May 16
SPACE.com Mailbag: Core Questions about
Mission to Earth's Center
We got several reader questions about the story,
NASA Meets Hollywood: Real Mission Proposed to Earth's
Core, in which Caltech's David Stevenson
proposes blasting a crack in Earth's surface, probably with a nuclear device
generating an event similar to an earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter
Scale.
Fill the crack with molten iron and drop in a
grapefruit-sized probe that would travel to the center of the Earth, Stevenson
figures, and you'll get valuable science data on the unknown region under our
feet. So we posed the three of the most intriguing questions to
Stevenson.
SPACE.com: What keeps the probe from floating to the
surface of the iron?
Stevenson: It
has the same density (or slightly more) than the neighboring liquid iron. The
biggest danger is that it might sink to the narrow front of the crack, not
float.
SPACE.com: If your idea would work, wouldn't it be easier to use an active
volcano and simply drop the probe down through the lava tube?
Stevenson: No,
because then the liquid iron gets dispersed in the complex plumbing of the
volcano. I want a clean crack.
SPACE.com: What's to say the crack would not propagate and destroy the planet?
Stevenson: This
crack is smaller in energy than those the Earth makes every day (somewhere). A
common misconception I've encountered is that the crack extends (in its full
width) all the way from surface to the core. It does not, because it closes off
behind as it moves down. At each stage. Most of the crack is confined to a
length of less than a kilometer. This is a very, very modest crack by the
standards of Mother Earth! [Story]
-- Robert Roy
Britt
May 15
Mystery of Clouds around Milky Way Said
Solved
A longstanding mystery about
fast-moving clouds hydrogen gas surrounding our Milky Way Galaxy is finally
resolved, astronomers said today. The clouds are mostly scraps of material shed
by other galaxies, according to a team led by Mary Putman of the University of
Colorado.
Simulation of gas streaming from the Magellanic
Clouds.
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The clouds have been
discovered over the past 40 years, but researchers have found it hard to
determine how far away they are and how much mass they contain. Some researchers
had suggested the clumps might be cold "dark matter," mysterious stuff that's
never been seen but is known to exist based on its gravitational effects. The
new research suggests this is not the case.
Instead, some of the clouds
are probably shreds of one or more small satellite galaxies that have been
swallowed by the Milky Way, based on observations made with the 64-m (210-ft)
CSIRO Parkes radio telescope in Australia. Other clouds appear to be related to
two nearby galaxies known as the Magellanic Clouds.
"We now have pretty
conclusive evidence that the high-velocity clouds are not scattered throughout
our Local Group of galaxies, but are within the extended halo of the Milky Way,"
Putman said. The halo
is a vast but sparsely population sphere of gas and stars that surrounds the
entire galaxy, whose main features are the flat, spiral structure and central
stellar bulge.
The findings were presented
Tuesday at Space Telescope Science Institute meeting covering issues related to
our galaxy and its environment in the universe.
-- Robert Roy Britt
May 14
History of Flight Fact: On this day in 1942
the U.S. Congress established The Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC),
under the direction of Oveta Culp Hobby, the editor of the Houston Post.
It was on this day in 1973
that Skylab, the first U.S space station was launched into
orbit. Skylab
was built largely from spare Apollo hardware. With as much living space as a
small house, Skylab crews would spend up to three months operating astronomical
telescopes to study the sun, special cameras to photograph the Earth in selected
wavelengths of light and other experiments designed to study the behavior of
materials in weightlessness.
The astronauts would also study themselves with a slew of medical
experiments. There were three successful Skylab missions in the course of the
station's six-year life-span. However, due to a decaying orbit and the delay of
the space shuttle's construction making rescue unthinkable, Skylab plummeted
to Earth on July 11. 1979.
May 13
Scramjet Search Teams Remain Empty
Handed
Search teams scouring South Australian desert failed
last month to find a scramjet experiment flown last year.
The scramjet experiment called HyShot™ used a
two-stage Terrier Orion Mk 70 rocket to boost the scramjet payload skyward on
July 30, 2002. The scramjet payload reached a speed of Mach 7.6 - a
record-setting seven times the speed of sound.
Scramjet experts are interested in locating the
payload itself. Doing so would help decipher how the instrumentation heated
during launch and at what stage did it burn up during the experiment, noted
professor Allan Paull, HyShot team leader at the University of Queensland's
Center for Hypersonics.
A brief look for the scramjet during an annual aerial
kangaroo survey of the region last year was unable to find the hardware.
"Although this was disappointing at the time, it helped reduce the search area,"
Paull said.
"It's clear from our search that the environment
requires a different approach and that an extensive aerial search combined with
a ground search will help us recover the payload to assist us in our next
launch," Paull said.
