The next MEPCO is coming ... to Bulgaria, in early August, 1999!
For updated details on this astronomical conference just before the total solar eclipse click here!
New: every page on two servers, in Europe and the U.S.!
Update # 137 of June 29th, 1999, at 19:30 UTC
Cosmology satellite FUSE launched!A Delta II rocket has finally launched the Far UV Spectroscopic Explorer or FUSE satellite on June 24th. The satellite will search for the "fossil record" of the Big Bang and uncover clues about the evolution of the universe. It will observe nearby planets and the farthest reaches of the universe and will provide a detailed picture of the immense structure of our own Milky Way galaxy. The FUSE mission's primary scientific focus will be the study of hydrogen and deuterium (a heavier form of hydrogen), which were created shortly after the Big Bang. With this information, astronomers in effect will be able to look back in time at the infant universe. By examining these earliest relics of the birth of the universe, astronomers hope to better understand the processes that led to the formation and evolution of stars, including our solar system. |
FUSE Homepage. Fla. Today full coverage and NASA statement. Launch coverage from CNN, Florida Today, Space Daily and SpaceViews. Previews of the mission from CNN (very old), CNN again and once more, NASA, Florida Today, Spacer, BBC, Nando. |
Cancellation of Champollion apparently imminentA planned NASA mission to land a spacecraft on the nucleus of a comet will soon be canceled, the space information service SpaceViews has learned. Top project officials told SpaceViews that the Space Technology 4 (ST4) mission, also known as Champollion, will be canceled as part of a budget-tightening effort by NASA. "We understand that NASA Headquarters has proposed [cancelling Champollion] to the Office of Management and Budget and we think that Office of Management and Budget will accept that," ST4 project manager Brian Muirhead has said. Efforts are being organized to lobby Congress, but the prospects seem dim. The loss of yet another mission would be a further blow to the U.S. comet science community that has lost project after project since the 1970's and has been able to launch exactly one dedicated comet mission - Stardust - in 40 years of space science... |
The complete SpaceViews story. Also ABCNEWS. ST-4 Homepage. A Planetary Society Update reporting on the ST-4 crisis - and the apparent success in saving the Mars Surveyor 2001 lander. Regarding the latter: The selection of a landing site - based on MGS imagery - is already under way. |
Deep Space 1 mission smashing success; extension requestedWith further experiments in May and June the technological mission of Deep Space One is basically complete: 11 of the 12 innovative systems, including the Remote Agent, have achieved 100% success, and the 12th system, AutoNav, is already at 95% - the final test coming one month from now with the flyby of asteroid 1992 KD. After that the mission is to end on September 18th - but the management has requested an extension until 2001: DS1 could fly past two comets and do nothing but science (which is not the main part of the primary mission)!It would be possible to run the extended mission with just 20...25 people, half the number involved right now, and at a much reduced cost (which hasn't been disclosed yet). No response to the request has been received from NASA HQ yet - one wonders whether DS-1 will fall victim to the same funding trouble that's going to kill ST-4 - or whether the comet mission will become a 'consolation price' for America's battered cometologists... (Space News June 28, 1999, etc.) |
Homepage of Deep Space One, a Mission Log (apparently not archived - check frequently!) and collected DS1 News. The most unusual DS1 experiment: The Remote Agent was a full success. An award for the Ion drive has been awarded to the DS 1 project. |
Gemini North dedicatedAt a ceremony in Hawaii on June 25th, astronomers revealed some of the sharpest infrared images ever obtained by a ground-based telescope. These first high-resolution images from the new Gemini North Observatory show the remarkable power of the telescope's technologies, which minimize distortions caused by the turbulent atmosphere of the Earth. From the beginning the Gemini telescope is employing Adaptive Optics to counter this effect - and to obtain images that rival Hubble's in certain respects. The first images were unveiled at the dedication of Gemini North, one of the largest telescopes in the world, near the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. Built by an international partnership of seven nations, it is the first of two 8-meter telescopes that together can explore the entire northern and southern skies in optical and infrared light. Its twin, Gemini South, is under construction on Cerro Pachon in northern Chile. |
