jh8h/Foundations/chapter10.html">John Hawley at the
University of Virginia, better: "Space is expanding (or stretching out, if you
will) everywhere, not expanding away from some point." If that doesn't help, try
Advil.
July 16, 2002
Japanese Communications Satellite Doing Well
After Recent Launch
A communications satellite launched July 5 from South
America has arrived in its proper geosynchronous orbit and appears to be
operating as expected following an initial round of checks, Orbital Sciences
Corp. officials have announced.
"We are very pleased with the way the N-STAR c mission is
progressing," said David Thompson, Orbital's chairman and chief executive
officer.
Jointly built by Orbital and Lockheed Martin, the N-STAR c
spacecraft blasted off from the Guiana Space Center atop an Ariane 5 rocket and
was successfully injected into a highly-elliptical transfer orbit around Earth.
During the next few days a motor onboard the satellite was ignited to
circularize the orbit over Earth's equator.
Engineers have since commanded the spacecraft's
electricity-generating solar arrays and communications antenna to deploy, and
all of that went well. Additional tests are planned to make sure the satellite
is ready to be delivered to its operator -- NTT DoCoMo, Inc. of Japan -- in
August.
N-STAR c is to operate for at least 10 years, providing
mobile telephone and data transfer services to customers in Japan and
surrounding areas.
The SPACE.com Mailbag - Shuttle Columbia to be
Mothballed?
From Eric to Jim Banke: I read in an
article not long ago that NASA is considering mothballing Columbia to reduce
costs due to the cutbacks in flights per year. Is that proposal still under
consideration? I'd hate to see such a magnificent spacecraft retired, but
there's no sense in spending millions to keep Columbia up and running if there's
no place for it to go.
Jim Banke replies: This question pops up
from time to time and with good reason, but it seems that NASA has every
intention of continuing to fly Columbia as long as it is safe to do so. While it
is older and heavier than the rest of the shuttle fleet, it can still be used
for a variety of missions -- such as the Hubble Space Telescope servicing
mission flown earlier this year. Its next flight, still on hold pending the
outcome of the hydrogen flow liner cracks, is to be a 16-day science research
mission.
And thanks to a recent weight loss program that accompanied
some major upgrades to its cockpit and other systems, Columbia is now capable of
flying certain missions to the International Space Station. In fact, NASA's
current shuttle schedule has Columbia flying to the station on a supply and crew
rotation sortie in late 2003 or early 2004.
Columbia has flown 27 times during the past 20 years and its
main airframe is supposed to last 100 flights, so if the rest of its systems
hold up, NASA's veteran orbiter should last many more years to
come.
Got NASA, aerospace or
other launch-related dish? Drop Jim Banke an
e-mail.
Huge Sunspot Group Triggers Major
Eruption
A region of dark spots on the Sun has grown to span
an area equal to 15 Earths. On Monday it unleashed a powerful
X-class flare, hurling charged particles into space.
|
CLICK TO ENLARGE
|
The energy was not directed primarily at Earth,
but some of it may strike a glancing blow and fuel stormy
activity in the planet's geomagnetic field.
Such a strike, expected late Tuesday or more likely on
Wednesday, would increase the chances that the Northern Lights become visible in
the United States and central Europe.
See the sunspots and read the details in
our Space Weather Forecast. Or check
out our live Sun Cam.
July 15, 2002
ESA: Venus and Mars Are Alright
The European Space Agency's Science Programme
Committee agreed unanimously last week to start work on Venus Express. Venus
Express will reuse the Mars Express spacecraft design and needs to be ready for
launch in 2005.
The mission's fate is not yet final because one
nation, Italy, has still to confirm its participation in the payload. Italy has
been given until 15 October 2002 to provide its final commitment.
The idea behind Venus Express began in 2001 when ESA
issued a call for ideas to reuse the Mars Express spacecraft design for a quick,
low-cost mission. Among the constraints were that the new mission had to use the
industrial teams already in place for Mars Express and that meant double-quick
development. Despite the constraints, a large number of good ideas came in from
scientists around Europe. Venus Express was eventually selected because of its
great scientific value. Venus is not well explored and an excellent group of
instruments were easily available in Europe.
These instruments had been
developed as back-ups for either ESA's Mars Express spacecraft or ESA's
comet-chaser mission, Rosetta. The instrument suite will be able to look at the
planetary environment from surface to outermost atmosphere.
What's in a Name? "Space Command"
86ed
The new organization resulting from the merger of
U.S. Space Command and U.S. Strategic Command will be named Strategic Command,
according to an internal Pentagon memorandum.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld sent the
memorandum to senior Defense Department officials July 11.
At a June 26 press briefing at the Pentagon, Rumsfeld
said the new organization likely would be headquartered at Offutt Air Force
Base, Neb., the current home of U.S. Strategic Command.
The merger is expected to streamline the military’s
strategic decision making process by creating a single organization in charge of
missile warning, defense and response, Rumsfeld said at the briefing.
- Jeremy Singer, Space News Staff
Writer
Demonstrator-2 Update: The Search is
On
Russian
authorities continue to search for the Demonstrator-2 reusable space vehicle
that was launched from a submarine on July 12 and landed about 30 minutes later
in Kamchatka, Interfax has reported.
The Northern Fleet submarine Ryazan launched the
vehicle, which features an inflatable braking system.
"Experts are analyzing the flight's telemetric data
and the search for the vehicle continues in its probable landing area in
Kamchatka," a spokesman of the Babakin Research Center, Lidiya Avdeyeva, told
Interfax on Monday.
The results of the unique experiment can only be
discussed after the device is found, Avdeyeva said.
The use of inflatable braking
systems with a changeable temperature maintenance system in cargo deliveries
from outer space to earth was tested in the experiment.
El Niño Returns, Possibly Too Late to Suppress
Hurricanes
Scientists say El Niño is officially back but it is
not expected to be as powerful as the last rendition in 1997-98. Weather in the
United States could be affected by the shift this fall, according to the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The agency monitors the warming
Pacific waters with buoys in specific locations, and it uses satellites to note
minor changes in elevation that reveal the water temperature across broad
regions.
El Niño is a periodic warming of the Pacific Ocean
near the equator. It contributes to relatively predictable climate patterns,
including warm, dry conditions in the northern United States and wet, stormy
conditions in the southern United States and parts of South America.
El Niño tends to suppress Atlantic hurricane
activity, but it may not be strong enough to be a factor this year, said Vernon
Kousky, a NOAA meteorologist and climate specialist. In May, NOAA released its
Atlantic Hurricane season outlook, which called for the potential of nine to 13
tropical storms, with six to eight hurricanes. Of those, two or three are
expected to reach major status with winds exceeding 110 mph.
Missed
something from last week? Astronotes Archive - July 8 -July
14
advertisement
 into space.)