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By Daniel Fischer Every page present in Europe & the U.S.!
| Ahead | Awards 
The latest issue!
| A German companion - only available here! Current mission news: MGS (latest pictures!) + Cassini + Stardust |
for a nice conjunction in early June, another one in a chain of planetary constellation events since April: Science@NASA, S&T ( Press Release), Ast., SC. Earlier sights: JPL Release, gallery, AstroCruise [APOD], APOD, AFP, SC, CNN (earlier). Halo phenomena triggered by Venus: Science@NASA.
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Odyssey finds water ice in abundance under Mars' surfaceUsing instruments on the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft, surprised scientists have found enormous quantities of buried water ice lying just under the surface of Mars, confirming the early impressions (see Update #235 small items). Scientists used Odyssey's gamma ray spectrometer instrument suite to detect hydrogen, which indicates the presence of water ice in the upper meter of soil in a large region surrounding the planet's south pole. The detection of hydrogen is based both on the intensity of gamma rays emitted by hydrogen, and by the intensity of neutrons that are affected by hydrogen.The spacecraft's high-energy neutron detector and the neutron spectrometer observed the neutron intensity. The amount of hydrogen detected indicates 20 to 50 percent ice by mass in a particularly ice-rich lower layer of the soil. Because rock has a greater density than ice, this amount is more than 50 percent water ice by volume. This means that if one heated a full bucket of this ice-rich polar soil it would result in more than half a bucket of water. The gamma ray spectrometer suite is unique in that it senses the composition below the surface to a depth as great as one meter. By combining the different type of data from the instrument, the team has concluded the hydrogen is not distributed uniformly over the upper meter but is much more concentrated in a lower layer beneath the top-most surface. The team also found that the hydrogen-rich regions are located in areas that are known to be very cold and where ice should be stable. This relationship between high hydrogen content with regions of predicted ice stability led the team to conclude that the hydrogen is, in fact, in the form of ice. The ice-rich layer is about 60 cm beneath the surface at 60 degrees south latitude, and gets to within about 30 cm of the surface at 75 degrees south latitude. The first successful attempt to measure the global distribution of neutrons about a planetary body was made using a similar neutron spectrometer aboard Lunar Prospector. Comparisons between the lunar and Martian neutron spectrometer data reveal that Mars' soil is richer in hydrogen than is the moon's soil by more than several factors of 10 to several factors of 1,000. The Odyssey neutron spectrometer will continue to measure neutrons that leak outward from the upper meter of the Martian soil for several more years. Mars Odyssey's orbit is such that the entire planet's surface is sampled in four-degree longitudinal increments weekly. Scientists will use these data not only to determine the amount of water on Mars, but to map the basaltic lava cover, measure the seasonal variation of dry-ice frost that covers both poles during their winter months and help interpret data from the gamma-ray spectrometer to determine the quantity and composition of the most abundant elements on the planet. Meanwhile ESA's Mars Express, ready for launching in June 2003, has the tools for searching for water much deeper below the surface, down to a few kilometres - this spacecraft will give a more global picture of where the water is and how deep. |
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ESA manages to save all space science missions!After months of mulling the options, the European Space Agency has finally come up with a plan that will save all of the science missions approved in 2000 (see Update # 207 story 2), despite the financial cuts suffered during the 2001 ministerial meeting - and there will even be one more mission than originally planned, with Eddington moving from 'reserve' to fully funded. The trick: Most missions will be combined into several "production groups" that offer syergies and lower costs. The only mission that could not fit into the current framework is Venus Express, which would have re-used hardware from Mars Express.The new plan, strongly endorsed by the Science Programme Committee on the occasion of its 99th meeting last month and dubbed "Cosmic Vision 2020", contains the following missions, listed by the new production groups:
