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ESA ministers approve Aurora program, raise science budget Observers like the outcome of the Dec. 5/6 conference in Berlin - in particular a European Mars rover can be launched in 2011! ESA Releases of Dec. 9, Dec. 6 and Dec. 5, PPARC and Arianespace Releases, Southwood's commentary and coverage by BBC (earlier, additional and still earlier, even earlier and still earlier stories), NwS (earlier, still earlier), SpN, SC, AFP, ST, G-O, AP, RP and W (also on EU & science).

Update # 294 of Sunday, December 25, 2005 Posted in part from the headquarters of EUMETSAT in Darmstadt, Germany

MSG-2 in orbit / Pulsars that pulse - sometimes / Hayabusa troubles abound, return delayed by 3 years

Second Meteosat 2nd Generation in orbit - system complete Together with its almost identical twin, launched in August 2002 (see Update # 242 story 3) and since in operation as Meteosat 8, a new European geostationary weather satellite launched on December 21 (UTC) is now forming a complete constellation, with the new one becoming the primary observer Meteosat 9 in mid-2006 and Meteosat 8 staying close-by as a back-up. The launch on an Ariane 5 GS, together with an Indian comsat that was deployed first, went without a hitch. The 2nd generation Meteosats have four times as many channels (12 in all, mostly in specific IR bands) and a higher resolution and image rate compared to the old series: ideal for advancing both long-term weather forecasts and »nowcasting« during critical severe weather events. The monitoring of rapidly developing large-scale weather systems is the key task for geostationary weather satellites (several of them span the whole globe), which are supported by lower flying polar orbiting spacecraft; Europe's first one, MetOp, is to launch on June 30, 2006, by the way. With MSG-3 almost finished (and to be launched in 2009) and a fourth one in planning, the Meteosat Second Generation satellites should be able to deliver continuous reliable service until 2018 when they will be replaced by a third generation with even better capabilities. Meanwhile the next generation of the American counterpart, the GOES spacecraft, should enter service next year with GOES-N, similar to an MSG. And yet another step forward will be taken with the vastly more capable GOES-R around 2012 which will observe the Earth's weather in thousands of individual IR channels (delivering an amount of data current computers couldn't even cope with). But now all eyes are on MSG-2 which will be handed over to the meteorologists on January 2. The latter already know how to celebrate: The launch party for MSG-2 in the Darmstadt, Germany, headquarters of EUMETSAT - an intergovernmental institution that runs the satellites - was far wilder than any yours truly has experienced so far, with an artificial jungle atmosphere and a Caribbean rock band (to honor the Ariane launch base in French Guyana) and a buffet with tons of lobsters ... (On location: DF, with AW&ST of Dec. 12, 2005, p. 50-1)	Special Page, Status, ESA (earlier, still earlier, even earlier, still earlier, even earlier), Arianespace and Alcatel (earlier) Press Releases and coverage by BBC, ST and W. Space weather forecasts improve, too: Dsc. First Galileo navsat to launch on Dec. 28 ESA (earlier, still earlier) and SSTL Press Releases, BBC, ST, Z, RP. Russia launches three GLONASS satellites: ST, RP. First modernized GPS satellite declared operational: LockMart PR. Successful optical data relay link between OICETS and Artemis - KIRARI is the second optical data relay satellite using Artemis: ESA Release, NwS.
New class of neutron stars uncovered: they pulse only very rarely - and may well outnumber regular pulsars! During the big radio sky survey for pulsars run at Parkes, astronomers searching the data in a new way have stumbled across a previously unknown class of transient radio sources. So far they have turned up 11 objects with single, dispersed bursts having durations between 2 and 30 milliseconds. The average time intervals between bursts range from 4 minutes to 3 hours, with radio emission typically detectable for less than one second per day. From an analysis of the burst arrival times, they identified periodicities in the range 0.4 to 7 seconds for ten of the 11 sources, suggesting a rotating neutron star origin. Despite the small number of the sources presently detected, their ephemeral nature implies a total Galactic population which significantly exceeds that of the regularly pulsing radio pulsars. Five of the ten sources have periods greater than 4 seconds, which is rare for regular pulsars. And period derivatives have been measured for three of the sources, with one having a very high inferred magnetic field of 5 x 1013 Gauss, suggesting that this new population is related to other classes of isolated neutron stars observed at X-ray and gamma-ray wavelengths.	A paper by McLaughlin & al. and coverage by S&T. Spiral arm of Milky Way looms closer than thought One of the Milky Way's star-studded spiral arms lies twice as close to Earth as some previous estimates suggested - new research has produced the most accurate distance measurement ever made of the Perseus arm: MPIfR PM, NwS, SC, BdW, TP, AN.
