|
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 |
While the devastating hurricane Katrina has caused only modest damage to two NASA facilities in the U.S. Gulf area, the factory making the external tanks in particular will be down for months - a slip of STS-121 to May or June 2006 is already considered likely. Releases and coverage of Sep. 3: NASA Release, FT. Sep. 2: KSC and NASA Releases, AW&ST, Dsc., FT, SC. Sep. 1: FT, ST. Aug. 31: NASA Release, FT, UPI, ST. Aug. 30: NASA Release, Stennis Status and OSO Point Paper, a Griffin letter and coverage by HC, FT, NwS and SC. Aug. 29: FT, SC, ST. Aug. 28: SN, SD. Plus NASA, BBC and APOD on satellites observing the storm, NASA sites on hurricanes in 2005, Katrina in particular and all pictures - and RealClimate on the deeper connections.
| |
Giant optical telescope in Africa comes onlineFive years after breaking ground on a South African mountaintop near the edge of the Kalahari desert, astronomers on Sep. 1 released the first images captured by the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), now the equal of the world's largest optical telescope and a prized window to the night skies of the southern hemisphere. With a 10- by 11-meter hexagonal segmented mirror and state-of-the-art scientific instrumentation, the new SALT Telescope was constructed by an international consortium of universities and government agencies, including the National Research Foundation of South Africa, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Nicolas Copernicus Astronomical Centre in Poland and Rutgers University, among others.The new $18 million observatory will provide unprecedented access to the astronomically rich skies of the southern hemisphere. Objects such as the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, the galaxies nearest to our own Milky Way, will come into sharp view through the concerted focus of the 91 hexagonal mirror segments that comprise the SALT Telescope's primary mirror array. A critical advantage for the SALT Telescope, according to astronomers, is its location in one of the darkest regions of the world. With no nearby cities or towns, the observatory will be little affected by the light pollution that seriously hampers many observatories in the Northern Hemisphere. |
| ||||||||
Racing pulsar to leave the Milky Way for goodA speeding, superdense neutron star somehow got a powerful "kick" that is propelling it completely out of our Milky Way Galaxy into the cold vastness of intergalactic space. Its discovery is puzzling astronomers who used the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio telescope to directly measure the fastest speed yet found in a neutron star. The neutron star is the remnant of a massive star born in the constellation Cygnus that exploded about two and a half million years ago in a supernova. Ultra-precise VLBA measurements of its distance and motion show that it is on course to inevitably leave our Galaxy.The VLBA measurements show the pulsar moving at nearly 1100 km/s - some 150 times faster than an orbiting Space Shuttle; at this speed, it could travel from London to New York in five seconds. The star's presumed birthplace among giant stars in the constellation Cygnus lies within the plane of the Milky Way, a spiral galaxy. The new VLBA observations indicate that the neutron star now is headed away from the Milky Way's plane with enough speed to take it completely out of the Galaxy. Since the supernova explosion nearly 2 and a half million years ago, the pulsar has moved across about a third of the night sky as seen from Earth. |
| ||||||||
John N. Bahcall, leading astrophysicist, dead at 70John Norris Bahcall, Richard Black Professor of Astrophysics in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., recipient of the National Medal of Science, president of the American Astronomical Society, President-Elect of the American Physical Society, and a prominent leader of the astrophysics community, passed away on August 17, 2005, in New York City - he was just 70. Dr. Bahcall had a long and prolific career in astronomy and astrophysics, spanning five decades and the publication of more than five hundred technical papers, books, and popular articles. His most recognized scientific contribution was the novel proposal in 1964, together with Raymond Davis Jr., that scientific mysteries of our sun - how it shines, how old it is, how hot it is - could be examined by measuring the number of neutrinos arriving on Earth from the sun.Observations by Davis in the 1960s and 1970s however revealed a clear discrepancy between Bahcall's predictions, based on standard solar and particle physics models, and what was measured experimentally. This discrepancy, known as the "Solar Neutrino Puzzle," was examined by hundreds of physicists, chemists, and astronomers over the subsequent three decades. In the late 1990s through 2002, new large-scale neutrino experiments in Japan, Canada, Italy, and Russia culminated in the conclusion that the discrepancy between Bahcall's predictions and experimental results required a modification of our understanding of particle physics: neutrinos must have a mass and 'oscillate' between different particle states. These results led to the 2002 Nobel Prize being awarded to the leaders of the American and Japanese neutrino experiments, Raymond Davis and Masatoshi