-- Leonard David
Roton…We've Got a Problem
Hand me down hardware from Rotary Rocket's Roton Atmospheric Test Vehicle
(ATV) made a brief flight May 10 from its desert site in Mojave, California. The
intent was to haul the craft to a helicopter museum located near San Diego,
California.
But shortly after the two vehicles became airborne, the Roton began to swing
in a manner thought too dangerous for transport. The Chinook heavy-lift
helicopter that was toting the huge nosecone-looking craft aborted the tow,
setting the Roton back down on a runway.
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Roton away!
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"Unfortunately, the combination proved to be too unstable in forward flight,
and the attempt was aborted about 10 minutes into the flight," said eyewitness
Mike Massee of XCOR Aerospace. "The Chinook was slightly damaged when it kissed
the top of the Roton while setting it back down, but no one was hurt," he
added.
When first rolled out in March 1999, the Roton was conceived to be a
completely reusable single-stage space vehicle that returns to its base in one
piece, using a set of helicopter-like blades for touchdown.
Roton's projected mission at that time was to launch some of the 2,000
satellites to be lofted into orbit this decade. That market, worth an estimated
$50 billion, vaporized. So too did the money to complete the Roton project.
The Roton ATV did conduct a series of low-altitude test hops before the
project was cancelled.
-- Leonard
David
May 12
Shuttle Flyers to be Inducted to Astronaut
Hall of Fame
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Three veteran space shuttle
astronauts will be inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in June at the
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
Daniel Brandenstein, Robert "Hoot" Gibson and Sally
Ride were chosen to be honored this year.Brandenstein flew four shuttle missions, including the maiden voyage of
Endeavour that included a daring satellite rescue. Gibson flew five times,
including the first shuttle mission to dock with Russia's Mir space station.
Ride was America's first woman in space and a veteran of two shuttle
missions.
A number of events are planned June 20 and 21 with
the induction ceremony itself planned for 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT)June 21. The
public is invited although admission tickets are required.Many former astronauts who already are inducted are scheduled
to be present for the weekend festivities.
The current list includes: Buzz Aldrin, Scott
Carpenter, Gene Cernan, Gordon Cooper, Bob Crippen, Walter Cunningham, Fred
Haise, Edward Gibson, Owen Garriott, John Glenn, Dick Gordon, Rick Hauck, James
Lovell, James McDivitt, Ed Mitchell, Richard Truly, Al Worden, and John
Young.
The U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame is operated by
Delaware North Parks Services, the same contractor responsible for the KSC
Visitor Complex. For more information about purchasing tickets to the events
call 321-449-4444 or visit http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com.
Editor's note: Ride is a former
president of SPACE.com, and SPACE.com senior producer Jim
Banke was a member of the selection committee for this year's
inductees.
-- Jim Banke
May 9
Nation's Largest Model Rocket Contest 'Go for
Launch'
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The world's largest model
rocket contest remains set for launch Saturday from a field about an hour's
drive west of the nation's capital.
The National Team America Rocketry Challenge will
feature competition between the nation's top 100 high school model rocket teams
and is being held in honor of the centennial of flight. The high-tech sporting
event is sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association and the National
Association of Rocketry.
Among those expected at the event are NASA
Administrator Sean O'Keefe, "Rocket Boys" author Homer Hickam, Marshall Space
Flight Center Director Art Stephenson, U.S. Centennial of Flight Chairman and
National Air and Space Museum Director Gen. J.R. (Jack) Dailey and former
astronaut Jay Apt, who is a strong advocate of model rocketry.
Also on hand will be Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), who
recently introduced a bill that would exempt users of certain model rocket
propellants from explosive permit requirements, much like antique firearm users
are exempted from permit requirements for black powder use. Enzi's bill has been
referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration.
More information on the event is available online at
http://www.rocketcontest.org or
http://www.rocketcontest.org
-- Jim Banke
May
8
Mars Gullies Puzzle
Scientists
Scientists remain captivated by gullies spotted on
Mars. A recent photo taken by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) captured the
mysterious dune gullies of Russell Crater.
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Russell
Crater
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How are the gullies formed? Nobody knows for sure.
These gullies might be the result of a fluid -- either liquid or gas -- mixed
with sand that avalanched down the dune slope. Yes, maybe no. Their origin is
unknown. It has been observed that gullies tend to occur only on slopes facing
southward.
The gullies have been re-imaged several times in the
past three Mars years, but no new gullies have formed.
The just issued MGS image shows one very large sand
dune with the surface sloping from upper right toward lower left. Gullies start
on the slope at the upper right and indicate flow toward the lower left. The
picture covers an area about 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) with sunlight illuminating
the scene from the upper left.