Hayabusa's return delayed by three years! Continuing troubles with its thrusters and attitude control have prevented Hayabusa from leaving Itokawa in time - now June 2010 is the earliest when it may make it back to Earth, provided that the thruster problems are solved and that the far-from-healthy spacecraft survives even three years longer in space than planned. Meanwhile controversy has erupted over whether the pellet gun did fire or not on Nov. 25: While mission managers see an 80% chance that it failed to do so, other JAXA experts point to certain temperature data that are different from what was seen during the unplanned landing on Nov. 19 and which may mean that the gun fired after all on the 25th. Pictures were taken during that critical maneuver but - do to the difficult communications with the unstabilized spacecraft - haven't been downlinked yet. And may not show much anyway. (AW&ST of Nov. 12, 2005, p. 69) Posted in early December Hayabusa sample collection a failure after all? Hayabusa may not have been able to collect any samples, JAXA has now admitted, because of a technical problem: The space agency is unable to confirm that the pellet did fire during the brief touchdown on Nov. 25, and there is "a high possibility" the pellet in fact did not fire. That would be another setback for the mission which encountered numberous problems along the way - and Hayabusa is also suffering from a thruster problem that could prevent it from returning to Earth regardless of its success in collecting asteroid samples. "Hayabusa is now temporarily maintaining its proper position with an emergency booster," says one official: "We won't give up our hope as long as there is a possibility." Until full control of the thruster system is back, Hayabusa can't be commanded to return to Earth: That event won't occur before Dec. 14. " We will do our utmost," JAXA says, to "find a solution for the return trip." Posted in late November Hayabusa's return to Earth threatened by thruster problems The thruster problems encountered by Hayabusa mentioned below are more severe than first thought: One is leaking, another one probably frozen - it is not clear whether the spacecraft can be turned into the right direction for restarting the ion engine and begin the 1½-year journey back to Earth. Communications are also difficult, further hampering efforts to bring the spacecraft back under control. After the loss of two of the three reaction wheels, the chemical thrusters are more important than ever for attitude control. If Hayabusa can't be brought into a stable configuration by mid-December, it will miss its last opportunity for three years to return to Earth - and it is not very likely that its batteries would still be operational for the next opportunity. Posted on Nov. 27 Hayabusa - apparently - grabbed surface sample in 2nd attempt In the end everything seems to have worked perfectly: On Nov. 25 the Hayabusa spacecraft approached asteroid Itokawa one more time, made brief contact, fired two pellets onto the surface, collected a tiny sample and left the asteroid again. There is no detector onboard, though, to confirm that a sample was snatched indeed: The full success of the operation - after so many anomalies in the past three weeks - can only be confirmed when the sample container has made it back to Earth and to the ground in Australia in June 2007. There are thus many more hazards waiting for the small, pretty cheap and daring spacecraft, and promptly a new problem appeared after the latest descent: Hayabusa is wobbling, perhaps because of a leaking thruster, and has been put in a safemode for a few days. But what the mission has accomplished so far has already gotten it great fame and appreciation - even in the U.S. where NASA has not run an equally challenging small body mission so far ... Posted on Nov. 24 Hayabusa sat on Itokawa for 39 minutes! But the pellet gun didn't fire - another attempt: Nov. 25 As said below, it could not be excluded