Koshiba. John Bahcall contributed to many areas of astrophysics in addition to neutrino astrophysics, including the study of dark matter in the universe, quasar properties, galactic structure, the evolution of stars, and the identification of the first neutron star companion. His most lasting influence, however, may be the promising young scientists whom he nurtured, and who went on to successful careers and scientific leadership positions in the academic and scientific community. And he was a powerful driving force in the astronomy and scientific community of the United States. He led the effort to create the Hubble Space Telescope in the 1970s together with Lyman Spitzer; chaired the National Academy of Science committee that created the decade roadmap for U.S. astronomy research described in Update # 190, which came to be known as the Bahcall Report; and served as President of the American Astronomical Society from 1990-1992. |
| ||||||||
Mars orbiter makes successful course correctionNASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) successfully tested its main engines on August 27 by making a successful trajectory adjustment for reaching the red planet on March 10, 2006. The spacecraft fired all six main thrusters for 15 seconds; the engine burn followed a 30-second burn of six smaller thrusters, which settled propellant in the craft's fuel tank for smoother flow. The spacecraft's orientation was adjusted prior to the burns to point the engines in the proper direction for the maneuver. The MRO returned to the regular cruise-phase attitude after the trajectory adjustment. The maneuver accomplished two goals at once: It adjusted the trajectory toward the Mars target point, and it provided a valuable checkout of the orbit-insertion engines. The target point is 395 kilometers above the surface of Mars: The MRO had been launched into a direction much farther off the planet so that the Upper Stage wouldn't impact it.
Picture-perfect launch of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter!Two days into its launch window, NASA's latest mission to Mars has lifted off from Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on August 12 - the delay had been due to minor technical issues that were solved quickly. It was the first government launch of Lockheed Martin's Atlas V launch vehicle. »We have a big spacecraft loaded with advanced instruments for inspecting Mars in greater detail than any previous orbiter, and we have the first Atlas V launch vehicle to carry an interplanetary mission,« NASA's Mars Exploration Program Director Doug McCuistion had said before launch: »a very potent and exciting combination.« Less than one hour after lift-off the MRO was already on its way to Mars and had separated cleanly from its Centaur upper stage.Since then the mission is progressing smoothly. When the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives in March, it begins a half-year »aerobraking« process: The spacecraft will gradually adjust the shape of its orbit by using friction from carefully calculated dips into the top of the Martian atmosphere. The mission's primary science phase starts in November 2006. "Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will give us several times more data about Mars than all previous missions combined," said James Graf, project manager for the mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena Calif. Researchers will use the data to study the history and distribution of Martian water. Learning more about what has happened to the water will focus searches for possible past or present Martian life. Observations by the orbiter will also support future Mars missions by examining potential landing sites and providing a communications relay between the Martian surface and Earth. The craft can transmit about 10 times as much data per minute as any previous Mars spacecraft. This will serve both to convey detailed observations of the Martian surface, subsurface and atmosphere by the instruments on the orbiter and enable data relay from other landers on the Martian surface to Earth. NASA plans to launch the Phoenix Mars Scout in 2007 to land on the far northern Martian surface. NASA is also developing an advanced rover, the Mars Science Laboratory, for launch in 2009. |
| ||||||||
Next shuttle won't launch before March 2006On August 18 it became official: Too much work is necessary to fix the external tank, and so the Sep. 2005 launch window will be missed - as will be the very short ones in winter. "From an overall standpoint we think really March 4th is the time frame we are looking at," says Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's new head of space operations and responsible for managing the foam fix. In another change of plans, it'll be Discovery again for the next mission STS-121: the one after that could then be flown with Atlantis which is the only orbiter capable of hoisting a large ISS component on STS-115. Discovery finally made it back to the KSC on August 21; bad weather first at Edwards and then at the Cape had delayed the tranfer back. Meanwhile the ISS crew has conducted another EVA - and a 'minority report' by seven members of the RTF Task Group has been made public in which they claim that NASA's 'culture' is as rotten as before (esp. when it comes to setting launch dates) - the other group members disagree ...
