PLEASE NOTE:
*
CCNet DIGEST, 3 February 1999: STARDUST SPECIAL
-----------------------------------------------
(1) STARDUST STATUS REPORT
Ron Baalke <BAALKE@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov>
(2) UNIVERSITY OF KENT ON A WILD COMET CHASE!
Peter Bond <100604.1111@compuserve.com>
(3) CHICAGO INSTRUMENT TO GET CLOSE LOOK AT COMET DURING STARDUST
MISSION
Steven N. Koppes <s-koppes@uchicago.edu>
(4) AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO "STARDUST"
THE TIMES, 3 February 1999
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk:80/news/pages/Times/frontpage.html?1617548
(5) NEW SATURN-SIZED PLANET FOUND
BBC Online Network
(6) CALIFORNIA FIREBALL
Skywayinc@aol.com
====================
(1) STARDUST STATUS REPORT
From Ron Baalke <BAALKE@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov>
January 29, 1999
Ken Atkins, STARDUST Project Manager
Welcome to Launch Week: Just one week to go and the excitement is
building here at the Cape and in the Flight Operations areas at
Lockheed Martin in Denver and at JPL. As you already know,
if you've
been watching the action through the WebCams, spacecraft close
out
activities were completed in the Payload Hazardous Servicing
Facility
(PHSF). The spacecraft was given a final weighing,
mated with the
Star-37 upper stage, and transported to Pad SLC-17A.
There it was
hoisted to the top of the Delta II's second stage and secured in
place
in the "White Room". The transport canister was
removed, the room
stabilized for cleanliness and the clean-air shroud
installed. Spin
table rotation was checked and Friday the spacecraft was
powered-up,
completed "aliveness testing," and flight software
updates were loaded
and successfully checked out on both sides of the flight
computer.
The launch vehicle team held their Launch Site Readiness Review
on
Wednesday. Progress is ahead of schedule on the Delta
rocket. On
Thursday, a Delta II sister rocket launch was attempted at
Vandenburg
AFB, CA. The launch was aborted moments before lift-off when one
of its
two vernier engines did not ignite. The rocket
detected the problem
and stopped the ignition sequence prior to the ignition of the
main
engine. Boeing believes they understand what happened and, at
present,
we don't believe this event will delay the STARDUST launch
next
Saturday.
We are one week from Launch!! Our launch is scheduled for
Saturday,
Feb. 6, 1999. There is a single instantaneous launch opportunity
available that day at 4:06:42 p.m. EST. The next available window
is on
Sunday, Feb. 7 at 4:04:15 p.m. EST. Liftoff will occur from Pad A
at
Launch Complex 17 on Cape Canaveral Air Station.
Stardust will fly through the dust cloud that surrounds the
nucleus of
a comet-and for the first time ever, bring cometary material back
to
earth. The spacecraft will also collect interstellar dust from a
recently discovered flow of particles that passes through our
solar
system from interstellar space. Comets may be the oldest, most
primitive bodies in the solar system, a preserved record of the
original nebula that formed the Sun and the planets.
PRELAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE
A prelaunch news conference is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 5 at 2
p.m.
EST in the KSC News Center auditorium. This will be broadcast on
NASA
Select cable TV. Participating in the briefing will be:
Dr. Carl Pilcher, Science Director, Solar System Exploration
NASA Headquarters
Ray Lugo, NASA Launch Manager
Kennedy Space Center
Rich Murphy, Delta Mission Director/Flight Director
The Boeing Company
Dr. Kenneth Atkins, Stardust Project Manager/Spacecraft Mission
Director Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Joseph Vellinga, Stardust Program Manager
Lockheed Martin Astronautics
Dr. Donald Brownlee, Stardust Principal Investigator
University of Washington
Joel Tumbiolo, Launch Weather Officer
Department of the Air Force
A post-launch news conference will also be held on Saturday, Feb.
6 at
6 p.m. in the KSC News Center auditorium. The status of the
Stardust
spacecraft will be provided by the spacecraft mission director at
that
time.
For more information on the STARDUST mission - the first ever
comet
sample return mission - please visit the STARDUST home page:
http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov
========================
(2) UNIVERSITY OF KENT ON A WILD COMET CHASE!
