The Cosmic Mirror By Daniel Fischer Every page present in Europe & the U.S.!

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Also check out Space Today, Spacef. Now, SpaceRef! A German companion - only available here! Current mission news: MGS (latest pictures!) + Cassini + Stardust

Rare stellar occultation by Saturn coming up on January 25 Though the star has only 8th mag., it's the best such event in the 21st century: IOTA Previews, PopAstro. Saturn nears opposition: S&T.

Update # 295 of Saturday, January 21, 2006

New Horizons launched!!! / Stardust capsule home, full of comet dust!!! / Dawn on hold, IMAGE, Topex dead

New Horizons launched - to Pluto, Charon and beyond! The first mission to distant planet(?) Pluto, its three moons and probably one or two other Kuiper Belt Objects beyond Pluto is under way after the successful launch on January 19 of NASA's New Horizons spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The launch had slipped for two days in a row, first because of high winds that wouldn't subside, then because the power supply of a key control center in Maryland had been knocked off. And even on Jan. 19 the launch was delayed by 52 minutes because broken clouds had to turn into scattered clouds first. But then New Horizons roared into the afternoon sky aboard a powerful Atlas V rocket at exactly 19:00 UTC - which means that it will get a gravity assist from Jupiter in late February 2007 and rush by Pluto and Charon on July 14, 2015. The spacecraft separated from its solid-fuel kick motor 44 minutes and 53 seconds after launch, and mission controllers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., where the spacecraft was designed and built, received the first radio signals from New Horizons a little more than five minutes later. The radio communications, sent through NASA's Deep Space Network antennas in Canberra, Australia, confirmed to controllers that the spacecraft was healthy and ready to begin initial operations. The 478-kg, piano-sized spacecraft is the fastest ever launched, speeding away from Earth at approximately 16 km/s, on a trajectory that will take it more than 5 billion kilometers toward its primary science target. Over the next several weeks, mission operators at APL will place the spacecraft in flight mode, check out its critical operating systems, and perform small propulsive maneuvers to refine its path toward Jupiter. Following that, among other operations, the team will begin checking and commissioning most of the seven science instruments. After the Jupiter encounter - during which New Horizons will train its science instruments on the large planet and its moons - the spacecraft will "sleep" in electronic hibernation for much of the cruise to Pluto. Operators will turn off all but the most critical electronic systems and check in with the spacecraft once a year to check out the critical systems, calibrate the instruments and perform course corrections, if necessary. Between the in-depth checkouts, New Horizons will send back a beacon signal each week to give operators an instant read on spacecraft health. The entire spacecraft, drawing electricity from a single radioisotope thermoelectric generator, operates on less power than a pair of 100-watt household light bulbs. As New Horizons darts past Pluto at 14 km/s, nearly all of the crucial observations are planned for a 24-hour interval centered on closest approach (probably around 10,000 km). Most of the observations will be downlinked through the 2.1-meter main antenna over the following months, though highly compressed glimpses should be available sooner. At this time mission controller will also know whether they've gotten permission to continue the operations (the currently guaranteed $700m pay only for the 2001...2016 timeframe). If so, one or two other KBOs can probably be reached over the following few years, provided they reside in a 1/10° wide cone beyond Pluto: A dedicated search for candidates will be performed from 2012 onwards.

NASA Mission Page, the Status and VLCC, Press Kit (40 pg. PDF), an observation of the departing s/c (incl. an animation), the long & winded history of the project, the discoverers of Pluto & Plutonium (which is powering New Horizons) side by side, NASA Releases and statements of Jan. 19, Jan. 18, Jan. 15 and Dec. 28, U. CO, Subaru, Mikulski, Ball, Aerojet, LockMart and ILS (earlier) Press Releases and coverage of Jan. 21: FT (OpEd), Scotsman. Jan. 20: PSB, RMN, VoA, HC, LAMon, BBC, FT (sidebar), CampusPress, Jan. 19: PS, SN, PSB (earlier), Dsc., AB, S&T, NwS, VoA, Ast., SC, NWA News, ST, NZ, RP. Jan. 18: SN, BBC, NwS, G, CampPr, SC, ST. Jan. 17: NwS, SC, NwS, FT, CSM, BBC, PSB, ST, W. Jan. 16: PS, SN, FT, NwS, PSB, ST. Jan. 15: Parade, FT, SC, MySA, PSB. Jan. 14: SN, SC. Jan. 13: FT, PSB, SC, BBC. Jan. 12: HC (sidebar), FT. Jan. 11: RMN. Jan. 10: NwS. Jan. 9: PSB (sidebar). Jan. 8: AW&ST, SN, Obs., TIME, FT. Jan. 7: RMN, FT. Jan. 2: PSB, RMN. Dec. 28: PSB. Dec. 27: Telegr. Pluto is significantly colder than Charon The disparity is probably down to the objects' different surface compositions: CfA PR, NwS, Dsc., SC, ST, W. 2005 FY9 very similar to Pluto: ING Press Release. Strange worlds of the Kuiper Belt: ScN. Diameter of Charon measured with stellar occultation last July: ObsPM, Williams Coll. [SN] and ESO Press Releases, all data tabulated and plotted (!), PSB, BBC, ScAm, SC, ST, TP. Pluto's resonant moons: PSB. KBO moons almost the rule: Caltech PR.

