The Cosmic Mirror

of News events across the Universe

Compiled and written by Daniel Fischer, Skyweek - older "Mirrors" in the Archive - and find out what the future might bring!

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Update # 113 of December 8th, 1998, at 17:45 UTC

ISS growing in orbit
The first steps have been taken: Astronaut Nancy Currie had little trouble to snatch Zarya from orbit and place it over Unity in Endeavour's payload bay; then a litte thruster firing pushed both ISS components together. A little misalignment (caused by the robot arm) was corrected easily. 20 hours later the first of three EVA's began: Astronauts Jerry Ross and Jim Newman connected about 40 cables on the outside of the two spacecraft. The job turned out to be easier than NASA had anticipated. The "spacewalk" lasted for 7 hours and 21 minutes; 2 more are planned for Dec. 9 and 12.
The astronauts also checked a backup antenna system on Zarya during the EVA: The Telerobotically Operated Rendezvous System (TORU) did not deploy after Zarya's launch last month. The astronauts found that the pyrotechnic pins designed to fire and release the antennae did work, but that each antenna remained rolled up for some other reason. The TORU system is designed as a backup for the automated Kurs docking system on Zarya. Kurs will be used when the Service Module is launched next year; TORU would only be used if it failed.

Unberthing Unity:
Stories by CNN and SpaceViews.
The Docking:
Images and stories from CNN and SpaceViews.
The First EVA:
Images and stories from CNN, BBC, ABC, Spacer.com and SpaceViews.
And: A British astronomer defends the ISS (a rarity...).

SWAS: Astronomy satellite in orbit!
After yet another delay due to bad weather, the small radioastronomical satellite SWAS is finally in orbit: The L-1011 carrier plane lifted off at 23:58 UTC on Dec. 5th and released the Pegasus rocket at 0:57 UTC on the 6th - 12 minutes later the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite was in orbit. The ground controllers received data from the vehicle continuously through separation of the payload from the final stage of the rocket. All rocket performance data looked good.
The launch was clearly visible from the coast of southern California and was called spectacular. Approximately once per orbit (or about every 98 minutes) contact is now being made between SWAS and one of several ground stations scattered around the world. All of the telemetry from these ground-contacts looks good, and the spacecraft is performing nominally. The best current estimate of the orbit is 648 by 655 km at a 70 degree inclination, which was what had been hoped for. It had been a long wait: Initially the launch was planned for 1995.
The scientific instrument was powered on early on Dec. 7, at approximately 6:00 a.m. UTC. All readings currently suggest that the instrument has survived launch and is operating properly! Since thermal balance on SWAS is attained via a passive cooling design, it will take an additional several days before the final operating temperatures are stable. The spacecraft is now 3-axis stabilized. For today the flight team hopes to transition to the normal observing mode in which pointing of the spacecraft is controlled by the star tracker.

All links in Update # 112!
SWAS updates and pictures - and details of the launch!
Launch story from CNN,

Dec. 10th: the next launch to Mars
The Mars Global Surveyor isn't even in its final mapping orbit yet (but still delivering floods of data; see below) - and the next NASA Mars Orbiter is already on the launch pad. The first opportunity to get the Mars Climate Orbiter off the ground is on Dec. 10th at 1:56:38 p.m. EST (18:56 UTC). 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.

Press Kit
Mars Climate Orbiter Launch Page.
Homepage

Not much water in Mars' North Polar Cap
Measurements by the laser altimeter instrument MOLA orbiting aboard NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft are providing new views of the north pole of the red planet and the processes that have shaped it. The resulting topographic map reveals that the ice cap is about 1,200 kilometers across, with a maximum thickness of 3 km. The cap is cut by canyons and troughs that plunge to as deep as 1 kilometer beneath the surface - similar features do not occur on any glacial or polar terrain on Earth.
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. The shape of the polar cap indicates that it is composed primarily of water ice, with a volume of 1.2 million cubic kilometers, less than half of that of the Greenland ice cap and about 4% of the Antarctic ice sheet. The cap has an average thickness of 1 km.
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. But such a large amount of unaccounted-for water is not easily explained by current models of Martian evolution.

Press Release and images.
A related Press Release.
Stories by ABC and SpaceViews.

Europe's Martian future hangs in the balance
When the European Space Agency Council meets next week (Dec. 15/16) and decides on ESA's budget, it has the fate of Europe's science programs in space in its hands. Since a fatal decision three years ago to "freeze" the science budget, there has been an effective loss 2-3% of real buying power due to inflation. Despite this undeserved punishment (that was basically a consequence of ESA's investment into the ISS) the program has progressed: The lost Cluster spacecraft could be replaced fully - and a remarkable mission to Mars has been developped.
This "Mars Express" has gained widespread support in Europe and has been adopted by the Science Programme Committee (see Update # 110) - but the project (Europe's first and only attempt to go to another planet with a mission of its own) can only survive if the ESA Council drops its freeze of the science budget and allows for inflation correction. Other missions, esp. astrophysical ones, will not be sacrificed for Mars Express: The SPC has now, e.g., formally adopted ESA's further involvement in the HST and its successor, the NGST. (ESA Science Newsletter #36 of Nov. 1998)

ESA Science Newsletters
Mars Express information.
A related SpaceViews story.

In a Nutshell: The ion engine of Deep Space One is still working smoothly for 2 weeks now. / The guest observer program of Germany's ROSAT X-ray satellite has now been terminated. / The Earth's radiation belts are more violent than thought.

