August 2, 2002

The search for Near Earth Objects (NEO), asteroids or comets that might threaten our planet, depends on dozens of amateurs around the world who toil without pay doing follow-up observations that are needed to determine a newly found space rock's exact path. A handful of these folks do get some compensation, thanks to grants from the Planetary Society.

The society has awarded five Gene Shoemaker Near Earth Object Grants for 2002 to researchers in three nations: John Broughton of Australia; Matt Dawson of Luxembourg; and Richard Kowalski, James McGaha, and Roy Tucker of the United States.

"It doesn't help knowing a NEO is out there if you don't know whether it has Earth's name on it," said the society's Bruce Betts. "This is an area where our grant program, combined with dedicated amateurs and professionals, can make a real difference."

The grants range from $900 to $10,000 and are targeted toward specific activities each researcher was involved with or had planned. Details are here.

August 1, 2002

Space Race Between the States?

From Ric to Robert Roy Britt: My family has read your very interesting article on 2002 NY40 [an asteroid that will be visible in telescopes in mid-August]. My 8-year-old daughter, Bri, dreams of being a space explorer and I have given her a Meade ETX-125EC Astro Telescope with Starry Night Pro to help start her journey.

I am looking for information on how to introduce the coordinates and orbit of the 2002 NY40 asteroid into the Starry Night database. I have downloaded the latest update files and the asteroid is not contained in them. Could you refer me to a few sources for this information on loading this particular asteroids data into the software?

Robert Roy Britt replies: Ric, you and your daughter are in luck. A few days ago these coordinates were not available, but now they are. Mike Parkes, Astronomy Content Director at Starry Night Software, gives these instructions for downloading them: Connect to the Internet, open Starry Night, choose "File->Preferences->Startup", and press "Update Now" to download the new file. You will then need to close and re-open Starry Night so that it loads the updated files. Open the planet list, and expand the listing of asteroids. 2002 NY 40 should be the first object in the list.

Let us know if you spot the asteroid!

From Bryan to Robert Roy Britt: I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed your article [24 Hour of Chaos: How the Moon was Made] and that I found it very interesting but I have a question. The guys who came up with the theory of how the Moon was made, how do they explain the other moons in our [solar] system? They don't believe that the way they think our Moon was created happened with the other planets do they? If they did then I think I would have to question their theory.

Robert Roy Britt replies: Interestingly, astronomers are still trying to figure out how all the planets were made! They don't know exactly how Jupiter and Saturn came to be, and they really struggle to explain Neptune and Uranus. So theorists really struggle to explain the dozens of moons around Jupiter (which has at least 39) and Saturn (at least 30).

Some of these moons were almost certainly captured; they were asteroids or mini-planets that roamed the young solar system and got caught up in the gravity of the giant planets. Some appear to have broken apart during that process and made families of moons. Scientists know this because a few of the moons orbit opposite to the planets rotation and travel in packs. Some larger moons might have formed when the planets formed.

Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. Astronomers don't know if they were created along with the birth of the Red Planet, or if they are asteroids that were captured later.

July 31, 2002

Trio of NASA Spacecraft on Schedule for Launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's latest Spacecraft and Expendable Vehicles Status Report indicates a trio of missions remain on schedule for launch from Florida's Space Coast before the end of the calendar year.

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) probe remains at the Orbital Space Systems Group facility in Dulles, Virginia but soon will be on its way to the Kennedy Space Center, perhaps as early as Aug. 26. It is scheduled for an Oct. 17 launch atop a winged Pegasus XL booster that will be air-dropped over the Atlantic Ocean just east of the Cape.

NASA's newest Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-J) is now at the Boeing Satellite Systems plant in El Segundo, Calif., and will be shipped to the Cape no earlier than Sept. 26. Its ride into space, an Atlas 2A booster, is undergoing final assembly at a Lockheed Martin plant in Denver. Launch from complex 36 here is targeted for no earlier than Oct. 29.

Finally, the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) probe is undergoing environmental testing at Orbital's Dulles facility and is to be shipped to the Cape on Oct. 25 for a planned launch on a Pegasus XL rocket Dec. 1. That booster is being assembled at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., and is to be run through a pair of flight simulations on Oct. 1 and Oct. 9.

SORCE's Pegasus is to be ferried to the Cape on Oct. 28 and then be put through three flight simulations on Nov. 1, Nov. 8 and Nov. 18.