From Peter Bond <100604.1111@compuserve.com>
ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY PRESS INFORMATION NOTE
Date: 2 February 1999
Ref. PN 99/04
Issued by:
Peter Bond,
RAS Space Science Advisor.
10 Harrier Close,
Cranleigh,
Surrey, GU6 7BS,
United Kingdom.
Phone: +44 (0)1483-268672
Fax: +44 (0)1483-274047
E-mail: 100604.1111@compuserve.com
http://www.ras.org.uk/ras
INFORMATION ON CONTACTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS IS GIVEN AT THE END OF
THIS
RELEASE.
UNIVERSITY OF KENT ON A WILD COMET CHASE!
A UK-built experiment will soon be heading towards Comet Wild 2
(pronounced "Vilt-2") as part of NASA's exciting
STARDUST mission.
Professor Tony McDonnell and Dr. Mark Burchell from the
University of
Kent will be among the scientists at the Kennedy Spaceflight
Centre in
Florida who are eagerly anticipating the forthcoming mission to
capture
and return a sample of cometary material.
Stardust is currently set for launch on Saturday, February 6.
After a
five year voyage to reach its target, Stardust will fly past the
comet
in January 2004. Approaching at a speed of 6 km/s (14,000 mph),
Stardust will capture the tiny dust particles that make up the
comet's
tail, eventually returning them to Earth in January 2006. In
order to
avoid damaging the fragile particles, panels of aerogel -
sometimes
called 'solid smoke' because of its extreme lightness - will be
exposed
to the dust stream and used to entrap them.
The overall dust environment around the comet will also be
studied in
detail. One of the instruments used to measure the
characteristics of
this dust is a sensitive dust detection system.
This Large Area Momentum Sensor (LAMS) is mounted on Stardust's
front
bumper shield. The circular shield, which consists of three
layers, is
used to protect the vulnerable spacecraft from high speed
impacts. At
the rear of the shield is a set of microphones, designed by Kent
in
collaboration with the University of Chicago. These will listen
to the
'sound' of the dust particles as they strike the spacecraft.
The microphone attached to the back of the external aluminium
layer
will record impacts from smaller particles. Larger grains which
penetrate the aluminium will be detected by a second microphone
fixed
to a layer of Nextel cloth. The number of impacts on the shield
will be
counted from the number of electrical pulses picked up by the
Kent
sensors, while the voltage of each pulse will enable particle
mass to
be calculated.
UKC team member Dr. Mark Burchell said, "Using the special
facilities
in our laboratory, we have been able to recreate the high speed
impacts
on a mock-up of the Stardust spacecraft. This allowed us to
test the
microphones which will 'listen' to the impacts on the real
spacecraft as it
flies past the comet."
Dust particles ejected by comets are thought to have been
preserved in
almost pristine condition since our Solar System formed some
4,600,000,000 years ago. Professor Tony McDonnell, Director
of the
Unit for Space Sciences, pointed out that "since comets are
probably
the most primitive objects in our Solar System, this is a very
important mission which will greatly extend our understanding of
them
and of the conditions out of which our Solar System
developed".
Also involved in the team is postgraduate student Bryan Vaughan,
who
will be basing his doctorate thesis on the University of Kent
Stardust
research.
The University of Kent involvement with this NASA mission is
funded by
a grant from PPARC, the UK Particle Physics and Astronomy
Research
Council.
Stardust is a prelude to an even more ambitious European Space
Agency
mission called Rosetta. A number of UK groups are involved in
this
mission, including the University of Kent, the Open University,
and
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Scheduled for launch in 2003,
Rosetta
will actually land a probe on the surface of a comet, but not
until the
year 2011!
NOTES.
Stardust will be the first spacecraft ever to bring cometary
material
back to Earth for analysis by scientists worldwide. Its main
objective
is to collect return particles flying off the nucleus of Comet
Wild-2.
It will also bring back samples of interstellar dust, including
the
recently discovered dust streaming into the Solar System from
other
stars. Ground-based analysis of these samples after their return
in
January 2006 should yield important insights into the evolution
of the
Sun and planets, and possibly into the origin of life itself.
Other objectives are to take pictures of the comet, count the
comet
particles striking the spacecraft, and produce real-time analyses
of the
composition of the material ejected by the comet.
Stardust is the fourth of NASA's low-cost Discovery missions.