that Hayabusa made physical contact with the surface of asteroid Itokawa during the operations on Nov. 19/20 - and data recorded during the crucial hours, when the radio connection to Earth was broken, have eventually confirmed that exactly that did happen! Flying on autopilot, the spacecraft touched down for about half an hour: "Apparently, Hayabusa bounced off something on the surface more than once and spent some 39 minutes resting on it," a team member told the BBC News website, "but the samplers didn't fire." It is even possible some asteroidal material has been collected accidentally, but the spacecraft has no sensors to check for that. On Nov. 24 it was decided to try again on Nov. 25, with touchdown predicted for 7 hours Japan time on Nov. 26. Posted on Nov. 20 Hayabusa's first touchdown attempt botched News are still sketchy, but what one could learn so far (Nov. 20 noon UTC) - including from sources like machine-translated Japanese weblogs! - is that Hayabusa has descended to about 17 meters altitude last night and before that had dropped another target marker from an altitude of 40 meters which probably reached the surface. But soon thereafter things started to go wrong: For three hours communication was lost, but the spacecraft is under control again. It is unlikely that Hayabusa actually made contact with the surface of Itokawa in the 3 hours the link was cut, but it cannot be excluded. At the time being another (final?) sampling attempt remains planned for November 25. Posted in mid-November Hayabusa loses Minerva mini-lander Now an even tougher maneuver: Touchdown of the mother ship set for November 19! The attempt by the Hayabusa mothership to send the miniature lander Minerva to the surface of asteroid Itokawa has been a failure on November 12: While Minerva had separated well and continued to broadcast for a while, it missed the 600-meter asteroid and drifted away or went into an orbit. The 'mothership' had been moving slowly away from Itokawa when the release command reached it, and the feeble gravity of the asteroid was not enough to attract Minerva - a chain of unfortunate events (and a bit of bad planning) are to blame. Despite the setback the mission of the main spacecraft continues: On November 19 at around 21:00 UTC the first attempt will be made to bring Hayabusa itself into contact with the asteroid's surface in order to collect a minute surface sample for return to Earth.	The status and JAXA analyses from Dec. 14, Dec. 11, Dec. 7, Nov. 24 and Nov. 20, a picture of Nov. 19 [PS] w/Hayabusa's shadow and a nice opposition effect, a Japanese Blog (machine translation), Hayabusa Live (only during critical times and often off) and coverage of Dec. 17: Yomiuri. Dec. 16: BBC. Dec. 15: WP. Dec. 14: PS, NwS, SC, AFP, ST. Dec. 13: PSB. Dec. 12: NwS. Dec. 11: SN, RN. Dec. 9: MSNBC. Dec. 7: PSB, AFP, Dsc., NwS, ST. Dec. 5: PSB. Dec. 1: Yomiuri, AB, WP. Nov. 30: PS, Ast., ST. Nov. 29: NwS (earlier), SN, PS Blog, Reg., AP, NZ. Nov. 28: PS. Nov. 27: Yomiuri, AP. Nov. 26: BBC, PS, NwS, AFP (earlier, still earlier), ST. Nov. 25: S&T, PS Blog, NwS, SN, Asahi. Nov. 24: ST, W. Nov. 23: BBC, PS, NwS, AP, AFP [Dsc.], PS Blog (earlier), RP, NZ. Nov. 22: AP, PS Blog. Nov. 21: PS, NwS, AP, APOD. Nov. 20: SN, BBC, MSNBC, SC, AFP, ST, PS Blog (earlier). Nov. 19: PS Blog (earlier, still earlier), Age, SC. Nov. 17: PSB. Nov. 16: APOD, SD. Nov. 15: G, SC, Heise. Nov. 14: S&T, BBC, PS, NwS, Asahi Sh. Nov. 13: Japan Times, ST, RP. Nov. 12: SN, MSNBC, BBC, PS Blog, SC. New Horizons launch delayed by 6 days, threatened by strike Is it unsafe to continue launch preps with replacement workers? Meanwhile a countdown dress rehearsal was successful, the s/c was to be rolled out to the launch pad - and the launch has been delayed to Jan. 17 as the Atlas V requires more inspections because of a suspect tank. The Status, updates and press releases of Dec. 19, Dec. 12, Dec. 7 and Nov. 18 and coverage of Dec. 23: SC. Dec. 21: Ast. Dec. 