cassinihuygens : Messages : 1622-1651 of 5747

Link, http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMO8G808BE_0.html

#1623 From: "SEAN." <seanzedd@...>
Date: Mon Aug 1, 2005 9:44 am
Subject: ESA special. Titan in 3D. seanzedd
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28 July 2005
Huygens probe scientists have produced this colour-coded animation which displays the heights of the highland terrain cut by dendritic channels near the Huygens landing site.

Although Huygens landed on Titan's surface on 14 January 2005, the data collected during its descent is still being processed, and more new views of this fascinating world are becoming available.

Further processing of the images and data returned from the Descent Imager Spectral Radiometer (DISR) instrument on Huygens has allowed scientists to produce a colour-coded stereo animated model of topography near the probe�s landing site.

The region pictured is approximately 1.5 by 3.5 kilometres and displays a maximum relative relief, or difference in heights, of between 150 and 200 metres. The blue and green areas are the lowest, with orange and red denoting the highest areas.

Enjoy,

SEAN.

#1624 From: "SEAN." <seanzedd@...>
Date: Mon Aug 1, 2005 12:04 pm
Subject: The best Enceladus article yet. seanzedd
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Hi All,

Our new Planet has knocked Enceladus off the news somewhat, but I think it's time to return to it with a vengeance. Some of the results returned from the latest fly-by are more than simply curious. They are fascinating, most especially around the South Pole area.

We can conclude that the surface is as young as a hundred million years. The earlier confusion when the VIMS did not detect an atmosphere was resolved by the UVIS during occultation by the Star Bellatrix, and confirmed by the INMS. The atmosphere was definitely there. It was the CIRS that located an enormous hot-spot in the same area, and it now seems that Enceladus has a local atmosphere at the South Pole only. Being so small, Enceladus simply does not have the gravity to hold an atmosphere, so whatever is causing it is recent.

Here's the really exciting bit. The CIRS found that the temperature is hottest along the tiger stripes. In fact, it's around 30K hotter than the surrounding area. This is significant. 140k is still cold, but a water/ammonia mix can exist as a liquid at this temperature. The possibilities of molecular interaction are high and so far, we have no idea if this has progressed to biological activity. We can only hope. Much of the data has yet to be studied and I'm sure there is more to come on this little moon.

Before this mission, I would have struggled to remember which Planet it was that Enceladus orbited. It's now the most exciting moon in the Solar System, behind Titan and Europa. It's such a shame we won't get back there for so long.

Link, http://www.planetary.org/news/2005/enceladus_active_0730.html

SEAN.

P.S. A list of all instruments and a summary of their functions can be found in the files area of the group. It's basic and copied entirely from the net, but it's good to know what each one is and what it looks for.

#1625 From: Chad Wilson <caeman@...>
Date: Mon Aug 1, 2005 12:21 pm
Subject: Kuiper Belt Exploration caeman
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So, oh gurus of everything aerospace, is there a project in the planning stages
(or even the theory stages) of sending out a kuiper belt exploration probe?

-w

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=NHORIZONS

#1626 From: "SEAN." <seanzedd@...>
Date: Mon Aug 1, 2005 12:27 pm
Subject: Re: [Cassini Huygens] Kuiper Belt Exploration seanzedd
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Chad,

Have a look here,

And while your there, check this one too,

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/projects.html

Enjoy,

SEAN.

----- Original Message -----

From: Chad Wilson

To: cassinihuygens@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Monday, August 01, 2005 1:21 PM

Subject: [Cassini Huygens] Kuiper Belt Exploration

So, oh gurus of everything aerospace, is there a project in the planning stages (or even the theory stages) of sending out a kuiper belt exploration probe? -w

> http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=NHORIZONS

#1627 From: "Arthur Lortie" <alortie@...>
Date: Mon Aug 1, 2005 1:52 pm
Subject: RE: [Cassini Huygens] Kuiper Belt Exploration neversurrender8
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SEAN [whose links have forced me to abandon the sports pages. At least both baseball teams and the solar system have 9 players] sez:

> Have a look here,

There are days when even the 3rd cup [pot?] of coffee doesn't help.