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

Study Predicting Mystery Particles Gets Further Support

In an ongoing quest to detect invisible and unknown matter, scientists associated with a Brookhaven National Lab experiment announced yesterday they'd confirmed their results of a year ago that showed particles dancing with unknown counterparts. Unfortunately, the fat lady has yet to sing an accompanying subatomic tune.

In the original study, the scientists put tiny known particles called muons into a magnetic field and watched their behavior. The muons danced wild jigs that could only be explained if other, unknown matter was affecting them. The new results, based on data collected in 2000, support the earlier study with twice the precision, say scientists in international project.

Meanwhile, theorists have been revising their theories over the past year and said they aren't sure what should be happening to the muons. So it remains unclear Brookhaven work, which if correct would alter the Standard Model of particle physics, explains anything. "While not definitive, this new result is consistent with the presence of effects which are outside of the Standard Model," said Boston University physicist Lee Roberts. "Further work to clarify this hint of something new is essential, nevertheless this result is very interesting and provocative."

If the fat lady ever sings favorably on the Brookhaven project, then strange new physics might be possible, such as supersymmetry, a theory that predicts the existence of companion particles for all the known particles in the universe.

Mini Astronotes: On this day in 1964, the American space probe Ranger 7 transmitted pictures of the moon's surface. Ranger 7 was the first U.S. spacecraft to successfully transmit images of the lunar surface back to Earth. The Ranger series was the first U.S. attempt to obtain close-up images of the Lunar surface. The Ranger spacecraft were designed to fly straight down towards the Moon and send images back until the moment of impact.

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

July 30, 2002

One Million Solar Cells

It's said that the press likes nice, round numbers and that it doesn't really care until the next magic number comes along that's impressive ... and even. This might explain why this news caught our eye: Spectrolab, the California-based company proudly announced today that it has produced one million gallium arsenide solar cells.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Spectrolab is the world's largest manufacturer of space solar cells -- those convenient marvels of technology that turn sunlight into electricity to power our satellites and probes in orbit. Originally based on silicon, today's gallium arsenide solar cells produce almost twice as much power.

"I am proud of our team's accomplishment in delivering over one million advanced solar cells and the quarter-megawatt of power the cells provide to operating spacecraft using this technology. This is a direct reflection of our ability to continuously improve our technology and provide our customers with high quality, competitive power system design choices," said David Lillington, president of Spectrolab.

Spectrolab's customers include virtually all the world's prime spacecraft and solar array manufacturers, including Alcatel, Astrium, AEC-Able, Ball Aerospace, Boeing Satellite Systems, Lockheed Martin and many other primes and government organizations.

The company began producing solar cells at the very dawn of the space age in 1958.

NASA Marshall's Metal Music to Auto Industry Ears

A new high-strength aluminum-silicon alloy developed at  NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., promises to lower engine emissions and could improve gas mileage in cars, boats and recreational vehicles. The new alloy, co-invented by Jonathan Lee , a NASA structural materials engineer, was originally developed for the automotive industry.

Although most Americans associate NASA with space flight, one of the space agency's missions is to share its cutting-edge technologies with U.S. industry. "Partnerships with U.S industries are the main way NASA transfers these technologies to the public," explains Vernotto McMillan , deputy manager of Marshall's Technology Transfer Department.

Lee and co-inventor PoShou Chen , a scientist with Morgan Research Corp., began work on the new alloy seven years ago when a major automobile manufacturer approached NASA about developing a strong and low-cost aluminum alloy for use in a piston redesign that would lower engine emissions.

Lee and Chen came up with MSFC-398 , a wear-resistant alloy that exhibits dramatic strength at temperatures as high as 500 to 700 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, when tested at 600 degrees Fahrenheit, it is three to four times stronger than conventional cast aluminum alloys. The new metal also can be produced at a projected cost of less than $1 per pound.

July 29, 2002

Scramjet Test Planned for Tuesday Over Australian Outback

Rocket scientists down under plan on Tuesday to test a hypersonic scramjet engine after it is boosted to the correct altitude and speed over the Woomera range in the South Australian outback.

Anticipation about the test is running high because an initial launch last October failed after the booster rocket carrying the experimental engine flew out of control.

Expected to fly more than Mach 8 -- or eight times the speed of sound -- the engine is to test the ability of atmospheric oxygen to be "rammed" into the engine inlet, mixed with hydrogen fuel, ignited and the resulting hot gases expelled out the back to produce
thrust.