Mars Global Surveyor was launched in November 1996
and has been in Mars orbit since September 1997.
-- Leonard David
May 7
Mars Airplane Technology Hits Major
Milestone
A high-altitude balloon rose high above Windsor,
Colorado on May 3, drifting to the edge of space. The balloon toted a small
glider to test technologies that could prove useful in designing future Mars
airplanes.
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BIG BLUE's great
view
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Under the space-black sky 100,000 feet above Earth,
the glider sprouted a pair of inflatable wings from its sides. Ultraviolet rays
from the Sun hardened the wings to flight readiness.
The wings deployed and cured just as predicted, and
all the onboard equipment operated as planned.
The University of Kentucky project is called BIG BLUE
- short for Baseline Inflatable Glider Balloon Launched Unmanned Experiment.
Early reports point to a successful test, although there was some slight impact
damage to the aircraft.
Research on BIG BLUE is dedicated to packing a glider
into as tight a size as possible. This technological tactic is being eyed for
planetary aircraft -- particularly for Mars -- where a big research payoff can
come out of small packages.
-- Leonard David
Space-Themed Day Camp Planned at Kennedy
Space Center Visitor Complex
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- U.S. Space Camp in Florida is
no more but kids still can spend time this summer training to be an astronaut by
attending a week-long day camp managed by the Kennedy Space Center Visitor
Complex.
Having purchased the Florida-based Space Camp
facility, the Visitor Complex now operates the adjacent Astronaut Hall of Fame
and has access to the same training simulators and classrooms that for many
years were part of U.S. Space Camp Florida.
The interactive programs include training on a 3D-360
simulator, g-force simulator, 1/6th gravity trainer, zero-g climb wall, Mars
rover simulation and more. Other benefits include a complimentary 12-month pass
to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and four free tickets to bring
family members to the Astronaut Hall of Fame.
Kids who are entering second through ninth grades
this fall are eligible to attend the program, which runs multiple times during
the summer. For more information, call 321-449-4400 or visit the "Educator's
Zone" section online at http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com.
-- Jim Banke
May 6
United Space Alliance
to Get New Management
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --
NASA's main contractor responsible for preparing space shuttle's for launch is
getting a new boss, company officials have announced.
Mike McCulley, a veteran NASA
astronaut who piloted the 1989 shuttle mission to deploy the Galileo probe to
Jupiter, will take over as president and chief executive officer of United Space
Alliance (USA) on May 15. He succeeds Russ Turner, who will become president of
Honeywell Engines, Systems and Services in Phoenix.
"Russ will be greatly
missed," said McCulley, who has served as USA's chief operating officer since
1999. "His exceptional style of leadership and his commitment to the safety and
success of the space shuttle program made us a better company and have
positioned us well to meet the challenges of the future. We wish him the very
best."
Replacing McCulley will be
Brewster Shaw -- a veteran of three shuttle missions flown in 1983, 1985 and
1989 -- who is now Boeing's International Space Station vice president and
general manager. Shaw has also served as NASA's shuttle program
manager.
"Brewster is a great addition
to the USA team," McCulley said. "His operations and management experience,
combined with his exceptional leadership skills, are going to be tremendous
assets as we work with NASA to return the shuttle safely to
flight."
Both McCulley and Shaw have
spent part of their careers working on the shuttle program at the Kennedy Space
Center and are well known on Florida's Space Coast.
-- Jim Banke
NASA Looks for New
Frontiers
NASA's Office of Space Science unveiled a prospective
list of missions under the agency's New Frontiers program. In a draft NASA
Announcement of Opportunity (AO), the four "strawman" missions are, in no order
of priority:
- a Comet Surface Sample Return mission;
- a Jupiter Polar Orbiter with Probes;
- a Lunar South Pole Aitken Basin Sample Return
mission; and
- a Venus In Situ Explorer
This is all good news for space scientists looking
for new chances to hurl scientific equipment into the solar system. Competitive
teams will hone proposals and vie for final NASA go-ahead. A New Frontiers
mission is cost-capped at $650 million.
Tucked away in the just released NASA New Frontiers
draft document is the fact that the topsy-turvy, on-again, off-again Pluto
Kuiper Belt mission -- known as New Horizons -- "is now considered the first New
Frontiers mission." That mission is on track for launch in January
2006.
New Frontiers Mission investigations, according to
the draft AO, would be launched no later than December 31, 2009.
-- Leonard David
History of Flight Fact: On this date in 1896 Samuel
P. Langley, the third Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution,
succeeded in launching the first reasonably large, steam-powered model aircraft
on flights of up to three-quarters of a mile over the Potomac River. Langley had
a long history of working with self-propelled model aircraft. While still the
Assistance Secretary of the Smithsonian he and his assistants had built more
than 100 rubber band powered model "rubber-pull aerodromes". By 1896, he had
built six large "steam powered aerodromes".