Stardust collectors full of comet dust particles! The sample collection and the return to Earth of the dust particles from comet Wild 2 was a big success "beyond expectation," according to scientists involved in the analysis at the Johnson Space Center where the precious cargo has now arrived. Stardust has "captured hundreds of thousands, perhaps more than a million, pristine comet and interstellar dust particles," says a report in the Jan. 18 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. "We're seeing lots of big and small particles in the aerogel," mission PI Don Brownlee says: "There's one that left a hole big enough to almost fit your little finger into." And the Seattle Times he told that he remembered "warning people not to be disappointed if these tracks were very hard to see, but they are absolutely stunning." Most of the captured dust particles are only microscopic, however, and their presence can only be deduced from the carrot-shaped track they left as they rammed into the aerogel. Posted on January 15 Stardust comet dust-filled capsule makes safe landing in Utah This time everything worked, almost like clockwork: The Sample Return Capsule of the Stardust spacecraft launched nearly seven years ago (see Update # 121), hopefully filled with thousands of dust particles from the coma of comet Wild 2 captured two years ago in aerogel (see Update #268), has made a soft parachute landing in a military area in Utah - unlike the similar capsule from Gemini which crashed there in 2004 (see Update # 280). Weather cooperated with the landing, if barely: A big storm front had a clear window just at the right time. Infrared cameras spotted the incoming capsule many kilometers away, but it was drifting somewhat due to strong winds in the 6 minutes it was on the main parachute (imagery during a dress rehearsal had been much better). Eventually the SRC came down 6 to 7 km north of the center of the target area, and it took the recovery helicopters some 45 minutes to finally reach it: They found it in excellent shape, just a bit muddy. Less then two hours after touchdown, one helicopter had brought it to a hangar where the actual sample collection unit is now being removed. It will be carried to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, on Jan. 17 where in a special laboratory the removal of the individual dust particles will begin. Some will be analyzed quickly while most of them will end up in dozens of laboratories all over the world. During its long interplanetary voyage Stardust also collected some 45 interstellar dust particles which will be much harder to locate in the aerogel cells on the other side of the collector mechanism. It is estimated that some 30,000 man hours would be needed to find them all in microscopic images: Therefore the public at large is being invited to go hunt for them in the Stardust@Home project. If you find a genuine particle in the microscope images you access, you can name it - and will become a co-author in the first scientific paper on this important discovery. (Based on a live transmission of the return and the 1st post-recovery PC on Jan. 15, via NASA TV)

Latest News, Jan. 19 briefing graphics, Status Center, Synopsis and timeline for the final hours, Reentry observation campaign(s), pictures and some accounts of the reentry, the Stardust@home homepage, all 72 images of Wild 2's nucleus, a German blog, UW News of Jan. 18, Jan. 15 and Jan. 3, NASA/JPL Releases of Jan. 15 Jan. 14, Jan. 12, Jan. 10, Jan. 5, Jan. 4, Dec. 22 [JPL] and Nov. 29, ESA, vH&S, PlaBo, Mainz, Bern, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, M�nster, FSU, Berkeley, PS and Saft Press Releases and pictures 36 ... 85, 83 (early inspection), 71, 70, 69 and 68 (recovery) and 32... 48 and 45 (previews) Coverage of Jan. 21: BdW. Jan. 20: AB, WP, HC, Seattle Times, SLT, Dsc., SciAm, FT, ST. Jan. 19: PS, SN, SF Gate, NGS, RMN, NwS, BBC, SC, Z, RP. Jan. 18: SPI, Seatt.T, HC, SC, PW, MassLive, NZ. Jan. 17: Imperial Coll., CSM, NwS. Jan. 16: SPI, APOD, GFH, S&T, PS, SLT, HC (OpEd), WP, Scotsm., SF Gate, W, R24. Jan. 15: PS, SN, AB, BBC (earlier), RMN, Ast., Dsc., VoA, NwS, SC (earlier), PSB, ST, DPA, TP, HB, W. Jan. 14: SN, SPI, BBC (earlier), GFH, FT, SitN, RMN, SC, IndoLink, G, Enq. Jan. 13: AB, PS, Dsc., RMN, NG, Ast., SC, SLT. Jan. 12: SwissInfo, Dsc. Jan. 11: PS, SLT, SDU (sidebar), TP. Jan. 10: Merc. News, NwS, SC. Jan. 9: WP. Jan. 6: HC, SPI (other story). Jan. 4: NwS. Jan. 2: RochDem, VirgPil. Jan. 1: G. Dec. 29: Dsc. Dec. 28: SC. Dec. 27: VoA, RMN. Dec. 26: SC. Earlier: BBC, AB, DesN, DenP, DailP, ABC, SC, NwS, SL Trib, AN, NZ. Why Genesis failed: SLI, ST.