CONTACT:
In Florida:
Prof. Tony McDonnell: (001) 407-783-2230
At UKC:
Dr. John Zarnecki, +44 (0)1227-823237 Fax (for all) +44
(0)1227-62616
E-mail: J.C.Zarnecki@ukc.ac.uk
Dr. Simon Green, +44 (0)1227-823780 E-mail: S.F.Green@ukc.ac.uk
Dr. Neil McBride, +44 (0)1227-827654 E-mail: N.McBride@ukc.ac.uk
Unit for Space Sciences and Astrophysics Office, +44
(0)1227-459616
Further details can be found on the World Wide Web as follows:
UKC STARDUST Home Page: http://wwwspace.ukc.ac.uk/stardust.html
UKC Space Activities: http://wwwspace.ukc.ac.uk/
NASA STARDUST Home Page: http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/
======================
(3) CHICAGO INSTRUMENT TO GET CLOSE LOOK AT COMET DURING STARDUST
MISSION
From Steven N. Koppes <s-koppes@uchicago.edu>
Depending on the feedback you're getting from the survey, here's
a news
release that may interest the CCNet list.
Cheers, Steve
February 2, 1999
For immediate release
Contact: Steve Koppes
(773) 702-8366
s-koppes@uchicago.edu
Chicago instrument to get close look at comet during Stardust
mission
Launch scheduled for Feb. 6
A University of Chicago instrument will be riding shotgun on the
first
spacecraft designed to return a sample of a comet to Earth. NASA
plans
to launch the Stardust spacecraft to Comet Wild-2 as early as
Feb. 6.
Stardust will be blasted with a hail of dust particles traveling
nearly four miles per second as the spacecraft approaches to
within 93
miles of Comet Wild-2 (pronounced "Vilt"-2) in 2004. 8A
special shield
called the bumper shield will protect the main body of the
spacecraft
as it passes through the glowing gas cloud that surrounds the
comet's
solid nucleus. The detectors for Chicago's Dust Flux Monitor
Instrument
will be mounted on the front of the bumper shield.
"There, they will be exposed to the full force of the dust
flux to
measure the size of the dust particles the spacecraft encounters
and
map their distribution around the comet's nucleus," said
Anthony
Tuzzolino, Senior Scientist at Chicago's Laboratory for
Astrophysics &
Space Research.
The DFMI was not originally part of the Stardust mission. Noel
Hinners,
vice president of spacecraft contractor Lockheed Martin
Astronautics,
suggested its addition to provide rapid measurement of the dust
density
around the comet to help engineers and flight controllers assess
the
health and safety of the spacecraft as it approaches the comet.
Ben
Clark, also of Lockheed Martin, led the effort to find a way to
integrate the experiment and the spacecraft, the design for which
was
already nearly complete.
"Our instrument performs an important health-hazard
function,"
Tuzzolino said. "Conditions may be far more hazardous than
we thought
as we approach the comet." If so, DFMI data will warn
mission
controllers that it is time to take protective measures for the
spacecraft.
Scientists also will correlate DFMI's data with the samples that
Stardust will collect from the comet and return to Earth in 2006.
Stardust will use a material called aerogel to collect the
samples
without damaging or altering the speeding particles. Aerogel is a
silica-based solid with a porous, sponge-like structure that
consists
mostly of empty space. "It is so light that it has been
called 'solid
smoke,'" Tuzzolino said.
The other instruments aboard Stardust include a camera to take
detailed
photographs of the comet's surface features, and the Cometary and
Interstellar Dust Analyzer, which will analyze the
composition of the
comet's dust particles.
The DFMI consists of an electronics box, two detectors mounted on
the
front of the spacecraft's bumper shield and two acoustic sensors,
measurements from which will be analyzed by a team headed by
Professor
J.A.M. McDonnell of the University of Kent in England.
The detectors consist of a polarized plastic material. "The
material is
similar to Saran wrap," Tuzzolino said. The material
generates an
electrical pulse when hit by small, high-speed particles, even
those
many times smaller than a sand grain.
The two acoustic sensors are embedded between layers of the
shield that
protects the spacecraft from impacting dust particles. "The
acoustic
sensors will be triggered by a large impact particle that hits
the
shield anywhere," said LASR Senior Scientist Bruce McKibben.