»Nothing obvious« found in investigation of shuttle foam shedding so farSo far to several teams looking into the continuing foam shedding by the External Tank and going through the tons of data from mission STS-114 »nothing became very obvious,« ISS Program Manager Bill Gerstenmaier reported at at NASA telecon to reporters (yours truly being the only one from Germany, as usual) on August 11: Along with no smoking gun they obviously also »didn't find any immediate easy fixes,« and thus the chances are dwindling rapidly that Atlantis can go in the September launch window. Gerstenmaier does not believe that a major redesign of the tank will become necessary, but »minor engineering modifications« will probably be called for, including perhaps the replacement of several of the critical ramps where the foam has to be applied manually and where it's more likely to come off. The biggest fragment during STS-114 fell from an area that was slightly damaged - and repaired easily - during tank preparations but this was certainly not the root cause and only a contributing factor, if at all.
Discovery returns to Edwards in great shapeOn August 9, Discovery was finally back on Earth - not at the KSC as planned but at Edwards in California where there were no weather threats. The orbiter had undocked from the ISS on Aug. 6 perfectly on time and returned without any problems and in great shape; it is now being prepared for transport back to the KSC where it won't arrive before August 18, though. The date of the next launch is the great unknown now. If a cure for the falling foam problem is found quickly (as some continue to hope - it could have been a one-time manufacturing glitch), it could have come as early as Sep. 22, but that was calculated for an on-time KSC landing of Discovery (which is needed as a back-up for a potential if unlikely rescue mission if Atlantis gets stranded in orbit). Most observers now don't expect another launch until next March when better launch windows open. Meanwhile NASA's plans for the shuttle's successor are ripening and should be revealed this month.
Work on Discovery's belly during 3rd EVA went picture-perfectNo 4th spacewalk deemed necessary; return on Aug. 8He made it look easy, and - contrary to earlier fears - there were even stunning live TV pictures to prove it to the world in real-time: Steve Robinson could pull out the two protruding gap fillers of Discovery's TPS during the 3rd EVA of STS-114 (don't you love those NASA acronyms? :-) on Aug. 3 with his bare, i.e. gloved, hands and didn't even need the tools he had prepared. There had been much discussion about the first-ever work of an astronaut in direct proximity of the sensitive heat tiles, but NASA had convinced itself - and ultimately the crew - that the operation was worthwile. There is no proof, neither experimental nor theoretical, that reentering the atmosphere with the little gap fillers sticking out would have caused trouble - but aerothermodynamicists couldn't exclude it either. And since the risks of an EVA are manageable and could be minimized actively, NASA chose that way over the taking the potential risk of doing nothing. After a damaged thermal blanket next to an orbiter window was deemed to be harmless during reentry after wind tunnel testing, Discovery was finally cleared for return on August 8. The 2nd EVA on Aug. 1 had been a success, too, and the ISS has now four working gyroscopes again. |
|
Saturn UpdateEnceladus' "tiger stripes" are only a few decades old, Cassini data indicate. JPL and ESA Releases of Aug. 30 [alt., SR] (another one), Aug. 17 and Aug. 5, SSI, Univ. of CO [SR], SwRI and MPG Press Releases, pictures # PIA077... 30, 29, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20, 19 and 10, | PIA... 075... 78, 77, 76, 75, 74, 73, 72, 71, 70, 69, 68, 67, 66, 65, 64, 63, 62, 61, 60, 59, 58, 57, 56, 55 and 54, ...64... 36 and 12, ...62... 59, 58, 57, 56 and 55 and ...35... 53, 52, 51 and 50, raw images 38106 (Hyperion) and 37557 (Dione), more from orbit 12 and coverage of Sep. 1: SMH, ST, BdW. Aug. 31: Guard., Dsc., Reg., Telegr. Aug. 30: BBC, NwS. Aug. 24: APOD. Aug. 19: PS. Aug. 17: SC. Aug. 15: SC. Aug. 14: TP. Aug. 9: W. Aug. 5: Plan. Soc., NwS. Aug. 4: BBC, ST, W. Aug. 3: NwS. Aug. 2: Dsc. July 31: ST. |
