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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 |
On May 7th there will be a transit of Mercury across the disk of the Sun, well visible from e.g. Europe: ESO Special Page (Press Release), Espenak, SOHO (ESA and GSFC Press Releases), JPL, S&T, PopAstro, Celestial Delights, BBC, Inst. for Solar Physics, Jena (PM) - and a strange painting from 1914 ... And during the night of May 15/16, a total lunar eclipse will be visible best from the Americas: Espenak and previews by CSM and SC.
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Galaxy Evolution Explorer launched on PegasusNASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer spacecraft was successfully launched on April 28 from a Pegasus XL rocket released by an L-1011 aircraft off the coast of Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Station. The mission features an orbiting telescope that will observe millions of galaxies across 10-billion years of cosmic history. Its findings may help astronomers determine when the chemical elements originated and the stars we see today first blossomed. After one month of in-orbit checkout, the science mission will begin. It will last for 28 months and possibly longer. The mission's ultraviolet detectors will hone in on galaxies containing young, hot, short-lived stars that emit a great deal of ultraviolet energy. Because these galaxies are actively creating stars, studying them will help scientists learn more about how, when and why stars form inside galaxies."This mission will provide the first comprehensive map of a Universe of galaxies under construction and bring us closer to understanding how they, and our own Milky Way, were built," says Christopher Martin, GALEX's principal investigator from Caltech. The mission "is designed specifically to measure the distances and star formation rate in a million galaxies," adds James Fanson, the GALEX project manager from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory: "It is going to help us put together a picture of the Universe we see today - how stars formed in galaxies, how galaxies evolved through time, what caused star formation and led to the development of heavy elements of the periodic table." The craft carries a 50-cm telescope with near- and far-ultraviolet detectors. GALEX will perform both imaging and spectroscopy, conducting several types of surveys. Some of the GALEX surveys will be science "firsts." For example, GALEX is the first mission to conduct an extra-galactic all-sky survey. During these surveys, GALEX will be "polling" the skies like a census taker, examining the UV emission from star-forming regions in all types of galaxies. To perform these many science firsts, GALEX will take full advantage of the science data of previous and current missions. The comparison of the infrared all-sky survey maps obtained from satellites like the Infrared Astronomical Satellite and the UV all-sky maps produced by GALEX will allow astronomers to investigate the effects of gas and dust on star formation in galaxies. GALEX will also pave the way for future HST observations by identifying intriguing celestial objects for study. |
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STS-107/ISS UpdateExpedition 7 has reached the ISS, relieving Expedition 6. Meanwhile the detailled scenario of Columbia's demise has changed several more times; earlier the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) had issued a pair of preliminary recommendations, regarding the inspection of portions of shuttle thermal protection system as well as on-orbit imaging of orbiters: a CAIB Press Release on the recommendations, NASA Press Releases on debris recovery and the resignation of Dittemore (his message), transcripts of the CAIB's April 8 PC (parts 1, 2 and 3) and an April 23 telecon, an ESA Release on ATV control, a Univ. of Maine PR on high temperature degradation of carbon-carbon composites, a Boeing Release on keeping the ISS humming, a moonset movie from the ISS, and a GSFC Release on EarthKAM. |
Coverage of April 30:
New Sci.,
WP,
Wash. Times,
SC,
ST.
April 29:
SN,
AP 2,
1,
FT 2,
1,
WP,
UPI,
SR
(earlier).
April 28:
SN,
FT,
ST,
New Sci.,
BBC,
Dsc.,
CNN,
AFP,
AP,
APOD,
NZ,
Welt.
April 27:
AFP.
April 26:
SN,
CNN,
BBC,
FT 2,
1,
WP 2,
1,
FT,
AFP 2,
1,
Rtr, SC,
BBC,
UPI,
ST,
RP,
NZ.
April 25:
ST,
CNN,
FT 2,
1,
BBC 2,
1,
AFP 2,
1,
Rtr,
CollectSpace 2,
1,
SD,
CSM,
Welt.
April 24:
Ast.,
SN 3,
2,
1,
WP 2,
1,
FT 3,
2,
1,
Dsc,
CNN,
AFP,
AP,
NZ.
April 23:
New Sci.,
SN,
WP,
FT 5
4,
3,
2,
1,
AFP 5,
4,
3,
2,
1,
UPI,
Rtr, ST 3,
2,
1,
AP,
SC,
SD,
RP,
NZ 2,
1.
April 22:
FT 5,
4,
3,
2,
1,
WP,
AP,
UPI.
April 21:
FT,
Dsc.,
BBC,
SD.
April 20:
SN 2,
1,
WP,
AFP 2,
1,
ST.