Jan. 15	Return of the Stardust capsule full of collected comet dust	Univ. Wash. Press Release
Jan. 19	Launch of New Horizons, the first mission to the planet (?) Pluto and into the Kuiper Belt	Homepage
Jan. 25	Saturn occults an 8th mag. star by its disk and ring system (visible from Europe)	Details
Feb.	Launch of Astro-F, a Japanese astronomy satellite	Homepage
March	Launch of TAUVEX, an Israeli space telescope, on an Indian satellite	Homepage
Mar. 10	Orbit Insertion of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the next NASA Mars orbiter	Homepage
Mar. 29	Total Eclipse of the Sun in Northern Africa and Western & Central Asia	Map
April 11	Orbit Insertion of Venus Express, Europe's first Venus Orbiter	Homepage
May	First launch window for Discovery for STS-121, the 2nd test flight	Homepage
May 26	Launch of STEREO, a satellite pair for solar studies in 3D	Homepage
June 30	Launch of METOP, Europe's 1st low-orbit weather satellite	Homepage
Aug. 17	Impact of SMART-1 on the Moon, ending the mission of the 1st European orbiter	Details, SEESAT
Sep.	Launch of SOLAR-B, a Japanese solar satellite	Details
Sep. 22	Annular eclipse of the Sun over the Atlantic; landfall only at sunrise in S America	Map
Oct.	Launch of COROT, a European astrophotometry satellite	Homepage
Oct. 24	First Venus Flyby of MESSENGER, behind the Sun & no science	Homepage
Nov. 19	Potential small outburst of the Leonids from a 1932 dust trail	Trail details
Dec. 10	Tight planet triangle low (in mid-northern lat.) in the dawn sky, called best constellation of the year
Dec. 14	Peak of the Geminids, the first certain meteor show w/o Moon interference since the 2005 Perseids

Based mainly on the Space Calendar, the Astro Almanach, an ESA Release and the Meteor Shower Calendar.

Mars Update MER A very strange recent picture (another view), a LockMart PR, an update of Dec. 28 and coverage of Jan. 21: RFN. Jan. 20: ASU Web Devil, SC, PSB. Jan. 19: SC.

Jan. 11: PS. Jan. 5: VoA, APOD. Jan. 4: PSB. Jan. 3: BBC. Dec. 26: NwS, SC. MSL: SC. MEPAG plan: Draft. Mars Express ESA Releases of Jan. 20 and Jan. 4 and coverage of Jan. 12: W. Jan. 5: PSB. Snow on Mars? NwS, SC, BdW. Magma & water on Mars: PSRD. Future life tests: NwS. Mars in the sky 2005 reviewed: Best of Pickhard.

Saturn Update ESA Releases of Jan. 13 and Jan. 4, an Alcatel PR,

Cassini image of Titan on Dec. 26 [SR], W... 12696, N... 47456 and 47441, 76... 79, 78, 77, 76, 75, 74, 73, 72, 71, 70, 69, 68, 67, 66, 65, 64, 63, 62, 61 and 60 and coverage of Jan. 21: W. Jan. 20: PS. Jan. 14: BBC. Jan. 13: PSB. Jan. 12: NwS, PSB. Jan. 2: SN, PSB. Dec. 27: AN. Dec. 26: FT.

ISS etc. Update Full ESAS Report, NASA Releases of Jan. 19 and Jan. 11, transcript of a Griffin PC on Jan. 17 and coverage of Jan. 20: SC. Jan. 19: BBC (other story). Jan. 18: FT. Jan. 17: SR.