Stardust will meet Comet Wild-2 at a distance of 242 million
miles from
Earth, following a flight trajectory that will loop twice around
the
sun. The spacecraft will loop once more around sun after its
comet
encounter on the way back to Earth.
The trajectory will take Stardust close to several meteor streams
that
the DFMI may be able to detect. The first such opportunity will
occur
April 20, 1999 when Stardust comes within 3.5 million miles of
the
Orionid meteor stream. The Orionid meteors, left in the wake of
Comet
Halley, can be seen from Earth each October.
The DFMI may also be able to detect particles of interstellar
dust,
which NASA's Ulysses spacecraft recently discovered streaming
into the
solar system.
"There is a chance that we can identify the trajectory of
incoming
particles that must have come from interstellar space," said
John
Simpson, Arthur Holly Compton Distinguished Service Professor
Emeritus
in Physics. "This is matter that is involved in the origin
of the solar
system itself. It's primordial material."
Stardust will be the 34th space-science mission Simpson and
Tuzzolino
have participated in, starting with Pioneer 2 in 1958. Last
November,
Tuzzolino received the NASA Public Service Medal for his role in
the
development of cosmic ray and dust detectors, including the first
to be
sent to Mercury, the moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. All of their
experiments have been aimed at understanding the origin of
elements and
matter that formed Earth's galaxy and solar system.
The DFMI is a descendant of Chicago's Dust Counter and Mass
Analyzer
instrument that flew on the Soviet Union's Vega 1 and Vega 2
missions
to Halley's Comet in 1986. Simpson invented the instrument
concept in
1983, with Tuzzolino playing a key role in its rapid development
and
testing.
On the Vega missions, Chicago scientists discovered to their
surprise
that tiny dust particles streaming from the comet had survived to
the
outer bounds of the comet's coma, the spherical cloud of glowing
gas
that develops around a comet's solid nucleus as it approaches the
sun.
"We were able to show that the particles coming off the
comet's nucleus
had to be a conglomerate, probably bound together by an ice
glue,"
Simpson said. "Then, as it carried far out into space, the
ice glue
dissolved, releasing the very small stuff that would have
otherwise
disappeared if it had come directly from the comet."
Two other instruments related to the DFMI are components on
NASA's
current Cassini mission to Saturn and on the Air Force's
unclassified
Advanced Research and Global Observation Satellite.
Simpson and Tuzzolino built Cassini's High Rate Detector, part of
the
larger Cosmic Dust Analyzer from Germany, which will collect and
analyze dust particles found in interplanetary space and those
that form
the major components of Saturn's rings.
The ARGOS Space Dust instrument, devised by Simpson, Tuzzolino
and
McKibben, will measure the mass, speed and trajectory of cometary
dust
particles and man-made space debris found in low-Earth orbit when
launched
later in February.
The $350,000 DFMI was funded by NASA for Stardust, the fourth
mission
in the space agency's Discovery Program of smaller, faster,
cheaper
missions. The Stardust scientific team is led by University of
Washington astronomy professor Donald Brownlee.
###
Editor's Note: An image of the researchers with a model of
Stardust and
a prototype of their detectors is available upon request.
NASA Stardust home page: http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov
University of Washington Stardust home page:
http://www.washington.edu/newsroom/stardust/stardust.html
University of Kent Stardust home page: http://wwwspace.ukc.ac.uk/stardust.html
Radio stations: The University of Chicago has an ISDN line.
Please call for
information. For more news from the University of Chicago, visit
our
Web site at http://www-news.uchicago.edu
=================
(4) AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO "STARDUST"
From THE TIMES, 3 February 1999
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk:80/news/pages/Times/frontpage.html?1617548
CAPTURING THE COMET'S TAIL
By Nigel Hawkes, Science Editor
ON SATURDAY the Stardust satellite is due for launch from Cape
Canaveral in Florida, bound for the comet Wild 2. Its aim is to
capture
the comet's tail and bring it back to Earth. The tiny dust
particles
that make up the tail could help to answer a question once
dismissed as
scarcely worth consideration: did life begin in space?
When Sir Fred Hoyle and Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe, of
Cardiff
University, suggested this 20 years ago, they were ignored. But
the
discovery of organic chemicals on Halley's Comet, and the claims
made in 1996 of the detection of microfossils in a meteorite from
Mars,
changed things. Investigations of panspermia (as the theory is
called)
came to be seen as legitimate, says Professor Wickramasinghe, but
unfortunately they were too late to influence the experiments on
Stardust, which do not include any search for living microbes.