I circulated this to folks who care and got bombarded with questions I can't answer. I'd hate to have to wait for the Daily Mirror's interpretation, so:

"The primary objectives are to characterize the ... neutral atmosphere of Pluto and its escape rate." -- Now I've heard the term "neutral atmosphere" in regards to hot air ballooning [temp of the hot air balloon is the same as the surrounding atmosphere], but how does this apply to Pluto / Charon? And their atmosphere is escaping?? I [incorrectly?] interprete this to mean thermal mapping of the atmosphere and HEAT escape? [yes -- I've googled. No help.]

"the mission is now expected to have enough plutonium to achieve all science goals" -- ironic we're using plutonium to go to Pluto. The real question though is: is this the first spacecraft to be powered by radioactive material? I recall the high security measures when this supply was transported to Melbourne earlier this year and that was the first time I had noticed such a high profile security event like that.

And finally: have Voyager or Pioneer taken "unusual" measurements in the Belt?

Arthur Lortie
16 Adams Street #3
Taunton, MA 02780-2504
USA

ALortie@...
508-828-5821

Flash Gordon column: http://www.perpetualcomics.com/column.asp?colid=350
International Flash Gordon books:
http://www.keefestudios.com/flashfile/story.html

Web site: Stookie Allen's Men of Daring: http://personal.tmlp.com/alortie/MenOfDaringBook.html
Web site: Frank Godwin's Connie: http://personal.tmlp.com/alortie/Connie.htm
Web site: Russ Winterbotham / Art Sansom's Chris Welkin:
http://personal.tmlp.com/alortie/ChrisWelkin.htm
Web site: Strip indexes: http://personal.tmlp.com/alortie/indexes/

"H. G. Wells did not invent the future, but he tried." - Joel Achenbach

#1628 From: Roger Bagula <rlbagula@...>
Date: Mon Aug 1, 2005 2:51 pm
Subject: SPACE.com -- Superfast VASIMR Rocket in Funding Limbo rlbagula@...
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http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/vasimr_rocket_020807-1.html
Superfast VASIMR Rocket in Funding Limbo
By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
posted: 07:00 am ET
07 August 2002

Trimming travel time between Earth and various space targets is crucial to keeping human and robotic surveys of the solar system prospering into the 21^st Century.

Faster rockets cut back on an astronaut's radiation intake. Being a space speedster may also reduce loss of bone and muscle mass, as well as limit circulatory changes due to prolonged microgravity exposure.

One approach to express lane rocketry is tagged the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR). With VASIMR's oomph, a 10-month one-way trek to Mars -- the standard assumed for today's chemical rockets -- would be reduced to just four months.

Research on this high-tech propulsion method has turned controversial, however. VASIMR supporters see dream machinery in the making. Other propulsion experts claim the engine delivers more hype than hypervelocity.

The project was nearly scrapped several weeks ago, much to the chagrin of a NASA astronaut in charge of the effort. For now, VASIMR has received a stay of execution.

VASIMR 101

Work on VASIMR is ongoing at the Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC). The laboratory was anchored at JSC in December 1993.

The lab director is NASA astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz, a long-time plasma rocket believer who has been hard at work on the idea since 1979. He holds a doctorate in applied plasma physics and fusion technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Despite shoestring budgets, VASIMR is a stay-the-course labor of love for Chang-Diaz and his colleagues.

"I don't want to change anything right now," Chang-Diaz told SPACE.com. "We have an outstanding team that is growing by the minute. The results that are coming out of the experiment at this moment are awesome. Everybody is excited about what we're doing."

The concept first jelled at Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, then was picked up at the MIT Plasma Fusion Center before moving to JSC.

A VASIMR rocket system consists of three major magnetic cells denoted as "forward," "central" and "aft." To get the rocket roaring, a neutral gas, typically hydrogen, is first injected at the forward-end cell of the motor and ionized. This electrically charged gas is then heated to create a desired density in the engine's central cell.

The heating is done by the action of electromagnetic waves, similar to what happens in a microwave oven.