20: AB, NwS, Aus., NZ, RP. Dec. 19: ABC, SC, WP, Times, ST. Dec. 18: FT. Dec. 17: SN. Dec. 16: Dsc. Dec. 13: FT. Dec. 12: SpN. Dec. 11: FT. Dec. 6: FT, HT. Dec. 5: FT, SpaceRev. Dec. 4: FT (sidebar and another one). Dec. 2: PSB, FT. Dec. 1: FT. Nov. 23: SC. Pluto's new moons: papers by Stern & al. and Buie & al.; PS. Kuiperoid on strange orbit 2004 XR 190 has a circular orbit with a very large perihelion: a paper by Allen & al., a CFHT Release and coverage by CSM, NwS, Ast., KR, SC, AFP, PSB, ST. Fat Kuiperoid 2003 EL61 has 2nd moon: NwS, R24. New rings, moons found at Uranus with the HST: HST, NASA and UC Berkeley Releases, NG, NwS, PS, Mrc, AFP, ST. 640-kg meteorite found in Kansas Steve Arnold, a professional meteorite collector from Arkansas, made the discovery of a lifetime in late October when he found a rare stony-iron meteorite weighing 640 kg: KnR, S&T, Wichita Eagle. 4 meteorites found in Canada - clustering in Manitoba: Univ. Calgady PR. NZ meteorite impact in 1443: BdW. Strange comet-like object observed by pilots over Arabia on Nov. 18: AstroTreff. Apparently linked to Ariane launch: Stutt. Nachr. Record success for the IMO Video Meteor Network In October almost 9500 meteors were recorded: IMO News. Meteoroid impact on the Moon videotaped, made -7 mag. flash: Science@NASA, MSFC Release, Ast., SC. Meteor caught on police video tape on Nov. 7 in the U.S.: Lang Report. Dito in W Australia on Dec. 3: numerous Aussie amateur postings and coverage by ABC, Sunday Times, AstroTreff, RP, Stern, APA, NZ. The next day a bolide in Germany: DAI, S�chs.Z., C (fr�her). Taurid fireball picture: APOD. Nothing unusual seen from the 2005 Leonids, observers report. Previews: a French model, Xinhua, SC. Geminids were moonlit: ESA Release, SC.

Mars Update More nice pictures appear in the OAA, ALPO Japan and MarsWatch archives; selected views of Dec. 21, Dec. 18, Dec. 8, Nov. 30, Nov. 28, Nov. 24, Nov. 23 (other CM), Nov. 22, Nov. 20, Nov. 19, Nov. 18 (other and another CM), Nov. 17, Nov. 16, Nov. 14 and Nov. 12 (other, another and yet another CM). Plus a map of Mars 2005, based on one observer's pictures and a detailled article on the current apparition. Mars Journal starts publishing - access is free: Editorial. Polar ice storms on Mars? NG. "Live" Mars images from THEMIS on Odyssey: ASU Release. Mars Express' MARSIS delivers first sub-surface results, a buried crater and possible deposits of water ice - and the wreckage of Beagle 2 may have been found. ESA Press Releases of Dec. 21, Nov. 30 (another and another and yet another one) and Nov. 17, Univ. of Iowa and PPARC Press Releases, The Search for Beagle 2, pictures # 32... 38, 37, 36 and 35 and coverage of Dec. 23: BdW. Dec. 20: BBC, Times, G, FT, Scotsman, NwS, PSB, AP, ST, DPA, NZ.

Dec. 19: ScA. Dec. 14: Ast. Dec. 2: BdW, TP. Dec. 1: VoA, Iowa PC, ST. Nov. 30: BBC, Dsc., Ast., NwS, SC, PSB, RP. Nov. 17: PS. MER Opportunity's arm had some problems while Spirit is doing fine - and the early Opportunity findings re. watery processes in Meridiani Planum are being questioned. "Wiggling" stereo images (creating the illusion of depth w/o funny glasses but can make you seasick :-), JPL and NASA PRs of Dec. 5 [MER], Nov. 29 [alt.], Nov. 21 [SR] (more [SN]), U. Colorado, ASU (earlier), MPI f�r Chemie and JGU Press Releases, pictures 36... 41, 22, 21, 15 (hunt for meteors), 14, 13, 12 (Phobos eclipse), 10, 08, 07, 32... 51, 50, 40, 33, 32, 31, 30, 02 and 01 ("Phobal" eclipse) and coverage of Dec. 24: PS. Dec. 23: ST. Dec. 21: NwS, SC. Dec. 20: BdW. Dec. 18: RN. Dec. 15: PNU. Dec. 14: SC, NwS. Dec. 13: PSB (earlier). Dec. 9: PSB, SC. Dec. 8: NwS. Dec. 6: FT, AP, ST. Dec. 5: PSB. Dec. 2: Dsc. Nov. 28: APOD. Nov. 22: NwS, SC. Nov. 21: Cornell Sun, PS Blog. Nov. 16: ScTick. Nov. 13: AW&ST. MRO corrects trajectory: JPL Release, NwS. MGS detects Martian aurorae, too. Berkeley PR, pictures 3649 and 3196 and coverage of Dec. 13: ST. Future NASA plans for Mars missions in flux: MEPAG Report #14.