On May 6, 1937 the famous German dirigible, Hindenburg was
destroyed in a fiery explosion of unknown origin during landing proceedings at
Lakehurst, New Jersey. 36 people were killed.
May 5
Mars Express Launch Date
Announced
The European Space Agency's Mars
Express spacecraft was given the green light to launch June 2, 2003
following completion of a successful flight readiness review on May 3. The
first of NASA's two Mars Rovers is
scheduled to launch on June 5.
The Mars Express launch window opens on May 23
and lasts only four weeks. However, just before the spacecraft was due to leave
Toulouse, France, for its trip to Baikonur in Kazakhstan, engineers discovered a
fault in one of the electronics modules. "Of course, it was the most difficult
box to remove from the spacecraft," Rudi Schmidt, Mars Express Project
Manager said.
In view of the estimated time needed to correct the
fault, the launch date was initially put back from May 23 to June 6,
still within the launch window. However, thanks to the skill and dedication of
the engineering team, the job was completed sooner than expected and the launch
date was brought forward.
Astronauts to Auction Personal Memorabilia
for Scholarships
More than 15 former NASA astronauts are participating
in the first Astronaut Experiences and Space Memorabilia auction in an effort to
raise money for the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF).
The bidding begins May 24, simultaneously online and
in Washington, DC at an astronaut-studded gala hosted by Sims & Hankow
Enterprises at the Capital Hilton Hotel.
"This is the first time the members of the Astronaut
Scholarship Foundation have, in a major effort, offered personal items or
services to be sold at a silent auction," said James Lovell, Apollo 13 commander
and Chairman of the Foundation.
Lovell contributed both an Apollo 13 mission emblem
that flew to the Moon and a private dinner with him and his wife.
"I wanted to contribute something more
personal, and I hit on the idea on hosting a dinner for four, along with my wife
Marilyn, at my restaurant, Lovell's of Lake Forest, in the Chicago suburbs,"
said Lovell.
Robert Crippen, four-time flier including as pilot of
the first Space Shuttle launch, is offering to take four people on a personal
tour of the Kennedy Space Center. Skylab and Shuttle astronaut Owen Garriott
will guide a similar tour at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville,
Ala.
Before he died in 1998, Alan Shepard, America's first
man in space who later walked on the moon on Apollo 14, left two items to the
Foundation, with instructions that they one day be sold to raise money for the
scholarship program. The complete catalog is available online at http://www.collectspace.com/auction.
The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation is a non-profit
organization established in 1984 by the six surviving members of America's
original Mercury astronauts and Mrs. Betty Grissom, widow of the seventh, Gus
Grissom, William Douglas, Project Mercury M.D. and businessman Henri Landwirth.
The ASF's goal is to facilitate the United States in retaining its world
leadership in science and technology by providing scholarships to upper level
college students and those pursuing masters or doctorates in the fields of
science and engineering. For more information, call 321-269-6119 or visit
http://www.astronautscholarship.org/
History of Flight Fact: On this day
in 1930 Amy Johnson becomes the first woman to solo between
England and Australia. A maverick with a true love of flying, Johnson was also
the first British-trained woman ground engineer. For awhile she was the only
woman G.E. in the world. Also on this day in 1961 Alan Shepard
became the first U.S. human to fly into space aboard the
Freedom 7.
May 4
France and Japan to Work on
Spaceplane
The Reuters news service reported Friday
that Japan plans to work with France later this month in the development of
a shuttle-style space craft.
A spokesman for one of the main aerospace agency's
told Reuters that a test is likely to take place in late May in northern Sweden.
It would involve the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL), the National
Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), and the French national space agency
CNES. -
"The ultimate aim is a next generation space craft,"
Toshiharu Okuda, a spokesman for NAL, told Reuters. The
development of such a craft is expected to take around 20 years.
The model to be tested was developed
by the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan and NASDA, and is over 9 feet
10.10 inches long and weighs 1,102 lb., Reuters reported.
It will be taken by balloon to an altitude of 18
miles (30 kms) before being released to gather flight data for speeds of
around Mach 1, Okuda said. There are no plans for Japan and France to jointly develop a space craft.
Japan's space shuttle prototype, Hope-X, successfully
lifted off Christmas Island in the South Pacific in October, 2002 on its first
test flight, soaring for about five miles before landing.
History of Flight Fact: On this day
in 1964 Jacqueline Cochran established the official world speed
record for women in a Lockheed F-104G Starfighter, average speed
1,429.297-mph.
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