After heating, the plasma -- essentially a superheated gas -- enters a two-stage hybrid nozzle at the aft-end cell. Here the plasma detaches from the magnetic field and is exhausted to provide "modulated" thrust. This VASIMR configuration guides and controls the plasma over a wide range of temperatures and densities.

Fourth state of matter

The real plus for this propulsion technology is being able to vary or modulate the plasma exhaust while maintaining maximum power. This technique works like the function of the transmission in a conventional automobile. That is, you have engine power either for speed when driving on a level highway or for torque over hilly terrain.

Two parameters are varied during a typical engine operation: thrust and the velocity of the particles being exhausted. This latter factor is called the specific impulse. As a VASIMR ship accelerates on its journey, the thrust decreases and the specific impulse increases. The opposite is true as the ship slows down at its destination.

The end product from VASIMR is a plasma exhaust. Plasma is often called the fourth state of matter and is common to the Sun's atmosphere, among other places.

Chang-Diaz terms VASIMR "a power-rich, fast-propulsion architecture" that could lead to fusion rockets.

Go with gusto

The VASIMR wonder rocket is chock-full of technology. Its high-tech innards involve superconducting magnets working at space temperatures; tightly packaged power generation and conditioning gear; compact and robust radio frequency systems; a hybrid magnetic nozzle; and lightweight heat shields and cooling technology.

Along with Johnson Space Center experts, VASIMR's talent pool draws from seven universities and two national laboratories, such as MIT, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Rice University and the University of Texas at Austin.

"It's an expanding research effort," Chang-Diaz said. "We're developing something that is very new and very different from the established electric propulsion framework."

One VASIMR study hypothesized using a 200-megawatt nuclear power system. The result, he added, showed that 20 metric tons could be delivered to Mars in 39 days.

"Now that's the way you want to go," Chang-Diaz said. "Astronauts will really warm up to that idea very quickly. So if you're going to go nuclear, go all the way. Go with the gusto."

Staying alive

Ballistic bravado aside, VASIMR faces a funding challenge to stay alive.

In 22 years of working on the project, finding money has always been an ongoing wrangle, Chang-Diaz admitted. "But it seems to be more of a struggle now for some reason. Our funding right now is our major limitation. That has become pretty clear."

To run the JSC Advanced Propulsion Laboratory takes on the order of $1.4 million a year. That budget includes an entire team of some 50 scientists from all over the United States, Chang-Diaz said.

Loads of small visionary projects vie for small pots of NASA's advanced propulsion money. There are lots of mouths to feed, the astronaut said, keeping everybody on a starvation diet. Not a very conducive scenario for people to work together, he said, and that tends to polarize propulsion groups.

Critics corner

VASIMR seems to be as polarized as any technology at JSC. Mention the project to certain propulsion specialists and you get instant lip-biting.

It's clear there are two camps of thought about VASIMR. The classical electric propulsion community, responsible for engines like the ion thruster used in Deep Space 1, generally feels there are fundamental flaws that will prevent the VASIMR engine from performing as purported. Then there's the cadre of high-energy plasma experts that disagree with them.

For instance, one space propulsion expert critical of VASIMR observed that for the thruster to be useful for a human mission to Mars it needs four to six megawatts of power. This amount of power can only come from a very large on-board nuclear reactor. That hardware does not exist, and probably will not exist for quite some time, the expert told SPACE.com.

Chang-Diaz said he's heard the caustic comments before. "There's a whole group of people who see it completely different than the critics. We have people in the nuclear engineering community that are very supportive of our effort," he said.

"One of the greatest criticisms that we had over the years was that the VASIMR magnets were too heavy," Chang-Diaz noted. "We now have magnets that are 30 times lighter, and they are fully superconducting. We just started testing our first high-temperature, superconducting magnet. People are beginning to see that the technology does make sense."

That said, VASIMR is still a work in progress, the astronaut explained. "There's a lot of physics that is not yet known," he said. "Even the people in the fusion community are coming to our aid to help us decipher the problems. I'm happy to see that happening now."

In-space testing

One way to make good on the promise of VASIMR is through in-space testing.

This week, Chang-Diaz heads for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. He is proposing that a multi-propulsion platform be attached to the International Space Station.

