AstroNews February 2001

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Up This Month
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LOOK UP!
You probably heard about the NEAR Spacecraft landing on the asteroid EROS
just in time for Valentines Day. That's the first time a spacecraft has
landed on an asteroid. But more on Eros later. First lets see WHAT'S UP...

NIGHT SKY
~~~~~~~~~
Look UP tonight! Unless the clouds are thick you'll see super bright Venus
in the southwest (no, it's NOT A UFO).

In February the constellation Orion the hunter stands highest in the south
in early evening. To its upper right is the grouping of the planets Jupiter
and Saturn and the bright star Aldebaran. Remember that you can tell a star
from a planet by how much more it twinkles.

In the northeast the Big Dipper points the way to the North Star.

Need a SKY CHART? Try this one:
http://www.skypub.com/sights/northern/0102skyn.shtml
 

THE FIRST SPACE TOURIST
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the "FUTURE IS NOW" department, we have a California millionaire that
could be the first "space tourist" later this year. Dennis Tito plans to fly
on a multi-million dollar vacation in orbit at the end of April on a Russian
Soyuz rocket.

Tito, 60, has been in training for months at Star City, outside Moscow. Tito
is to blast off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with two Russian
cosmonauts. His visit to to the International Space Station is expected to
last for about 10 days.

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SETI@home V. 3.03 MANDATORY

SETI, or the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, is a scientific
effort aiming to determine if there is intelligent life out in the universe.
The SETI@home project uses your computer when you aren't using it to help
"…search out new life and new civilizations!"

Already hooked up with SETI@home? Get Version 3.03 now! Earlier versions are
not valid anymore, so upgrade to version 3.03!

Note to California Users: you are requested to shut off your computers
during Stage 2 and Stage 3 energy emergency alerts. Although SETI@home
represents a tiny fraction of the state's power use, we should do what we
can to conserve power when necessary.

GET SETI@home version 3.03:
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu

 

EROS THE GOD OF LOVE HAS A NEAR ENCOUNTER
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The asteroid Eros, named after the Greek god of love, had an encounter with
a spacecraft named NEAR, in time for Valentines Day! Eros is hurtling
through space about 100 million miles from Earth. Since Valentine's Day last
year, car sized NEAR spacecraft has circled closer and closer to Eros,
gathering data on the 21-mile-long space rock. Scientists now think that
Eros is a relic dating back to the formation of our solar system.

NEAR's historic soft landing on Eros (at about 4 mph it is one of the
slowest planetary landings in history) provided more scientific and
engineering information than expected from the carefully designed series of
descent maneuvers. Kind of like icing on the cake for an extremely
successful mission.

NEAR Website:
Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Mission

ET PHONE HOME!

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Listen up ET:
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Try the GLOBALCOM long distance services. Cheap long distance, calling
cards, callback service, and more telecommunication tidbits:

ASTROTIP

Here are the MARS links:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0102/feature2/
http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/?id=800
 

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DOES IT AGAIN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The National Geographic has plenty of exquisite maps. One of the most
popular ones is their STAR CHART. Now you can browse it online! Complete
with lots of wonderful photos from the Hubble Space Telescope. Another must
see!

Star Journey link:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/stars/

BARGAINS IN THE AMAZON

Using this link choose OUTLET from the Store Directory:

DISTANT DISCOVERIES

Launched in 1996, The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) robotic probe began MAPPING
MARS in 1999. The mission collected MORE INFORMATION about the red planet
than all previous missions combined!

The results included evidence suggesting WATER MAY HAVE FLOWED ON MARS,
possibly collecting in pools in the distant past. Some scientists theorize
that lakes and seas may have sustained martian life.

In an extended mission phase over the next 14 months the orbiting NASA craft
will do additional science work. MGS will study the planet's topography,
seasonal changes, and internal and atmospheric structures. It will also
scout out landing sites for future spacecraft.

The probe might even be around to relay commands to TWIN ROVERS slated to
land on the red planet in January 2004.

SPACE WALKIN' CENTENNIAL

Astronauts Tom Jones and Bob Curbeam took their third and final spacewalk of
this shuttle mission today. This marked the 100TH SPACEWALK for the American
space program dating back to Ed White's venture outside a Gemini capsule in
1965.

Read all about this mission here:
http://spaceflightnow.com/
 
 

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AstroNews is an electronic newsletter by Kahl Consultants. Stay abreast of astronomy and extraterrestrial news. 

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My god! It's full of stars!