The technology has proven to work in wind tunnel testing, but so far a practical flight in the upper atmosphere has eluded Australian scientists. Other test flights by Japan and by NASA in the United States have failed for one reason or another, leaving the technology mostly untried by civilian researchers.

If the scramjet could be made operational and applied to commercial airliners, for example, a trip between Sydney and London could take two hours to complete, instead of the 24 hours it now takes to make the trip on conventional jumbo jets flying between connecting airports.

Mars Meteorite Fragments Among Stolen Rocks Recovered by Feds

That stolen but recovered 600-pound (270-kilogram) safe lifted from NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) on July 13 not only contained Apollo lunar samples, but also pieces of the famous "Mars rock" - meteorite ALH 84001 .

Federal agents working with NASA have fully assessed the safe's contents. All lunar and Mars specimens have been accounted for. However, it is not clear whether some other meteorite material may be missing. Small pieces of lab equipment, also thought to be located in the safe, may be missing, as are scientific lab notebooks.

The space sting operation had undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents arresting three student employees of NASA JSC, as well as another individual not employed at the space center. Arrests were made in Florida and Texas with the individuals charged with Conspiracy to Commit Theft of Government Property and Transportation in Interstate Commerce of Stolen Property.

According to James Jarboe , Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Tampa Division, a FBI undercover operation was underway since May and utilized e-mail to communicate with an individual offering priceless moon rocks. That individual called the specimens the world's largest private and verifiable Apollo rock collection. The e-mail messages were sent from several locations -- the University of Utah, Johnson Space Center and a public library in Houston, he said.

In a document from NASA Office of Inspector General in Washington, D.C., Jarboe said that the e-mail exchanges between the undercover FBI agents and the seller included curatorial and historical records on the samples. Those exchanges culminated in a meeting at a restaurant in Orlando, Florida over the weekend of July 20-21 to finalize the purchase of the Apollo moon rocks.

The FBI began the investigation after receiving an e-mail tip at a site established to handle Internet fraud matters.

The government and aerospace industry take too long to make news? Send the inside skinny to Leonard David .

X-Prize Entry, Canada's Arrow Team, Successfully Tests Rocket Engine

The Canadian Arrow Team has succeeded in its first important engine test.

A single burner cup rocket engine test was successfully completed Friday, July 26, 2002 at a site outside of London.

The steel burner cup, fitted with finely crafted brass injectors, is one of 18 that will be a part of the complete main engine.   The burner cup that was built into a rocket engine was attached to propellant feed lines leading to two fuel tanks approximately five feet tall and three feet in diameter.  One tank holds liquid oxygen and the other holds ethyl alcohol.

The test proves the efficiency of the injector system in mixing the propellants as they burn in the enginea spray nozzle system.  The burner cup rocket engine produced 3,300 pounds of thrust.  The main engine with 18 burner cups will produce 57 thousand pounds of thrust.

The burner cup rocket engine was secured to a test stand located in a gravel pit in an undisclosed rural location.

 This is a huge step for us, says Arrow Team Leader Geoff Sheerin . It proves that our design for the spray nozzle system is correct and that we can get a smooth, safe burn.

The burner cup rocket engine test is the lead-up for a main engine test that is scheduled to take place in August or September.  The Team believes that the Canadian Arrow will be the largest liquid propellant engine built in Canada, and the largest built by any X-Prize team so far.

July 26, 2002

Solar Wind is a Bull Market

Researchers at the University of Warwick in England are claiming the Sun's solar wind follows the same patterns as the stocks in your portfolio, rising and falling like the value of your investments.

Using data collected from NASA's WIND spacecraft, Warwick professor Sandra Chapman and a team of researchers used an analysis method called "finite size scaling" to model the fluctuations in the magnetic energy density of solar wind. Chapman's team found that statistically, the fluctuations look a lot like those found in past models monitoring the stock market, with changes in solar wind strength leaning more toward the likelihood of extreme events than random ones.

Large fluctuations in solar wind affect the space weather around Earth and predicting them, as with stocks, has been a challenge for scientists. Chapman's study suggests that the underlying mathematics is similar, with knowledge from one area applicable to understanding of another other. Chapman and her team are now using their new analysis to modify current turbulence theories and produce more useful models of extreme solar wind events.

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