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(meteorobs) Excerpts from "CCNet 8/2001 - 16 January 2001"
------- Forwarded Message
From: Dr Benny Peiser <B.J.Peiser@livjm.acdot uk>
To: cambridge-conference <cambridge-conference@livjm.acdot uk>
Subject: CCNet, 16 January 2001
Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 11:15:29 -0000
CCNet 8/2001 - 16 January 2001
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[...]
(2) SHOOTING STAR? KILLER SPACE ROCK? NO, JUST A LITTLE STARDUST
The Universe Today, 15 January 2001
[...]
(5) RUSSIA TO PROVIDE DETAILS ON DESTRUCTION OF MIR
Space Daily, 15 January 2001
[...]
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(2) SHOOTING STAR? KILLER SPACE ROCK? NO, JUST A LITTLE STARDUST
>From The Universe Today, 15 January 2001
http://www.universetoday.com/html/articles/2001-0115b.html
by Mark Perew
PASADENA, Calif. - Earth had a small visitor in the early hours of Monday
morning. At about 1115 GMT (3:15am PST), an object 5 metres long and
weighing roughly 385 kg hurtled 6,000 kms above the Indian Ocean off the tip
of Cape Horn. This wasn't a near miss by an Earth crossing asteroid. It was
the Stardust probe executing a flyby planned by the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory.
Launched just under two years ago, Stardust is NASA's Discovery mission to
bring miniscule bits of comet debris back to planet Earth. But, that event
won't happen for another five years. This morning's visit was just a quick
visit home to pick up more speed and put it on a better trajectory for the
comet it will sample in three years.
Comet Wild-2 is named for Swiss discoverer Paul Wild (pronounced 'vilt') who
located the comet in 1978. Wild-2 is currently out beyond the orbit of
Jupiter, just passed aphelion, the farthest point from the sun in its
eccentric orbit. Tracking backwards, astronomers determined that Wild-2 was
a newcomer to the inner solar system. Prior to 1974, Wild-2's orbit would
have been between Jupiter and Uranus, but a close encounter with Jupiter
severely altered its path and brought it inside the asteroid belt for the
first time.
This makes Wild-2 nearly pristine and of prime interest to scientists
wanting to know not only what comets are made of, but also what the solar
system was like in its early days. By the time Stardust arrives at Wild-2 on
January 2, 2004, the comet will have made only a handful of trips into the
inner solar system. Only a tiny fraction of its volatiles, such as water and
carbon dioxide, will have been lost to the interplanetary environment.
When Stardust and Wild-2 meet, the comet will be just slightly past its
perihelion where solar heating will cause gasses and particles to be ejected
from the comet's nucleus. Onboard Stardust an array of super lightweight
foam, called aerogel, will be deployed to catch microscopic particles
without damaging them. The aerogel has already been used once on this
mission to collect dust from the interstellar wind and will be used once
more for that purpose before the encounter with Wild-2.
All of this aerogel will be returned to Earth in almost exactly five years.
On its next swing by Earth, Stardust will eject its return canister which
will reenter the atmosphere. That .6 metre long, 45 kg canister will
parachute to a landing in Utah.
Stardust's return has been free of the protests, demonstrations and lawsuits
seen during the previous flybys of Galileo and Cassini. Since Stardust is
powered by large solar arrays, and not by plutonium based radioisotope
thermal generators, this flyby just hasn't created much of a sensation.
That doesn't mean that Stardust has been a perfect mission. A massive solar
flare last November hit Stardust with enough energy to make it see stars, or
in this case, stars that weren't really there. That caused the onboard
computer to become confused. Eventually the bogus stars faded from
Stardust's electronic eyes and the system is now in good shape.
You can track the position of Stardust at
http://stardust.jpl.nasadot gov/mission/scnow.html.
Mark Perew is a freelance writer, a member of the National Association of
Science Writers and a JPL Solar System Ambassador.
Copyright ) 1999-2000 Universe Today, All rights reserved.
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(5) RUSSIA TO PROVIDE DETAILS ON DESTRUCTION OF MIR
>From Space Daily, 15 January 2001
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/010112200912.h9hlisc5.html
MOSCOW (AFP) Jan 12, 2001
The Russian foreign ministry will provide governments around the world with
details when it starts destroying the Mir space station at the beginning of
March, the Russian space agency said on Friday.
The space agency and the foreign ministry have agreed that "complete
information about the project of destroying the station will be given to
countries concerned about it," agency spokesman Yuri Koptev told ITAR-TASS.
Two emergency teams that could be sent to the ageing space station began
simulation exercises at the cosmonaut training facility near Moscow on
Thursday.
Russia's space control centre lost contact with Mir for about 20 hours on
December 25, fuelling fears the laboratory could fall to Earth out of
control.
All rights reserved. ) 2000 Agence France-Presse
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