Saturn Update After 10 months, the first papers on Huygens results have finally been published - and the Cassini orbiter has caught an Enceladus volcano in action. A paper by Prentice on Rhea, Five ESA Press Releases, NASA, JPL, U. Mich., RUB, UIUC, PPARC, GSFC, U. of A [SN], Uni K�ln and MPG [Engl.; MPS] Press Releases, Cassini pictures # 77... 81, 80, 79, 78, 77, 76, 75 (7 maps of moons), 74, 73 (Carina nebula calib. pic.),

72, 71, 70, 69, 68 (Hyperion color close-up), 67, 66, 65, 64 (Rhea close-up), 63, 62 (Enceladus eruption movie), 61, 60, 59, 58 (Enceladus erupts!), 76... 59, 58, 57, 56, 55, 54, 53, 52, 51, 50, 49, 48, 47, 46, 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40, 39, 38 (Dione close-up), 37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32 (Pandora in color), 31 and 30, 64... 43, 42, 41, 40, 39, 38, 37, 35, 35... 71 and 70 and coverage of Dec. 23: Dsc., BBC. Dec. 9: NG, PSB, BdW. Dec. 8: Ast. Dec. 7: PS, G-O. Dec. 6: AP. Dec. 5: APOD. Dec. 2: PSB. Dec. 1: Nature, AB, ScAm, Dsc., Ast. Nov. 30: S&T, PS, Dsc., NwS, SC, FT, PSB. Nov. 29: NwS, TP. Nov. 28: SC. Nov. 25: BdW. Nov. 21: W. Nov. 18: NwS. Nov. 16: BBC. Nov. 15: PSB, NwS.

ISS etc. Update NASA's FY 2006 budget is now approved, w/funding for the CEV and a final HST SM - and STS-121 will fly w/o a PAL ramp, perhaps not in May. CEV ESAS Final Report Draft (lots of pictures; more), Ames Release of Nov. 14, ESA Release of Nov. 15, ATK and IFPTE Press Releases, Senate and House Releases of Dec. 17 and Dec. 15 (plus Hutchinson and Calvert {earlier} Press Releases), a bizarre House Letter to White House of Dec. 9 (fears of China!), Griffin speeches on (and letter of) Dec. 17, Dec. 6, Dec. 2 and Nov. 17, Science@NASA of Dec. 7, Nov. 21 and Nov. 18 and coverage of Dec. 24: FT, ST. Dec. 23: SC. Dec. 22: FT, ST. Dec. 21: SN, FT, SC. Dec. 19: FT, SR, WP, SpaceRev. Dec. 16: Dsc., FT, HC, NwS, ST.

Dec. 15: SN, SC. Dec. 13: FI. Dec. 12: FYI, SpaceRev, FT, BBC, NwS. Dec. 9: FT, ST. Dec. 8: SN (other and another story), HC, Dsc., SC (other story), ST. Dec. 7: FT, SC (other story). Dec. 5: SN, SpaceRev, ST. Dec. 3: FT. Dec. 2: WP, SC. Dec. 1: SD. Nov. 30: NwS, SC. Nov. 29: SR, HC, SD, FT. Nov. 28: AP, SpaceRev. Nov. 26: BdW. Nov. 25: G. Nov. 24: WP, UPI, AB. Nov. 23: FT, HC, NwS, AFP, ST. Nov. 22: SN, FT, SC. Nov. 21: SpaceRev (another one), SC. Nov. 20: FT (OpEd). Nov. 18: G, SC, SC. Nov. 17: FT (Griffith interview and story), ST. Nov. 16: SC (other story). Nov. 15: G, AD, SFG. Nov. 14: NASA Watch, AW&ST, G, BdW. Nov. 13: BBC, SC. JWST delayed to 2013 as 'Hubble successor' struggles (but the technology makes progress) - and a final HST SM remains high on NASA's to-do list. MPG PM [Engl.] and coverage of Dec. 5: SN (very long HST story). Dec. 4: AW&ST. Nov. 21: SpN.