Jan. 16: SpaceRev. Jan. 12: AD. Jan. 11: NwS, FT, Ast. Jan. 9: W. Jan. 8: BBC. Jan. 6: ST. Jan. 5: HC, NwS, SC. Jan. 4: SC, SD. Jan. 3: Dsc., SpRev, ST. Jan. 1: HC, AB. Dec. 30: SR. Dec. 29: FT, NwS. Dec. 27: Dsc., WP, Aero-News. HST status - a talk by Griffin at the AAS and coverage of Jan. 14: AW&ST. Jan. 8: Kerala.

Constancy of nature's constants shown yet again Very tight limits on changes in the physical constants have been set by studying the behavior of OH molecules at a time when the Universe was only about half its current age: NRAO Press Release. Dealing with infinity: an interview with J. Barrow. LIGO at work, results elusive yet: SD. Spinning black hole leaves dent in space-time: MIT Release. E=mcc - indeed: NIST and MIT Press Releases, W. Hot, massive haloes found around most spiral galaxies with XMM: ESA Release. The center of the active galaxy NGC 1068: Gemini Release. Nebula N44: Gemini Release, Ast. The first magnetic field in the Universe - how did it form? NwS, BdW. Helical field found: SC, BdW. Cosmic X-ray movie: SC. GLIMPSE results from Spitzer expose Milky Way's secrets: Spitzer Release. RAVE survey progress: JHU PR. Keck's Laser Guide Star delivers: Release. Catalina Sky Survey tops 2005 NEO discoveries CSS astronomers discovered 310 NEOs or 49 percent of all NEOs discovered in 2005: UA PR. PanSTARRS progress: SC. Crater drilling declared major success in Chesapeake Bay: USGS PR, AB. Induced planet formation in stellar clusters - a parameter study of star-disk encounters: a paper by Thies & al., a Univ. Bonn PM and coverage by BdW and NZ. Debris disk forming planets? UA PR. Stellar dust disks resembling the Kuiper Belt observed with the HST: HST and Berkeley Releases, SFG, NwS, SC. Life's ingredients found in stellar disk: Spitzer, Keck and JPL Releases, PhotoJournal, Dsc., SC, NwS, StarBull, W. Probably no star occultation by Varuna, one of the big TNOs, was recorded on Dec. 31. Venus near inferior conjunction observed: Vollmann report (earlier). Saturn picture: Karrer. Numerous further stories from the 207th AAS Meeting in Washington, D.C., in early January are reported only via the MegaLithos News B69-70', B71-72 and B74-75 - the stories are in German, but most of links are in English.

Dawn won't launch this year The NASA asteroid mission is on indefinite hold: AP. Laser signal from MESSENGER detected over 24 mio. km during experiments with the Mercury-bound spacecraft: BBC, NwS, G, TP. IMAGE and Topex/Poseidon missions terminated The magnetospheric mission launched by NASA in 2000 and the ocean satellite launced in 1992 have both suffered crucial failures: NASA and JPL Releases, ST. The NPOESS crisis: SciAm. First Galileo test satellite launched! GIOVE-A - launched early on Dec. 28 - will secure crucial frequencies and test some technologies for Europe's answer to GPS; it has started transmitting, and another important contract is imminent. ESA Releases of Jan. 13, Jan. 12, Dec. 28 and Dec. 27, Alcatel and EU Releases and coverage of Jan. 19: RP. Jan. 17: ST. Jan. 16: SpRev. Jan. 13: BBC. Dec. 30: W. Dec. 29: BBC, Xinhua, G. Dec. 28: SN, BBC (sidebar), DW (more), G, NwS, AP, AFP, ST, RP. Dec. 27: G, RP, TP. Chandra views Earth's aurorae for the 1st time in low-energy X-rays: Chandra Release, BdW. Moon's formation: NwS. Age of the Moon determined: W. GRACE finds Greenland melting faster, 'sees' Sumatra quake - various results from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment: GSFC Release. Satellites see largest jet of particles created between Sun and Earth - a flotilla of space-weather satellites ESAs Cluster and NASAs ACE and Wind - observed for the first time steady large-scale jets of charged particles in the solar wind: GSFC and ESA [alt.] Releases. Canadian role in Indian astronomy satellite ASTROSAT envisioned: UNI. Observing stellar brightness with MOST: UBC Press Release. ESA's space science future still unclear after Berlin decisions: SC. 2005 was one second longer thanks to the first leap second in seven years: a picture (!) of the extra second, BBC, PSB. The future of leap seconds: an introduction, a paper (21 pg. PDF), an article, a presentation (11 pg. PDF) and tons of links! Also Z on seasonal LOD variations.