Gemini Homepage and Gemini-U.S. Homepage. Press Release with 3 pictures ( NSF version, yet another NSF version). More related releases. Earlier images of Pluto & Charon. Gemini North Dedication Page and Media Ressource Page. News coverage by BBC, ABC and SpaceViews. |
Cassini flies by Venus, gets science dataOn June 24, the Cassini Saturn orbiter and its Huygens probe flew about 620 km above the cloud tops of Venus in order to obtain a boost in speed from the planet's gravity. A number of science instruments were switched on during this brief encounter. However, we will have to wait for a while to study the new information: The data obtained during the flyby will trickle back to Earth at a fairly slow rate via the low gain antenna since Cassini's more powerful high gain antenna is acting as a sunshield and pointing away from the Earth.Four flybys of planets - two of Venus and one each of Earth and Jupiter - give Cassini the speed it needs to reach Saturn. Cassini first flew past Venus on April 26, 1998 at a distance of 284 kilometers. The June 24, 1999 Venus flyby will be followed by a 1166-kilometer flyby of Earth on August 18 (3:28 UTC), then it's on to Jupiter for a December 30, 2000 flyby. The giant planet's gravity will bend Cassini's flight path to put it on course for arrival into orbit around Saturn on July 1, 2004. |
Cassini Homepage and Cassini Travel Guide to Venus & Earth. Press releases on the Venus flyby from NASA, JPL and the R.A.S.. News coverage from CNN, SpaceViews. Remotely related story: Why Mariner 1, the first s/c to go to Venus, failed in 1962: Florida Today remembers... And: The 10th encounter of the Galileo Europa Mission has started in which the s/c will pass close to Callisto again on June 30th - the Countdown. |
Hubble's "planet" just a background star?The celebrated HST image that seemed to show a protoplanet ejected by a double star (see Update # 81) is probably featuring nothing but a background star that accidentally happened to be in the line of sight: Science News story, SpaceViews, Space Daily coverage - and what the discoverer says (nothing so far).Delta 3 victim of upper stage explosion?An explosion in the combustion chamber of an upper-stage engine is the likely cause of a failed Delta 3 launch in May, Boeing officials have announced: Boeing Press Release, SpaceViews story.Meanwhile the final report on the WIRE loss has been published by NASA (a power surge in the electronics is to blame): SpaceViews story. Detector captures artificial neutrino!For the first time physicists have succeeded in shooting a neutrino beam towards a distant detector - and getting a signal: ABCNEWS story, NYT article.Geodesy satellite burns up after 4 yearsGFZ-1, built by the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (Germany) and thrown out of Mir in 1995, has finished its mission: Press Release (in German). And that's what our Earth looks like, according to the latest satellite measurements!Here we go again: Another ISS assembly sequencehas been published - with Zvezda (the Russian Service Module) going up in November, followed by two shuttle missions in Dec. and Feb. 2000 and a Soyuz with the first crew in March of 2000. Here is the list plus an ESA Press Release. Meanwhile a user center for the ISS has opened in the Netherlands.
| The fate of ABRIXAS remains unclearThe damaged X-ray satellite (see Update # 128) is rotating in about 190 seconds about the axis perpendicular to its solar planel. The orientation of the axis is unknown, however: Will there be enough power for an emergency start-up? The latest from AIP, including hi-res radar images of the spacecraft!The latest expedition to Tunguska(see Update # 135, small stuff) is beginning: BBC. Two meteor streams are approaching - here is how to observe the radio echoes of the Beta Taurids & June Bootids. What will the Leonids 1999 bring? A review of recent predictions. Plus a tale from 1833.Ever wondered what became of comet Hale-Bopp?It's still enormous: new NTT images! And the VLT has observed Wirtanen, the target comet of the Rosetta mission, at perihelion.
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All other historical issues can be found in the Archive.
This Cosmic Mirror has been visited
Compiled and written by Daniel Fischer
(send me a mail to [email protected]!), Skyweek