Number of Einstein Rings quadrupled thanks to the SDSS and the HST which have unearthed 8 new cases among 19 new gravitational lenses: CfA and HST Releases, S&T, Ast. Dark matter mapped in two galaxy clusters, using gravitational lensing: JHU Release and Gazette, pictures, SC. Yet another supernova search confirms Dark Energy, based on 71 distant samples: a paper by Astier & al., Caltech and U. Toronto Press Releases and coverage by ScAm, NwS, SC and Ast. Traces of collisions in countless galaxies But they were difficult to see at first: Yale and NOAO Releases, pictures, SciAm, SC. M 77 spiral not forever: S&T. Tidal dwarf formation after stellar collisions - more Spitzer discoveries: Spitzer and Cornell Press Releases, PhotoJournal, NwS. Far-reaching effects of one AGN in NGC 1275 - it blows a bubble in the gas of a cluster: Chandra Release, NwS, SC. Laser Guide Star hi-res views of the Galactic Center have been obtained with Keck: UCLA and Keck Releases, ScAm. The most energetic gamma rays from the Galactic center region have been measured with MILAGRO: NwS. Protoplanetary disk found around 8 Jupiter-mass object Spitzer has discovered a (sub-)brown dwarf surrounded by a dusty disk: a paper by Luhman & al., CfA, HST and Penn State Press Releases and coverage by NwS, Dsc., SC, ST, TP, BdW. Onset of planet formation in Brown Dwarf disks observed: a paper by Apai & al. Another exo-Neptune discovered around a Red Dwarf - small stars make planets, too: ESO Press Release, Space.com, W. Star formation model challenged by computer simulation: a paper by Krumholz and a Berkeley PR. Jet of HH47 tracked over time: Rice Univ. Press Release. Massive star formation triggers: SC. Colorful ESO pictures of young stellar clusters in NGC 2467: ESO Release. X-mas tree cluster: UA, Spitzer (pictures) and CfA Press Releases, NwS. A Spitzer image of NGC 1333, a reflection nebula with very young stars: CfA Release, APOD, NwS. A Spitzer map of the Galactic Plane, covering 220°: Happenings. Integral reveals new class of supergiant X-ray binary stars It forms a new, highly populated class of X-ray fast transient binaries: ESA Release. GRB blamed on n*/bh merger: ESO, NASA and Carnegie Releases, Int'l Rep., SC, W. Magnetar outburst in another galaxy detected by several spacecraft, came from the direction of M 81/82: S&T. Gemina racing through the sky: INAF PR [Italian]. Barnard's star flared: Ast. Supernova refuses to fade in X-rays - SN 1970G is still a bright source: Chandra Release, SC. Light echoes from 3 SNe in the LMC: NOAO, CfA, McMaster Press Releases, BdW. Huge mosaic of Crab Nebula: HST and ESA HST Releases, S&T, Dsc., Ast. Chandra view of SN 1006: Chandra Release, NwS. SNR DEM L316: Chandra Release, NwS, BdW. SN hunt w/neutrinos and amateur telescopes: OSU Press Release [SR]. White dwarf better cosmic 'clock' than atomic clocks? The rotation of G117 is amazingly stable and loses only one second in 8.9 million years: McDonald Obs. PR. Alpha Cen B oscillations measured with AAT and VLT: ESO and AAO Press Releases, NwS, BdW. Mass of Sirius B determined as 0.98 Suns: ESA HST Release, BBC, NwS, SC, BdW, TP. Another ultra-cool White Dwarf has been found by accident during a galaxy survey: Ast. Gas in globular cluster M 15: Ast. 2nd success for heavy Ariane 5 Having achieved its second successful launch in the night Nov. 16/17, following that in February this year, the A5 ECA launch vehicle has entered commercial operations: Arianespace, EADS and ESA Press Releases, the Status and coverage of Nov. 16/17: BBC, NwS, AFP, ST, RP. Nov. 13: AFP, ST. Nov. 12: BBC.