"We could test every one of the electric propulsion concepts that are on the table now, using the station as a laboratory," Chang-Diaz said. Doing so could save money and provide other benefits. Using vacuum test chambers on the ground is expensive. Further, each chamber has a mind of its own, introducing effects that can mask true levels of engine performance, he said.

Testing the VASIMR engine and its electric propulsion kin on the station would also help solve a serious and continuing problem up there -- reboosting the orbiting outpost into its proper position now and then after the atmosphere pulls it down.

"You'd be pushing on the station and overcoming the drag of the atmosphere," the astronaut said, adding that the process would create a more favorable level of microgravity for onboard science experiments.

A veteran of seven space shuttle flights, Chang-Diaz spotlights the utility of the giant complex: "The station is a beautiful laboratory. I was there. I saw it on the outside too. The station is something we can really take advantage of right now."

Nudging a nuisance

VASIMR is being looked at as candidate technology for other missions as well.

Last year, Chang-Diaz took part in a workshop on deflecting asteroids. Held at JSC, the workshop's goal was to brainstorm scenarios for altering an asteroid's orbit, perhaps using VASIMR powered by nuclear reactor.

The gathering included asteroid experts, engineers, current and former astronauts, and a Deep Space Network executive. Several participants advocated a nuclear electric plasma rocket as the best choice for a first demonstration mission.

How best to couple the engine to an asteroid was discussed. By exerting a continuous force -- on the order of one Newton, typical for a plasma engine powered by a 100-kilowatt electric source -- driving an asteroid was described as pushing a beach ball across a swimming pool using your nose.

Any asteroid deflection test using the rocket has spinoff advantages too.

For one, such a shakeout would be useful in flight-qualifying the technology for a suite of other missions, from supporting human flight to Mars to a fast-track flight to Pluto and beyond, into the Kuiper Belt.

Asteroid deflection work

A strong supporter of VASIMR is astronaut John Young, noting that the engine is ideal for planetary defense work. "This is new progress," Young said. "It's a great motor."

Young said JSC experts and others have begun discussing the idea of using VASIMR to shove a 230-foot (70-meter) asteroid around. Such practice runs could help hone scientists' ability to nudge potentially Earth-threatening asteroids out of harms way in the future, he said.

No asteroids are known to be on collision courses with Earth, but many experts have said planning should begin now for a method to destroy or deflect one that might one day be found to target the planet.

Young said VASIMR had its own near miss when the project was nearly cancelled. As Chang-Diaz and other crewmembers sat tucked inside Endeavour ready to start STS-111's climb toward the International Space Station in early June, NASA managers were ready to close down the project.

"The day he was going to launch they were going to shut his motor down and take away his people working on it," Young said. VASIMR was saved, but the project was given funding just through the rest of the year, he said.

"I think it's the motor that we ought to have," Young said. "If we're seriously talking about deflecting asteroids, that's the motor that will do it."

Eternal optimist

Protecting Earth from asteroids. Sending humans Marsward. Dispatching spacecraft outward into the depths of space -- these and other missions are constructive ways of using VASIMR technology, Chang-Diaz said.

VASIMR's promising attributes continue to be on trial. Future funding is in question, with the novel contraption entering a NASA limbo land of peer review later this year.

A thumbs-up would likely mean more cash would be pumped VASIMR's way to help harness the technology.

"We have been reviewed before. We'll do our best and go along. This is the way the game is played. And we want to be part of the team," Chang-Diaz said.

"I'm an eternal optimist," he concluded.

-- Roger L. Bagula { email: rlbagula@... or rlbagulatftn@... } 11759 Waterhill Road, Lakeside, Ca. 92040 telephone: 619-561-0814

#1629 From: Roger Bagula <rlbagula@...>
Date: Mon Aug 1, 2005 3:01 pm
Subject: Coalition for Plasma Science - Plasma Page December 2003 rlbagula@...
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http://www.plasmacoalition.org/plasma_pages/pp_dec2003.htm

Astronaut Chang-Diaz Wins Discover Magazine Award

NASA Astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz has won Discover magazine's 2003 Innovation Award for Space Science and Technology, in the Space Explorer category. Chang-Diaz, a plasma physicist and world-class rocket propulsion scientist, spoke about using plasma for space travel at a CPS Congressional Luncheon in March 2001. The prestigious awards are to be announced in the magazine's November issue.