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Eleven new satellites of Jupiter bring total to 39!University of Hawaii astronomers have announced the discovery of 11 new satellites of Jupiter: These new satellites, when added to the eleven discovered the previous year by the Hawaii team, bring the total of known Jupiter satellites to 39, more than any other planet has, as far as we know. The new satellites were discovered during mid-December of 2001 by a team led by Scott S. Sheppard and David Jewitt from the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy and including Jan Kleyna of Cambridge University, England: They used the Canada-France-Hawaii 3.6-meter telescope with one of the largest digital imaging cameras in the world, the "12K", to obtain sensitive images of a wide area around Jupiter.The 11 new objects all belong to the so-called "irregular satellite" class, meaning that they have large semi-major axes, eccentricities and inclinations. All are retrograde (they orbit in the direction opposite to the rotation of the planet), and possess similar semi-major axes (about 300 Jupiter radii or 20 million km) The estimated diameters are between about 2 and 4 kilometers, assuming a 4% albedo. As yet, nothing is known about their surface properties, compositions or densities, but they are presumed to be rocky objects like the asteroids. The new discoveries bring the known total of Jupiter satellites to 39, of which 31 are irregulars. |
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Cosmic impacts implicated in both the rise and fall of dinosaursNew abilities to detect layers of "space dust" in the earth's crust are building geological evidence that comets or asteroids colliding with earth not only helped wipe out the dinosaurs, but may have originally helped bring them to prominence about 200 million years ago. Finding the element iridium, which is common in space objects, creates a time marker for comet or asteroid impacts, and correlating the finds with evidence of plant and animal life helps to find out what happened. The new research adds to the speculation that there was a comet or asteroid impact about 200 million years ago, followed relatively quickly by the rising dominance of dinosaur populations of the Jurassic period. The effects of the impact may have killed off or reduced many competitive species, clearing the way for dinosaurs to adapt and flourish for the next 135 million years. |
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Aqua launched to study Earth's water cycleNASA's latest Earth-observing satellite was successfully launched on May 4: Aqua is dedicated to advancing our understanding of Earth's water cycle and our environment. The spacecraft lifted off from the Vandenberg AFB, Calif., aboard a Delta II rocket. The primary goal of Aqua, as the name implies, is to gather information about water in Earth's system: Equipped with six state-of-the-art instruments, Aqua will collect data on global precipitation, evaporation and the cycling of water. This information will help scientists all over the world to better understand Earth's water cycle and determine if the water cycle is accelerating as a result of climate change.Aqua is the latest in a series of Earth Observing System spacecraft, following the Terra satellite launched in December 1999 (see Update # 163 story 2). Aqua will cross the equator daily at 1:30 p.m. as it heads north. The early afternoon observation time contrasts with the Terra satellite, which crosses the equator between 10:30 and 10:45 a.m. daily. Aqua's afternoon observations, combined with Terra's morning observations, will provide important insights into the daily cycling of key scientific parameters such as precipitation and ocean circulation. |
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ISS UpdateThe next mission to the ISS has been delayed several times by bad weather, an oxygen generator on the ISS has failed and was repaired, and the ISS visitors have returned to Earth on May 5: a JPL Release on an atomic clock for the ISS, Science@NASA on Earth views from the ISS, and earlier ESA and MSFC Press Releases, the Status and coverage of June 1: FT, HC, NYT, ST. May 31: OS, BBC ( other story), AP, ST, CNN, RP, NZ. May 30: NYT, ST (other story). May 29: SC, AD, AP, ST. |
May 28:
SN,
AP,
SC.
May 27:
SC.
May 26:
FT.
May 24:
SN,
AW&ST,
CNN.
May 23:
SC.
May 22:
Indep.,
AFP.
May 21:
AFP,
FT.
May 20:
ST,
AFP,
SC.
May 18:
CNN,
Rtr.,
Interfax, Rtr.
May 17:
AFP,
AP, ST.
May 16:
New Sci.,
CNN,
AP,
RP,
NZ,
Sp.
May 15:
FT, ST,
BBC.
May 12:
WamS.
May 11:
VoA.
May 9:
AFP.
May 8:
AP,
NZ.
May 7:
Novosti,
AFP.
May 6:
AFP
(earlier),
SD.
May 5:
AFP
(earlier),
CNN,
BBC,
ST,
OS,
AP,
NZ,
RP,
Sp.
May 4:
AFP.