SOHO 10 years in orbit The Sun-watching SOHO spacecraft turned 10 on Dec. 2, having survived a trio of near-death experiences and outlasted its original mission timeline by eight years: NASA and ESA Releases (another one), Dick essay, APOD, S&T, Ast., SC. Cluster helps to protect astronauts and satellites against 'killer electrons': ESA Release. Launch contract for Herschel & Planck signed - the two ESA astronomy satellites will take an Ariane 5 ECA: ESA Release. Voyagers can continue, missions not terminated: Dsc. ESAs Integral and XMM-Newton missions extended until 2010: ESA Release. Astrium selected for Swarm Satellites - the three satellites to be launched in 2010 will provide the most detailed data yet on the geomagnetic field and its temporal evolution, giving new insights into improving our knowledge of the Earth's interior and climate: EADS Press Release, FI. Venus Express pictures of Earth & Moon are now available. ESA Press Releases and status reports of Dec. 20, Dec. 5, Nov. 30 and Nov. 25 and coverage of Dec. 12: PSB. Nov. 29: BBC. Nov. 28: SC. Nov. 15: FI. Nov. 13: AW&ST. Plus details on Japan's Venus Climate Orbiter. Magellan analysis still continuing: Duluth NT. MESSENGER completes first deep space maneuver on its way to Mercury via Venus. JHU Press Release. What the "stand down" means for Dawn - official word on the NASA asteroid mission crisis: Nov. 17 Update [SR]. SMART-1 pushbroom imaging ends, mission's end nearing: ESA [alt.]. Khrunichev head fired The Russian government fired the head of the Russian space company Khrunichev on Nov. 28, holding him responsible for a pair of recent failures: ST. ICESat delivers laser altitude # 1 billion - the satellite provides unprecedented accuracy in mapping Earth's vertical characteristics: NASA Release. Best-ever Antarctica maps from satellites: GSFC Rel. First "Falcon" launch slips again and again, now to January - the much-hyped small rocket still has to deliver: Status, Launch Info, Space X PR (earlier, still earlier), FT, NwS (earlier, still earlier, even earlier, still earlier), SN (earlier, still earlier), SpaceRev, SR, Dsc. (earlier), HC, SC (earlier, still earlier, even earlier), ST (earlier, still earlier, even earlier). New hope for solar sail project expressed by the PS. First results from AMBER at the VLTI Using the newly installed AMBER instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer, which combines the light from two or three 8.2-m Unit Telescopes thereby amounting to observe with a telescope of 40 to 90 m in diameter, astronomers have observed with unprecedented detail the environment of two stars: ESO and MPIfR Press Releases. Single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) could help scientists study fast-evolving events such as gamma ray bursts: Optics. Measuring B fields in stellar disks: CFHT Press Release, NwS, BdW. Another 25 dishes ordered for ALMA Now 50 of them, each 12 m in diameter, will be built for the huge international radio interferometer in Chile: ESO and Alcatel Press Releases. And two antenna transporting vehicles: ESO PR. First light of a THz receiver at the APEX telescope in Chile named CONDOR: MPG Press Release [Deutsch]. Large Millimeter Telescope in trouble - U.S. and Mexican scientists are scrambling for benefactors because the telescope under construction in Mexico is over budget, behind schedule and out of money: San Antonio Express. Public gets its own IR telescope It'll be used for Astronomy Camps in Arizona: UA News. Solar observers gather on Kitt Peak: Ast. The Steward Obs. Mirror Lab where large mirrors are massproduced: ScAm. Thirty Meter Telescope plans: Wired. "Lucky Imaging" a valid technique in professional astronomy, yielding high-resolution views in the visible: Homepage, BBC. Bold Australian astronomy plans for the next 10 years: ABC. Decision on leap second's future postponed There is need for more open debate on this crucial kludge - another one will come on Dec. 31 - that keeps atomic time and Earth rotation in synch: BBC. Earlier: Univ. Bonn PM, Z, W. North magnetic pole moving quicker than in recent centuries - will it end up in Siberia? Oregon State Univ. PR, BBC, BdW. Highspeed 'internet-from-the-sky' gets going with the launch of BGAN after the 2nd Inmarsat-4 was launched in November: Inmarsat PR. Why you can't "buy" a star - and why this business is unethical - is explained nicely in FT! More image processing of corona pictures taken this April: Espenak. How to get the most out of your corona: Druckm�ller. How the GP-B mission went - no surprises while data were collected: SC.