These 14th annual awards honor scientists whose work has benefited the space program and all humanity. The Innovation Awards for Space Science and Technology are presented in the categories of Space Explorer, Communications, Space Scientists, Technology for Humanity, and Aerospace.

Chang-Diaz is a veteran of seven space flights, a record he shares with one other astronaut. He also is director of the Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. There he and his team are developing the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) Engine, a concept that may eventually enable humans to explore more distant parts of our solar system and perhaps beyond.

Chang-Diaz describes VASIMR as a system using radio waves that heat rocket fuel - in this case hydrogen - to super hot temperatures. "Rockets tend to work much better the hotter the exhaust is and the plasma allows you to go to temperatures (of) millions of degrees rather than thousands of degrees (as) in a conventional rocket engine," he said.

Thrust from the plasma engine could boost a spacecraft for a longer time and with better efficiency than conventional engines.

The heart of VASIMR is three magnetic cells that ionize the feed gas, heat the resulting plasma, and direct the plasma flow.

A key feature of the plasma engine is its ability to throttle the plasma, which allows it to increase or decrease in thrust when needed to enter or escape a planet's gravity. This is analogous to a car using a lower gear to climb a hill, then shifting to a higher gear on the open highway.

Born and raised in Costa Rica, Chang-Diaz came to the United States after graduating from high school in his native country in 1967. He arrived in Connecticut speaking no English and with only $50 in his pocket.

Chang-Diaz describes VASIMR as a system using radio waves that heat rocket He graduated from Hartford (Conn.) High School in 1969 and earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Connecticut in 1973. Chang-Diaz got his Ph.D. in applied plasma physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977. He later worked in the nation's controlled fusion program.

He became an astronaut in August 1981. His first space flight, in January 1986, was a satellite deployment and research mission. His most recent flight was an International Space Station assembly and crew exchange mission in June 2002. He made three spacewalks during that flight.

For more information on Chang-Diaz: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/plasma_propulsion_000616.html

-- Roger L. Bagula { email: rlbagula@... or rlbagulatftn@... } 11759 Waterhill Road, Lakeside, Ca. 92040 telephone: 619-561-0814

http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eph

#1630 From: "SEAN." <seanzedd@...>
Date: Mon Aug 1, 2005 4:59 pm
Subject: Re: [Cassini Huygens] New Planet orbit map? seanzedd
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Matias/All,

I just found some extra information,

Here's some results from the Ephemeris generator.

See the search page here.

http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eph#sb

2003 UB313 is listed under small bodies.

SEAN.

----- Original Message -----

From: Mat�as Ni�o ListMail

To: cassinihuygens@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Sunday, July 31, 2005 9:31 PM

Subject: [Cassini Huygens] New Planet orbit map?

Anyone manage to find an orbital map yet of the new planet? M.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons

#1631 From: "SEAN." <seanzedd@...>
Date: Mon Aug 1, 2005 6:01 pm
Subject: Re: [Cassini Huygens] Kuiper Belt Exploration seanzedd
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Arthur,

'Glad you enjoyed the links. You can spend hours on the mission page alone.

The New Horizons objectives are listed as follows,

New Horizons: Mission Objectives

Map surface composition of Pluto and Charon
Characterize geology and morphology ("the look") of Pluto and Charon
Characterize the neutral atmosphere of Pluto and its escape rate
Search for an atmosphere around Charon
Map surface temperatures on Pluto and Charon
Search for rings and additional satellites around Pluto
PLUS... conduct similar investigations of one or more Kuiper Belt Objects

The term "neutral atmosphere" is repeated in Wikipedia here,

While I'm unsure what the "neutral" reference means exactly, I'm sure they will be looking for composition, thermal structure, and aerosol particles. Let me revert here to copy and paste.