He is putting his faith in a cheaper experiment planned by the
Indian
Space Research Organisation. With collaboration from scientists
at
Cardiff, it intends to launch a series of balloons into the
stratosphere and use them to collect samples of air at different
heights. If the panspermia hypothesis is true, the Earth is
bombarded
by micro-organisms from outer space, which we cannot detect
because
they are identical to those already present on the Earth's
surface.
Previous balloon experiments have detected micro-organisms at
heights
of almost 25 miles. There was also a hint that the number of
microbes
increased with altitude, which would certainly support the idea
of an
extraterrestrial source. But in the 1960s and 1970s,
comparatively
primitive techniques made it difficult to eliminate the
possibility of
contamination by microbes from the surface of the Earth.
The key, then, is to ensure absolute sterility of the pumps that
will
suck in the air, and highly sensitive techniques for detecting
any
bacteria or other microbes in the air once it has been brought
back to
Earth. Microbes of extraterrestrial origin would be expected to
contain
different ratios of isotopes of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen from
terrestrial ones, enabling a clear identification to be made.
How many microbes might be picked up? Professor Wickramasinghe
has
attempted a calculation. It is estimated that about 500 tons of
extraterrestrial material reaches the Earth from space every day.
Any
microbes contained within it would be starved of nutrients and in
a
state of suspended animation, which means they would be very
small.
Estimating their mass, and guessing that one particle in every
100
reaching the Earth is a microbe, he concludes that there might be
as
many as 1,000 per litre of air at a height of 30km. Since the
balloon
can take a sample of 50 to 100 litres of air, it could capture as
many
as 100,000 microbes - well above the detection level.
The balloon could be flown by the end of this year, at a cost of
£150,000. Most will be provided by the Indian Government, but
the UK
end of the project needs to raise £50,000. Grants are to be
sought from
the research councils - but other sources would be equally
welcome.
Copyright 1999, The Times Newspapers Ltd.
=====================
(5) NEW SATURN-SIZED PLANET FOUND
From the BBC Online Network
The new planet is the size of Saturn, making it the smallest yet
discovered
By BBC News Online Science Editor Dr David Whitehouse
Scientists at the Geneva Observatory have discovered a new planet
circling a star almost identical to our Sun.
It is the eighteenth planet known to be orbiting another star but
is
important because the mass of the new planet is similar to that
of
Saturn in our solar system. Previously discovered extra-solar
planets
have been somewhat larger.
FULL STORY:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_270000/270532.stm
=========================
(6) CALIFORNIA FIREBALL
From Skywayinc@aol.com
Meteor Streaks Across Western Sky
Tuesday, February 2, 1999; 2:13 p.m. EST
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A small meteor streaked across the Western
sky
this morning, startling people from San Francisco to Las Vegas,
more
than 400 miles away. ``It was bright and blue and really
fantastic,''
one caller told San Francisco radio station KCBS.
Radio stations in several other cities, including Santa Barbara
and San
Bernardino in Southern California, also had people calling in
about the
mysterious light. People reported seeing it for about five
seconds, at
about 6 a.m.
The object was probably a fireball, or ``bolide,'' according to
Jose
Olivarez, director of the Chabot Observatory and Science Center
in
Oakland. ``From the description, I'd say it was simply a small
meteorite that entered the atmosphere,'' he said. ``It's not
unusual,
but it was clear last night so lot of people saw it.'' Olivarez
said he
didn't see the meteor himself.
Callers said the bright light zipped across the sky, moving from
East
to West and vanishing over the horizon. Sometimes missile
launches have
been mistaken for meteors, but the Air Force said it had not
launched a
missile at Vandenberg Air Force base.
Copyright 1999, AP
----------------------------------------
THE CAMBRIDGE-CONFERENCE NETWORK (CCNet)
----------------------------------------
The CCNet is a scholarly electronic network. To
subscribe/unsubscribe,
please contact the moderator Benny J Peiser at
<b.j.peiser@livjm.ac.uk>.