NASA's intense hunt for old computer hardware needed to service the shuttle takes it even to eBay - it would cost even more to build and qualify more modern testing equipment: NYT [HC], BBC, Welt. |
Disaster at BaikonurA large building at the cosmodrome in Kazachstan has collapsed during roof repairs, burying 7 or 8 workers - at least one old Buran shuttle was damaged: AD, ST (earlier, still earlier), AN, SN, AFP (earlier), BBC ( earlier, still earlier), AP, NZ (fr�her, Sp.Buran auction fails - no one paid $6m for an old Soviet shuttle: SC ( earlier). Buran appears in Australia: SMH. How the Earth participates in space stormshas been clarified by the IMAGE satellite - a layer in the outer atmosphere acts like a heat shield by absorbing energy from space storms, but at the same time it creates a billion-degree cloud of plasma that surrounds our planet: GSFC Press Release, New Sci., KRT, FT, Ast., ST, NZ.High-speed gas streams in coronal arcs of the Sun can dominate over gravity, observations by the satellites TRACE and SOHO show: GSFC and ESA Press Releases, Sp. Infrared images of an infant solar systemA striking portrait of what our Solar System must have looked like when it was in its early infancy has been discovered with the VLT - the "Flying Saucer" appears to be a perfect example of a very young star with a disk in which planets are forming or will soon form: ESO Press Release, Ast., Sp.The Tarantula Nebula with high resolution, imaged with the 8kx8k Wide Field Imager (WFI) at the 2.2m MPG/ESO telescope at La Silla: special page. Diamonds in the interstellar mediumhave been discovered by the HST - a carbon crystalline substance in dust clouds enshrouding newborn stars has the right spectral signature: Astr., NZ.FeS found in YSOs - the 'missing sulfur' signature had been mistaken for something else: SciAm. Extremely rare molecule found in interstellar space, ammonia that includes three atoms of deuterium: Caltech Press Release. Mercury meteorite puzzleThe first meteorite that may have come from Mercury has been identified - NWA 011 clearly had a molten past and was formed from lighter materials than most meteorites: BBC.How Venus lost its water - a region in the western tropical Pacific Ocean may help scientists understand how Venus lost all of its water: Ames Press Release, Ast., SC. Microbe sets miniaturization recordsResearchers have found a strange and tiny new group of microbes living on another microbe at the bottom of the sea - the organisms are about 400 nm across, seem unable to survive alone and represent a new phylum of Archaea: a kind of Homepage and coverage by NSU, ORF, RP, NZ.22nd genetically coded aminoacid found, first new one after 16 years: OSU Press Release, Sp. Amino acid synthesis in deep space: ESA Science News. |
Search for 'Bavarian bolide' meteorites begins29 volunteers searched for meteorites from the April 6 fireball (see Update # 236 story 3) on May 1 but found nothing in the mountainous area - the hunt will continue: the EN Homepage has pictures and news (scroll down).Despite fading, Ikeya-Zhang remained an impressive comet in May, with a faint gas tail but a large coma: pictures from AstroStudio (one of the April 30 pictures also features Snyder-Murakami, just 1.5° away), M�ller and Gaehrken (with Messier 13). Utsunomiya was also nice! The comet with Mercury. Hunting comets with SOHO: Wired, CNN. The ISS crew observed the Leonid storm of 2001 and lost count: Science@NASA, CENAP News. Outlook for the Leonids 2002 in bright moonlight: Science@NASA. The 1998 Leonid fireball rain as seen from space: EPOD. Aurorae on May 11...14. And over Antarctica: NSF Press Release, BBC, Sp, NZ. Halo causes confusion: Miami Herald, CENAP News. Cassini's vision has clearedafter repeated heating cycles of its polluted camera optics: Mission Status, CNN. Hope for Pluto mission? UPI, SC. New Horizons passes review: APL Press Release.Comeback for NEAR? NASA will get one shot on re-establishing contact with the s/c sitting on Eros: SC. Land names on an asteroid with MUSES-C: Plan. Soc. Release. Genesis completes loop around a gravitational point between Sun and Earth: JPL Release. China launches ocean, weather satellitesA Long March booster launched a weather satellite and marine surveying spacecraft on May 15: AFP, ST. Moon landing rumors denied: BBC ( earlier). What China really plans: SD (earlier).NASA exploring options with other countries to launch Triana - it hopes to broker a no-exchange-of-funds deal: AD. Arianespace posts big loss of 193 million euros: ST. Company fights for survival: BBC. Artemis rising: ESA News.
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Compiled and written by Daniel Fischer
(send me a mail to [email protected]!), Skyweek
