. It is also instrumental in confirming the calculation basis for the launch of practical satellites in the future. The satellite is now transmitting the melody of the immortal revolutionary hymns 'Song of General Kim Il Sung' and 'Song of General Kim Jong Il' and the Morse signals 'Juche Korea' in 27 MHz." Western observers remain skeptical: "The mystery of the North Korean launch continues," writes J. McDowell in his Space Report. "It is now beginning to seem less likely that anything is in the orbit claimed, but certain that an orbital launch attempt was indeed made. [...] Comments from US sources imply that a third stage burn was observed, but that nothing was later spotted on radar." If there is no satellite in orbit, the history of space exploration has its first complex launch hoax - but on the other hand a small satellite could be missed by radar...

North Korea's official claims of Sept. 4th (first two items) and its complaints that no none is listening of Sept. 6th - all 'live' from the N. Korean news agency that you can find here. Stories by CNN and ABCNEWS (initial reaction to the launch), Florida Today and CNN (the satellite claim is questioned), and SpaceViews. The Latest from Jonathan's Space Report

In a Nutshell: The answers to the three latest space mishaps: The final report on the loss of SOHO (which continues to thaw its fuel lines), the explanation of the Titan 4A explosion (an electrical problem) and the scenario of the Delta 3 loss (a failure of thrust vector control).

The first scientific papers on Lunar Prospector's findings haven been published in Science: Read papers # 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, press releases from Berkeley, NASA Ames and LANL, stories by Wired, SpaceViews, BBC and ABC - and check the Lunar Almanac and for more. How the Lunar Prospector started out as a totally private venture is also interesting: part 1 and part 2 of the story.

Go to the previous 10 issues. Other historical issues can be found in the Archive.