Information circulated on this network is for
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*
CCNet LETTERS, 3 February 1999
------------------------------
Moderator's Note: As of next week, CCNet list members will be
able to
unsubscribe from CCNet LETTERS. Those members who have indicated
(in
their questionnaires) that they no longer wish to receive this
open
forum of the network will be unsubscribed automatically. I hope
this
will help to accomodate individual requests.
Benny J Peiser
---------------------------
(1) WHO CAN ASSIST IN EDUCATIONAL PROGAM ON IMPACT HAZARD?
Lew Gramer <dedalus@latrade.com>
(2) THERE'S ZE MONEY!
Simon Mansfield <simon@spacer.com>
(3) WHAT ABOUT MARS CROSSING ASTEROIDS?
Jens Kieffer-Olsen <dstdba@post4.tele.dk>
==================
(1) WHO CAN ASSIST IN EDUCATIONAL PROGAM ON IMPACT HAZARD?
From Lew Gramer <dedalus@latrade.com>
The following message describes a very worthy-sounding
educational
program in the Midwestern U.S., designed to educate students
about
Impact Hazards, and in the process, about astronomy and space
science.
I first heard of this program through my involvement with Mad
Scientist
Network ("http://www.madsci.org").
If anyone on these three lists can offer expert assistance in
either of
the areas of physics/orbital dynamics or computer visualization,
or if
you'd like to find out more about how to support the program,
please
email the educators directly at the email addresses below!
Clear skies,
Lew Gramer <owner-meteorobs@latrade.com>
------- Forwarded Message
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 09:27:48 -0600 (CST)
From: Stephanie Wordsworth <wordsworth@treks.burlington.k12.ia.us>
To: dedalus@latrade.com
Subject: AIS project
Dear Mr. Lew Gramer-
Hi, my name is Stephanie Wordsworth, and I am replying for Lee
Wright.
We were informed by Mr. O'Donnel(he found out through Mad
Scientist)
that you were interested in our project, so I will briefly
explain the
project to refresh your memory. In this program, Deflection
of Near
Earth Impact Asteroids, variables and information will be inputed
by
the user, (including the mass, velocity, distance from Earth, and
other
details about the asteroid) and we will use equations to
calculate whether
to deflect or destroy the asteroid. After this decision is
made, the
angle at which to intercept, time span, velocity and force needed
to
deflect or destroy, and other details will be calculated.
We also need
to find a way to visualize the information through graphs or
Wireman.
Our question for you is, would you still be willing to help
us? If so,
could we fax you the information that we currently have? An
equation
that we need is one that finds the angle at which to intercept
the
asteroid.
Thank you very much for your time, we hope to hear from you soon.
Our
e-mail addresses are as follows:
Stephanie Wordsworth wordsworth@treks.burlington.k12.ia.us
Lee Wright wright@treks.burlington.k12.ia.us
Aaron Bell aabell@treks.burlington.k12.ia.us
Kishore Kilaru kilaru@treks.burlington.k12.ia.us
Stephanie Wordsworth
Burlington High School
Burlington,IA
==============
THERE'S ZE MONEY!
From Simon Mansfield <simon@spacer.com>
RE: WHERE'S ZE MONEY?
From Michael Paine
Benny,
NASA is currently funding NEAR, DeepSpace 1, and StarDust -
sounds like
a good spread of on-site NEO exploration.
At the end of the day, NASA should be transfering any technology
it
develops relating to the SpaceGuard aspects of NEO to other
organizations, which will essentially be operating a
"coastguard"
service watching out for NEOs that might become ground
objects. This
organization should be operated under UN funding. We are all in
it
altogether so we should do it from the start as an
internationally
funded and co-ordinated effort.
In terms of active SpaceGuard technology - there is a valid
arguement
that NASA should be spending some money on sending "Bruce
Willis or
Robert Duvall" to save us.
But it's my prediction that the technology that will ever have a
chance
of deflecting a NEO from impacting will come from the technology
developed to capture asteroids into Earth, Lunar or Mars orbit
for
resource utilization.
I even would be prepared to predict that the close flyby NEO in
2028 or
thereabouts will result in Earth capture if technically possible
by
then.
So lets give NASA some due for NEAR, DS-one and StarDust, and
focus
rather, on the issue of setting up an international funded effort
at
the UN level for SpaceGuard activities. Who might also have veto
power
over any attempts to capture an asteroid into Earth or Lunar
orbit.