An asteroid with two moonsis (87) Sylvia, Adaptive Optics observations with the VLT show - the closer and newly discovered moonlet, orbiting about 710 km from Sylvia, is Remus, circling Sylvia every 33 hours, the other & larger, Romulus, orbits at about 1360 km: a paper by Marchis & al., ESO and Berkeley [SR] Press Releases, S&T, PS, SFG, Dsc., ScAm, NwS, SC, ST, TP, BdW.Neon from Earth's early atmosphere embedded on the Moon? That would explain some anomalies: AFP, TP, BdW. Cosmochemistry revelations from the early solar system: UCSD, Victoria Univ. and U. Toronto Press Releases and stories by S&T and BdW (noch eine). Unexpectedly large particles in bolide debrisseen by LIDAR after a small asteroid exploded over Antarctica in 2004 - these rare but amazing airbursts could be more relevant for our climate than thought: a paper by Klekociuk & al., Sandia [SR] and AAD Press Releases and coverage by Dsc., ABC, Antarct. Mag., AFP, ScAm, SC, NwS, BdW and TP.Earth's surface transformed by massive asteroids? A cluster of at least three asteroids between 20 and 50 km across colliding with Earth over 3.2 Gyr ago may have caused a massive change in the structure and composition of the Earth's surface: ANU Press Release. Extinction link to high temps: NCAR PR. Impact craters good for life? Dsc. The inner core of the Earth rotates slightly faster than the mantle, a detailled analysis of earthquake pairs has shown: Columbia Univ. PR, BBC, Dsc., NwS. MESSENGER came close to the EarthOne year after launch, the MESSENGER spacecraft flew past the Earth on Aug. 2 en route to its final destination Mercury, passing 2347 km over central Mongolia: JHU APL and NASA Releases, PS (w/new Earth pix!), SN, Dsc., ST.Hayabusa's startracker has found asteroid Itokawa - in mid-September the target should be reached: JAXA PR, SN, NwS. Venus Express arrives in Baikonur for an October launch: ESA Release (earlier), TP.
|
SOHO has discovered its 1000th cometright on schedule (see the header of the last Update) - Toni Scarmato found SOHO's 999th and 1000th comet August 5 in the same SOHO image: NASA Vision, ESA Release, SC.Venus - Jupiter conjunction very low (for the Northern hemisphere) in the evening skies around September 1: pictures from Ohio, Iran, LA, the South Pole (!), Ohio again, Belgium, Colorado and Austria from Sep. 1, Aug. 31, Aug. 30 and Aug. 28 and previews in an S&T PR and by Science@NASA, StarGazer, SFG, SC and W. Robert Evans has found his 40th supernovaAll were found visually since 1981 with various large amateur telescopes - the Australian has long memorized how 1000s of galaxies look like normally: ESO Press Release, S&T. Tracking down the companion of Vega: WAA. AAVSO call for observations of 'propeller star': Press Release [SR].A nice - but not outstanding - peak of the Perseids could be followed from several continents: the IMO Shower Circular, a nice picture from Slovenia, a movie from France, reports from Austria and by S&T and further previews by S&T, APOD (earlier), AFP, SC. Apophis = 2004 MN4 will be fun in the sky: U. Mich. PR. Deflect it??? NEO News. News from an asteroid conference: NEO News. Comet - asteroid connection: Ames Press Release. What to do with the KBO that beats Pluto?Confusion abounds in the outer solar system: a technical paper by Brown & al. and coverage of Aug. 29: SpaceRev. Aug. 17: BdW. Aug. 15: NwS. Aug. 8: NwS. Aug. 4: BdW. Aug. 2: BBC, NwS, AFP, SC. Aug. 1: APOD, Inq., CENAP, TP. July 31: ACC, Guard., APOD.Deep Impact coverage of Aug. 14: North County Times. Aug. 12: AB. Aug. 2: Wired. Preparing New Horizons to Pluto: Stern story, SN, SC.
|
All other historical issues can be found in the Archive.
Compiled and written by Daniel Fischer