"Characterization of Pluto’s neutral atmosphere and its escape rate will be accomplished by: (i) PERSI/ALICE ultraviolet airglow and solar occultation spectra to determine the mole fractions of N₂, CH₄, CO and Ar to 1% in total mixing ratio and to determine the temperature structure in the upper atmosphere, (ii) REX radio occultations at both Pluto and Charon, measuring the density/temperature structure of Pluto’s neutral atmosphere to the surface, (iii) PAM/SWAP and PAM/PEPSSI in situ determination of the atmospheric escape rate by measuring Pluto pickup ions, and (iv) PERSI/ALICE H Lyα mapping of the Pluto-Charon system in order to determine the rate of Roche-lobe flow of atmosphere from Pluto to Charon. Searches for atmospheres around Charon and KBOs will be made using PERSI/ALICE with both airglow and solar occultation techniques. "

Link,

http://www.roe.ac.uk/~jkd/kbo_proc/spencer_stern.doc

Your next question "The real question though is: is this the first spacecraft to be powered by radioactive material?"

Cassini uses a RTG generator for power. See it here,

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/images/rtgcutout.jpg

and read it here,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator

I'm not sure what you mean by "unusual measurements in the belt" by Voyager and Pioneer.

As far as I know, they turned up little of any great interest in the Kuiper belt. In this, I could well be wrong.

Sincerely,

SEAN.

----- Original Message -----

From: Arthur Lortie

To: cassinihuygens@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Monday, August 01, 2005 2:52 PM

Subject: RE: [Cassini Huygens] Kuiper Belt Exploration

SEAN [whose links have forced me to abandon the sports pages. At least both baseball teams and the solar system have 9 players] sez:

> Have a look here,

> http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=NHORIZONS

There are days when even the 3rd cup [pot?] of coffee doesn't help.

I circulated this to folks who care and got bombarded with questions I can't answer. I'd hate to have to wait for the Daily Mirror's interpretation, so:

"The primary objectives are to characterize the ... neutral atmosphere of Pluto and its escape rate." -- Now I've heard the term "neutral atmosphere" in regards to hot air ballooning [temp of the hot air balloon is the same as the surrounding atmosphere], but how does this apply to Pluto / Charon? And their atmosphere is escaping?? I [incorrectly?] interprete this to mean thermal mapping of the atmosphere and HEAT escape? [yes -- I've googled. No help.]

"the mission is now expected to have enough plutonium to achieve all science goals" -- ironic we're using plutonium to go to Pluto. The real question though is: is this the first spacecraft to be powered by radioactive material? I recall the high security measures when this supply was transported to Melbourne earlier this year and that was the first time I had noticed such a high profile security event like that.

And finally: have Voyager or Pioneer taken "unusual" measurements in the Belt?

Arthur Lortie

#1632 From: "Arthur Lortie" <alortie@...>
Date: Mon Aug 1, 2005 9:09 pm
Subject: RE: [Cassini Huygens] Kuiper Belt Exploration neversurrender8
Send Email

SEAN sez:

> While I'm unsure what the "neutral" reference means exactly,

> I'm sure they will be looking for composition, thermal structure,

> and aerosol particles.

Yep. That was my assumption also.

Anybody else know what a "neutral atmosphere" is? I like how it showed up in the opening paragraph of the news item like its meaning was obvious.

> I'm not sure what you mean by "unusual measurements in the

> belt" by Voyager and Pioneer.

> As far as I know, they turned up little of any great interest

> in the Kuiper belt. In this, I could well be wrong.

By "unusual", I just meant anything that would show up on the Voyager / Pioneer sensors that would indicate they had entered the Oort cloud or if there was anything "different" about that region of space.

#1633 From: Chad Wilson <caeman@...>
Date: Mon Aug 1, 2005 9:51 pm
Subject: RE: [Cassini Huygens] Kuiper Belt Exploration caeman
Send Email

Well, I knew about the New Horizons, but its trajectory won't accomplish quite
what I was hoping for.  I was hoping for a probe that would remain in the KB
orbit.