Regards,
Simon Mansfield
Editor
Spacer.COm
========================
(3) WHAT ABOUT MARS CROSSING ASTEROIDS?
From Jens Kieffer-Olsen <dstdba@post4.tele.dk>
RE: ATEN-TYPE ASTEROID 1991 VE AND MERCURY
From Piero Sicoli and Manca Franscesco <sormano@tin.it>
This report prompts me to ask, if there are any plans whatsoever
to map
large asteroids crossing Mars orbit? Although not of any
immediate
concern it is bound to become a safety issue, once a human
outpost has
been established.
If Tunguska-type events happen on Earth with a frequency of one a
century, then surely there must a permanent risk of severe
impacts on
Mars, impacts which may lead to prior evacuation if predicted
years in
advance.
--
Jens Kieffer-Olsen, M.Sc.(Elec.Eng.)
*
THE STATUS OF PLUTO: A CLARIFICATION
Press Release from the General Secretary of the International
Astronomical Union
http://www.treefort.org/pluto/
2/3/99
IAU Press Release 01/99
For immediate release
February 3, 1999
THE STATUS OF PLUTO: A CLARIFICATION
Recent news reports have given much attention to what was
believed to
be an initiative by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to
change the status of Pluto as the ninth planet in the solar
system.
Unfortunately, some of these reports have been based on
incomplete or
misleading information regarding the subject of the discussion
and the
decision making procedures of the Union.
The IAU regrets that inaccurate reports appear to have caused
widespread public concern, and issues the following corrections
and
clarifications:
1: No proposal to change the status of Pluto as the
ninth planet in the
solar system has been made by any
Division, Commission or Working Group
of the IAU responsible for solar system
science. Accordingly, no such
initiative has been considered by the
Officers or Executive Committee,
who set the policy of the IAU itself.
2: Lately, a substantial number of smaller objects
have been discovered in
the outer solar system, beyond Neptune,
with orbits and possibly other
properties similar to those of Pluto. It
has been proposed to assign
Pluto a number in a technical catalogue
or list of such Trans-Neptunian
Objects (TNOs) so that observations and
computations concerning these
objects can be conveniently collated.
This process was explicitly
designed to not change Pluto's status as
a planet.
A Working Group under the IAU Division
of Planetary Systems Sciences is
conducting a technical debate on a
possible numbering system for TNOs.
Ways to classify planets by physical
characteristics are also under
consideration. These discussions are
continuing and will take some time.
The Small Bodies Names Committee of the
Division has, however, decided
against assigning any Minor Planet
number to Pluto.
3: From time to time, the IAU takes decisions and
makes recommendations on
issues concerning astronomical matters
affecting other sciences or the
public. Such decisions and
recommendations are not enforceable by
national or international law, but are
accepted because they are rational
and effective when applied in practice.
It is therefore the policy of the
IAU that its recommendations should rest
on well-established scientific
facts and be backed by a broad consensus
in the community concerned. A
decision on the status of Pluto that did
not conform to this policy would
have been ineffective and therefore
meaningless. Suggestions that this
was about to happen are based on
incomplete understanding of the above.
The mission of the IAU is to promote scientific progress in
astronomy. An
important part of this mission is to provide a forum for debate
of scientific
issues with an international dimension. This should not be
interpreted to
imply that the outcome of such discussions may become official
IAU policy
without due verification that the above criteria are met: The
policy and
decisions of the IAU are formulated by its responsible bodies
after full
deliberation in the international scientific community.
Johannes Andersen
General Secretary, IAU
For more information, contact the IAU Secretariat (URL: http://www.iau.org and
address below), or the Division President, Prof. Michael A'Hearn,
University
of Maryland, USA (Tel: (301) 405 6076; Fax: (301) 314 9067;
E-mail:
ma@astro.umd.edu).
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The International Astronomical Union (IAU), founded in 1919, is
the
international non-governmental organization uniting professional
astronomers
all over the world. It currently has 61 Member States and over
8,300
Individual Members in 83 countries. Its scientific activities are
coordinated
by 11 Divisions and 40 Commissions spanning the entire field of
astronomy. The
IAU is integrated in the international scientific community
through its
membership of the International Council for Science (ICSU) and
represents
astronomy in committees of the UN and other international
organizations. The
permanent IAU Secretariat is located in Paris, France.
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d'Astrophysique
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