July 19, 2002

The SPACE.com Mailbag: Star Trek and the coining of "Astrobiology"

From Tania to Robert Roy Britt: In your recent article, Astrobiology Report: NASA Needs Course Shift, you said: "But in the five years since NASA coined the term "astrobiology ..."

On the original series of Star Trek from the late 1960s, there was a crewmember (Doctor Ann Mulhall) referred to as the Chief Astrobiologist. So, the term has been around for decades, and NASA certainly did not coin it. I do not know who did, however!

Robert Roy Britt replies: You are correct, once again illustrating that science fiction is often ahead of science.

We'll give NASA some benefit of the doubt here and assume that it is correct insofar as science goes. One has to wonder, though, whether some scientist out there wasn't using the term self-descriptively before NASA glommed onto it. If anyone knows of such usage, I'll suggest they start a discussion in our Uplink section, within the Space Science & Astronomy area.

Interplanetary Superhighway Makes Space Travel Simpler

NASA's Genesis probe -- launched in August 2001 -- is speeding to its destination along a path that engineers are calling a freeway through the solar system.

The flight path was designed by Martin Lo, an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and takes advantage of the way gravity between the sun and the planets interact to create pockets where a spacecraft can travel without using as much propellant.

Each planet and moon has five such pockets, called Lagrange points. To find the interplanetary superhighway, Lo mapped all the possible flight paths among the Lagrange points, varying the distance the spacecraft would go and how fast or slow it would travel.

Like threads twisted together to form a rope, the possible flight paths formed tubes in space. Lo plans to map out these tubes for the whole solar system but has already figured out the path Genesis is taking to reach its destination. Lo calls the software he developed for mission planning "LTool."

"The theory has been known for some time, but this is the first time it has been applied to a space mission," said Kathleen Howell, co-creator of LTool, and a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. "It has been exciting and challenging to develop this field. Our work on the Genesis mission is definitely a high point."

Livio actually prefers to use ants, instead of ink spots, to represent the galaxies on the expanding balloon that we've said represents the universe. Here's what he said: "An ant traveling on the surface of a balloon will never reach an edge. In the worst case it will return to its starting point." For more about all this, see this article I wrote about a year ago, in which even the astronomers admit that this is all pretty mind-boggling.

Another reader, Doug, asked again about the center, as you did. Doug said that if we know there was a Big Bang, why can't we determine its location, the spot that is the center of the universe. I'm going to avoid this one entirely. Other readers are writing in about this, too. I'd like to suggest someone head over to our Uplink section and start a discussion on this, within the "Space Science & Astronomy" section. Let's see if some intelligence emerges (mine is sapped!).

July 18, 2002

At 4:51 p.m. EDT today, the line of sight between Earth and the Galileo spacecraft will be blotted out by the Sun. Jupiter, which the spacecraft orbits, is also slipping behind the Sun from our vantage point, an event called conjunction that occurs tomorrow.

Already, the Sun's radiation has made it impossible to communicate with Galileo. The blackout lasts about three weeks, centered around today.

Normally engineers would put such a spacecraft into sleep mode during this time. But Galileo's tape recorder, which logs all its observations, has been acting up. So in order to prevent the tape from sticking to the recording heads, NASA officials decided to have it move continuously and slowly up and down the length of the tape. They hope this will "condition the tape, making it less likely to stick." Engineers will check the setup Aug. 2.

All known life is made up of cells built and operated by proteins, which in turn are made from 20 building blocks called amino acids. These tiny constructs have been found previously in meteorites, which many researchers think might have seeded life on Earth. Lab tests earlier this year showed that amino acids could theoretically be generated almost anywhere in the universe.

But astronomers had not conclusively detected amino acids outside our solar system.

In 1994, a team of researchers said they'd found glycine, one type of amino acid, in interstellar space, but the findings didn't hold. The same team now says radio waves have provided "strong evidence that glycine exists in interstellar space," according to an article in New Scientist magazine. The researchers say they are confident in their results this time.

Peer review take too long? Send your space science and astronomy news to Robert Roy Britt via e-mail.

July 17, 2002

Next Flight For Japan's H-2A Slated For Sept. 10

WASHINGTON The National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) has scheduled the third launch of its H-2A rocket for Sept. 10, the agency reported. The rocket will loft Japans Data Relay Test Satellite and the Unmanned Space Experiment Recovery System.

The Data Relay Test Satellite is being developed by NASDA and will operate in geostationary orbit, relaying data transmitted from spacecraft in lower orbits to ground stations.

The Unmanned Space Experiment Recovery System is being developed by the Institute for Unmanned Space Experiment Free Flyer. The spacecraft consists of a re-entry module that will return to Earth after nearly nine months in orbit and a service module that will remain in orbit for about two years.

The first two flights of the H-2A, both test launches, where performed in August 2001 and February 2002.

Jason Bates, Space News Staff Writer

[inset]

Air Force Tests Minuteman Missile Along U.S. West Coast

An unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile was successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 4:03 a.m. EDT (0803 GMT) early Wednesday.

The mission was part of the Force Development Evaluation Program, which tests the reliability and accuracy of the weapon system. Members of the 91st Space Wing from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, led by Lt. Col. Dave Durgan, launched the missile under the direction of Vandenberg's 576th Flight Test Squadron test conductors. 

"I'm extremely pleased with this great team from Minot," said Mission Director Lt. Col. Michael Fortney.  "The whole team of 576th folks, Lt. Col. Durgan's troops and of course our 30th Space Wing partners are doing a great job. I'm proud to be a part of this effort."

The missile's two unarmed re-entry vehicles traveled approximately 4,200 miles (6,760 kilometers) in about 30 minutes, hitting pre-determined targets at the Kwajalein Missile Range in the western chain of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Got NASA, aerospace or other launch-related dish? Drop Jim Banke an e-mail.

If you're amidst one of the ink dots, you see everything racing away from you. "It turns out that every point in the universe sees itself as the center," explains Paul Doherty, Exploratorium Teacher Institute. Doherty has a complex explanation here. I like this description from 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

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.

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.

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 militarys 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 Nio Returns, Possibly Too Late to Suppress Hurricanes

Scientists say El Nio 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 Nio 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 Nio 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.