August 24, 2002

CONTOUR Monitoring Scaled Back

Continual monitoring for signals from the CONTOUR spacecraft has been scaled back. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland -- builder and operator of the ill-fated comet probe -- made the announcement late Friday.

When communications from the spacecraft ceased on August 15, the $159 million mission entered "emergency" status, making it eligible for round-the-clock coverage from NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) antenna stations.

Now, nine days after their last contact with the solar-powered probe, the CONTOUR mission team said its time to move on.

"Given the disappointing circumstances, it was time to scale back our monitoring," said APL CONTOUR Mission Director, Robert Farquhar. "We don't want to take DSN time that could be used more effectively by other missions."

Mission operators are now listening for a signal just once a week, for approximately 8 hours each time.

August 23, 2002

Bass To Fly to Houston, Train At Own Expense

MOSCOW.   Aug  23  (Interfax) - Singer in the American  pop  group NSync Lance Bass, who hopes to join a taxi mission to the International Space  Station (ISS) as a space tourist, is leaving on Saturday  for  a week  of simulator training in the American segment of the ISS  at  the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
He will fly to Houston and train there at his own expense.

Meanwhile,  the  Russian  Aerospace  Agency  has  expressed  grave concern about the observation of the financial side of the contract for the  singer's  space mission. The singer's backers  has  not  paid  the contract  sum  so  far,  a  source at the  agency  told  Interfax.  The investors have been constantly lagging behind the schedule of payments.

The  sources said that if they fail to make payments  due  in  the next few days, the singer's training at the Gagarin space training will be stopped.

At  the Gagarin training center on Friday, Interfax was told  that Bass  is  scheduled to study the control panel of ISS onboard  systems, the  structure and maintenance of life-support systems in  the  Russian segment, and the organization of ham radio communications.

On  Thursday, Bass received training in zero gravity with the crew of the taxi mission: Russian crew commander Sergei Zaletin and European Space Agency flight engineer Frank De Winne from Belgium.  Zero gravity was simulated during air maneuvers of a special Il-76 MDK aircraft.

August 22, 2002

Red Planet, Red Paint

The Ferrari automaker folks have turned over three test containers of its famous red paint "Rosso Corsa"  to the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in The Netherlands. A space qualified paint sample, carried in a specially constructed glass globe, is to be installed aboard the European Space Agency's Mars Express. A formal ceremony marking the paint sample addition to the spacecraft is being held in September 2002.

Following the outstanding success of the Scuderia Ferrari with the victory of Michael Schumacher's fifth Formula 1 driver championship title, the Ferrari team has agreed to fly the symbol of its success, a sample of the distinctive red paint. Ferrari's high-tech red paint is recognised all over the world as being synonymous with the record-breaking marque.

Placing the paint on Mars Express is part of a new communications strategy within the European Space Agency's science program office, exclusively
targeted at increasing general public interest in space exploration.

The European Space Agency's Mars Express mission, which leaves for the Red Planet in May/June 2003 from Russia, also totes along the British-built Mars lander, Beagle 2.

Chief of the Mars lander, Colin Pillinger of the Open University, told SPACE.com that his group recently took delivery of the first Beagle flight  model hardware. The Mars-bound Beagle is to be fully assembled at a new Aspetic Assembly Facility at the Open University. "I wouldn't call it light at the end of the tunnel, just another milestone reached. The milestones are going to be coming thick and fast over the next year as Beagle 2 will be built up over the next 5 months," Pillinger said.

Mini-Astronote: 40th Anniversary of Mariner 2 Launch

Today is the 40th anniversary of the launch of the first spacecraft to visit another planet. After 3-1/2 months en route, Mariner 2 came within 21,000 miles (34,000 kilometers) of Venus on Dec. 14, 1962. The mission took place in a time of international tension on the heels of the Cuban missile crisis. During its 3-week life at Venus, the probe proved the planet is a scorcher -- 800° F (425° C). (Previously, the Mariner 1 mission was aborted when the launch vehicle strayed and was destroyed.)

August 21, 2002

NASA Denies It Has Telepathic Powers

Contrary to published reports, NASA announced Tuesday that it does not possess the technology to read the minds of potential terrorists, saying such statements ignore the facts and science behind the research.  On Sunday, August 18, both the Washington Times and Chicago Sun-Times reported that NASA had developed such technology.

"Space technology would be adapted to receive and analyze brain-wave and heartbeat patterns, then feed that data into computerized programs "to detect passengers who potentially might pose a threat," according to briefing documents obtained by The Washington Times," the D.C-based paper breathlessly reported.

The newspaper articles were based on a NASA presentation, which served as talking points for a meeting with Northwest Airlines in December 2001. The presentation was in response to the call from the Federal Government for all agencies to look inward and find what could be done to help in the war on terrorism.

"NASA does not have the capability to read minds, nor are we suggesting that would be done," said Robert Pearce, Director, NASA's Strategy and Analysis Division in the Office of Aerospace Technology in Washington. "Our scientists were asked to think outside the box with regards to ideas that could aid the nation in the war on terrorism and that's what they are doing. We have not approved any research in this area and because of the sensitivity of such research, we will seek independent review before we do."

August 20, 2002

Mini-Astronotes: Viking 1, Sputnik 5 and Redstone Anniversaries

On this date in 1953 the first Redstone rocket was launched. Considered the successor to the German V-2 rocket, they were later modified for the Mercury project. In 1960, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 5 and in 1977 Voyager 2 was launched.

Planet X is often discussed in the same breath as Nemesis or the Death Star, a possible companion to the Sun, and there is conjecture by real scientists that something might be out there. Learn more. Meanwhile, if you need more convincing that the doomsayers are nuts, check out Plait's web site.

August 19, 2002

We told you earlier this month that the Exploratorium museum in San Francisco would produce the first live webcast ever of a secret Mars rover test in some American desert. The webcast is today at 2 p.m. EDT (11 a.m. PDT) and will be archived for later viewing. For the full story, click here. To check out the webcast, click here.

MOSCOW (AP) _ The Russian space agency has given 'N Sync singer Lance Bass five days to come up with payment for a trip to the international space station this fall, a spokesman said Monday.

Konstantin Kreidenko, spokesman for the agency, said that if payment is not received by Friday, Bass will not be permitted to take part in the mission, which is scheduled to begin Oct. 22. The price tag for such a ``space tourist trip'' is said to be about dlrs 20 million.

Bass, who is hoping to be the third tourist to travel to the station, has been training since July at Star City, the Russian cosmonaut center outside Moscow. Bass, 23, would be the youngest person yet in space.

Bass' supporters have blamed paperwork problems for the delay in transferring payment to Russia. David Krieff, a Los Angeles television producer who plans a series about Bass' trip, said he has lined up three sponsors so far who have committed between dlrs 5 million and dlrs 15 million each. A television show about Bass' voyage is planned.

August 16, 2002

The Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado announced August 16 it has activated the Space Situational Awareness Integration Office (SSAIO).

This new office is tasked to bring together military and government agencies involved in surveillance, reconnaissance, intelligence, weather, command, control, and communications required for operating in space.

Those agencies include the U.S. Strategic Command, Air Force, Army, Navy, and National Agencies including the National Security Agency, National Reconnaissance Office, National Imagery and Mapping Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, and others.

SSAIO officials will research and analyze the space situational needs and capabilities of the U.S. military services and various government agencies and integrate these into a coherent system of systems. This will enable the U.S. government to improve its overall capabilities, to include the systems procured and how this hardware is integrated and operated, said Lt. Col. Tom Simpson, SSAIO Acting Director.

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