April 19:
SN,
UPI.
April 18:
ABC,
WP,
NZ.
April 17:
SN,
ST,
Dsc,
AFP,
SC 2,
1,
NZ.
April 16:
New Sci.,
WP,
SR,
AFP 2,
1,
SD,
SN.
April 15:
SN,
FT,
WP,
UPI,
AP,
ST.
April 14:
ST 2,
1,
SR,
SpaceRev,
AP,
SC,
RP.
Flashes in astronauts' eyes were studied in detail on Mir: New Sci., SC, NZ. |
First Mars rover launch slips to June 5A potentially fatal electrical problem with the MER had been discovered just in time: Cornell Status of April 26, ELV Status of April 25 and April 14, SN, Plan. Soc., BBC, UPI, AFP, FT, SC (other story), NZ.France drops out of Netlander project as well as GLAST: AFP. Beagle 2 still looking for sponsors: BBC. Details: SD. Its landing site: AstroBio. Control room to be open: BBC (other story), Ananova. MARSIS on the Mars Express orbiter: SC. Launch preps: BBC. Daily MGS images: Ast. MGS gallery growing: SC. Moon mission "could catapult India to global league", says space chief: AFP. Rosetta forced to go to "Chury"Because the nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer cannot be drained from its tank, the Rosetta spacecraft is forced to stay in Kourou - and thus only an Ariane 5 launch to comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko in Feb. 2002 remains as a viable option: SD. An earlier rumor: Go Ariane. Re-qualifying the Ariane 5 E-CA: ibid. 1 billion Euros needed: ibid. Deep Impact's delay: UMD News.NASA's Prometheus nuclear plans for interplanetary travel - are they necessary and safe? SF Gate, SC (earlier). X-Rays found from a lightweight Brown DwarfUsing NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, scientists have detected X-rays from a low mass brown dwarf in a multiple star system, which is as young as 12 million years: Chandra Release, Ast., NZ.Transit planet OGLE TR-3 celebrated in ESO and Univ. T�bingen Press Releases and by BBC, Ast., RP and NZ - of course, you've already read it here in Update # 251 story 3 sidebar 1! Searching for Earthlike planets: Nat'l Geogr. LSST plans matureFour major research organizations have joined forces to build a world-class telescope that will survey the entire sky in a relentless search for supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, near-Earth asteroids etc. - the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope: NOAO Release.Does the GRB/SN case support the 'cannonball' model? At least the prediction of a SN appearing after a GRB (see last Update lead sidebar) turned out to be roughly correct: CERN Press Release, BBC (earlier), ST SC, NZ - but the SN signature in the spectrum actually first appeared on April 5, not 8! The spectrum: CfA picture. NASA takes a look at menacing glacierin Peru - a potential disaster-in-the-making in Peru's spectacular, snow-capped Cordillera Blanca: JPL Release, BBC, AFP, NZ. Not so dangerous after all? Rtr. |
Finding the ashes of the first starsAstronomers have observed large amounts of iron in the ultraluminous light from very distant, ancient quasars - this iron is the 'ashes' left from supernova explosions in the very first generation of stars: a paper by Prochaska & al., ESA HST News, UCSC Press Release, SC.New evidence about universe's heaviest phase of star formation - new distance measurements from faraway galaxies further strengthen the view that the strongest burst of star formation in the universe occurred about two billion years after the Big Bang: Caltech PR. Sigh ... now there are 60 moons of JupiterFolks in Hawaii, how about just waiting a few weeks and release all your recent discoveries at once?! Also Ast.Titan's surface is "icy bedrock", spectra show: UA Release [SR], Ast., SciAm, BBC, NZ. 'Bunker buster' missiles aim at MoonTests have been carried out on ground penetrating missiles using 'bunker buster' technology that could be fired into the depths of dark lunar craters to look for ice: BBC. ESA's SMART-1 mission: Guardian.Which asteroids can be exploited best? A candidate list from Armagh. Asteroid named for F. Espenak, famed eclipse calculator: GSFC Release. X Prize contender on displayBurt Rutan thinks he can go suborbital with a weird-looking vehicle: a Press Release, another related Release, yet another related Release, pictures and coverage by ST, AW&ST, SpaceRev (earlier), New Sci., SN, Dsc., BBC (here's some hilarious exchange about that piece), UPI, SC, RP.SpaceDev announces Streaker Launch Vehicle, a spin-off of the Rutan work: Press Release.
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All other historical issues can be found in the Archive.
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since it was issued (the German site has no counter).
Compiled and written by Daniel Fischer
(send me a mail to [email protected]!), Skyweek