Yet another telling Europa image has been released. Also released: PPR images of a Dark Spot on Jupiter. / Here is a preview of the next meteor shower, the Geminids. / And a real moon rock (from Apollo 17) that was a gift to Honduras and that was stolen has been recovered in a sting operation.

Last Item: Physicist Stephen Hawking will make a cameo appearance on "The Simpsons", by lending his voice to his cartoon alter ego. He isn't the first famous scientist to appear on the hit show, though: S. J. Gould has been there already, e.g.

Have you seen the the previous issue or the Leonids special pages?!
All other historical issues can be found in the Archive.

This Cosmic Mirror has been visited

times since it was issued.

Compiled and written by Daniel Fischer
(send me a mail to [email protected]!), Skyweek

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ISS growing in orbit The first steps have been taken: Astronaut Nancy Currie had little trouble to snatch Zarya from orbit and place it over Unity in Endeavour's payload bay; then a litte thruster firing pushed both ISS components together. A little misalignment (caused by the robot arm) was corrected easily. 20 hours later the first of three EVA's began: Astronauts Jerry Ross and Jim Newman connected about 40 cables on the outside of the two spacecraft. The job turned out to be easier than NASA had anticipated. The "spacewalk" lasted for 7 hours and 21 minutes; 2 more are planned for Dec. 9 and 12. The astronauts also checked a backup antenna system on Zarya during the EVA: The Telerobotically Operated Rendezvous System (TORU) did not deploy after Zarya's launch last month. The astronauts found that the pyrotechnic pins designed to fire and release the antennae did work, but that each antenna remained rolled up for some other reason. The TORU system is designed as a backup for the automated Kurs docking system on Zarya. Kurs will be used when the Service Module is launched next year; TORU would only be used if it failed.	Unberthing Unity: Stories by CNN and SpaceViews. The Docking: Images and stories from CNN and SpaceViews. The First EVA: Images and stories from CNN, BBC, ABC, Spacer.com and SpaceViews. And: A British astronomer defends the ISS (a rarity...).
SWAS: Astronomy satellite in orbit! After yet another delay due to bad weather, the small radioastronomical satellite SWAS is finally in orbit: The L-1011 carrier plane lifted off at 23:58 UTC on Dec. 5th and released the Pegasus rocket at 0:57 UTC on the 6th - 12 minutes later the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite was in orbit. The ground controllers received data from the vehicle continuously through separation of the payload from the final stage of the rocket. All rocket performance data looked good. The launch was clearly visible from the coast of southern California and was called spectacular. Approximately once per orbit (or about every 98 minutes) contact is now being made between SWAS and one of several ground stations scattered around the world. All of the telemetry from these ground-contacts looks good, and the spacecraft is performing nominally. The best current estimate of the orbit is 648 by 655 km at a 70 degree inclination, which was what had been hoped for. It had been a long wait: Initially the launch was planned for 1995. The scientific instrument was powered on early on Dec. 7, at approximately 6:00 a.m. UTC. All readings currently suggest that the instrument has survived launch and is operating properly! Since thermal balance on SWAS is attained via a passive cooling design, it will take an additional several days before the final operating temperatures are stable. The spacecraft is now 3-axis stabilized. For today the flight team hopes to transition to the normal observing mode in which pointing of the spacecraft is controlled by the star tracker.	All links in Update # 112! SWAS updates and pictures - and details of the launch! Launch story from CNN,
Dec. 10th: the next launch to Mars The Mars Global Surveyor isn't even in its final mapping orbit yet (but still delivering floods of data; see below) - and the next NASA Mars Orbiter is already on the launch pad. The first opportunity to get the Mars Climate Orbiter off the ground is on Dec. 10th at 1:56:38 p.m. EST (18:56 UTC). 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.	Press Kit Mars Climate Orbiter Launch Page. Homepage
Not much water in Mars' North Polar Cap Measurements by the laser altimeter instrument MOLA orbiting aboard NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft are providing new views of the north pole of the red planet and the processes that have shaped it. The resulting topographic map reveals that the ice cap is about 1,200 kilometers across, with a maximum thickness of 3 km. The cap is cut by canyons and troughs that plunge to as deep as 1 kilometer beneath the surface - similar features do not occur on any glacial or polar terrain on Earth. 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. The shape of the polar cap indicates that it is composed primarily of water ice, with a volume of 1.2 million cubic kilometers, less than half of that of the Greenland ice cap and about 4% of the Antarctic ice sheet. The cap has an average thickness of 1 km. 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. But such a large amount of unaccounted-for water is not easily explained by current models of Martian evolution.	Press Release and images. A related Press Release. Stories by ABC and SpaceViews.
Europe's Martian future hangs in the balance When the European Space Agency Council meets next week (Dec. 15/16) and decides on ESA's budget, it has the fate of Europe's science programs in space in its hands. Since a fatal decision three years ago to "freeze" the science budget, there has been an effective loss 2-3% of real buying power due to inflation. Despite this undeserved punishment (that was basically a consequence of ESA's investment into the ISS) the program has progressed: The lost Cluster spacecraft could be replaced fully - and a remarkable mission to Mars has been developped. This "Mars Express" has gained widespread support in Europe and has been adopted by the Science Programme Committee (see Update # 110) - but the project (Europe's first and only attempt to go to another planet with a mission of its own) can only survive if the ESA Council drops its freeze of the science budget and allows for inflation correction. Other missions, esp. astrophysical ones, will not be sacrificed for Mars Express: The SPC has now, e.g., formally adopted ESA's further involvement in the HST and its successor, the NGST. (ESA Science Newsletter #36 of Nov. 1998)	ESA Science Newsletters Mars Express information. A related SpaceViews story.