-w

#1634 From: Roger Bagula <rlbagula@...>
Date: Tue Aug 2, 2005 2:09 am
Subject: Re: [Cassini Huygens] Kuiper Belt Exploration rlbagula@...
Send Email

By neutral atmosphere they seem to mean atmosphere below
any ionized gas belts and any ionosphere ( un-ionized atmosphere).
Pluto being relatively small and very cold, there are not very many gases as candidates.
The atmosphere may only be very close to the ground and on the sunny side of the planet?
With small planets in the Mars mass range only fairly heavy gases like CO2 remain
and that mostly because it freezes.
Arthur Lortie wrote:

Message
SEAN sez:

> While I'm unsure what the "neutral" reference means exactly,

> I'm sure they will be looking for composition, thermal structure,

> and aerosol particles.

Yep. That was my assumption also.

Anybody else know what a "neutral atmosphere" is? I like how it showed up in the opening paragraph of the news item like its meaning was obvious.

> I'm not sure what you mean by "unusual measurements in the

> belt" by Voyager and Pioneer.

> As far as I know, they turned up little of any great interest

> in the Kuiper belt. In this, I could well be wrong.

By "unusual", I just meant anything that would show up on the Voyager / Pioneer sensors that would indicate they had entered the Oort cloud or if there was anything "different" about that region of space.

Arthur Lortie
16 Adams Street #3
Taunton, MA 02780-2504
USA

ALortie@...
508-828-5821

Flash Gordon column: http://www.perpetualcomics.com/column.asp?colid=350
International Flash Gordon books:
http://www.keefestudios.com/flashfile/story.html

Web site: Stookie Allen's Men of Daring: http://personal.tmlp.com/alortie/MenOfDaringBook.html
Web site: Frank Godwin's Connie: http://personal.tmlp.com/alortie/Connie.htm
Web site: Russ Winterbotham / Art Sansom's Chris Welkin:
http://personal.tmlp.com/alortie/ChrisWelkin.htm
Web site: Strip indexes: http://personal.tmlp.com/alortie/indexes/

"H. G. Wells did not invent the future, but he tried." - Joel Achenbach

-- Roger L. Bagula { email: rlbagula@... or rlbagulatftn@... } 11759 Waterhill Road, Lakeside, Ca. 92040 telephone: 619-561-0814

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/1999/AllisonMak.shtml

#1635 From: Roger Bagula <rlbagula@...>
Date: Tue Aug 2, 2005 2:13 am
Subject: Mass of Pluto rlbagula@...
Send Email

Mass of Pluto

The Physics Factbook
Edited by Glenn Elert -- Written by his students
An educational, fair use website

Bibliographic Entry	Result (w/surrounding text)	Standardized Result
Kerrold, Robin. The Heavens. Chicago: Fetzer, 1991: 143.	"Mass of Pluto (earth = 1), 0.002(?)"	0.002 earth masses
The Dorling-Kindersley Science Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling-Kindersley, 1993: 418.	"Mass (earth = 1) Pluto = 0.002"	0.002 earth masses
Hoyt, William Graves. Planets X and Pluto. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona, 1980: 221.	"Mass of Pluto <0.7 (1930) (Published by Crommelin in 1931)"	0.7 earth masses
Cook, A. H. Physics of The Earth and Planets. New York: Wiley, 1973: 260.	"Pluto = 6.6 x 10²³ kg"	0.01 earth masses
Sagan, Carl & Leonard, Jonathan N. Planets. New York: Time, 1966: 193.	"Pluto = 0.8 (approx.) (mass relative to earth)"	0.8 earth masses

Pluto is the smallest, furthest, and lightest planet in the solar system. It is so small and faint that it is only distinguished from a star by its motion. It is so light that it is unlikely that much of an atmosphere can exist around the planet. Because of this, observations of Pluto are subject to considerable inaccuracy. It was revealed by more recent sources that Pluto has a mass of 0.002 times that of the Earth. The latest estimates of Pluto's mass are based on observations of the orbital motion of Charon (Pluto's moon). Previous measurements based on the deviations of Uranus and Neptune from their orbital paths were much larger (up to 0.8 earth masses). From these observations, it is difficult to say what the mass of Pluto really is. Even to estimate it from an average would be difficult because the masses found in different sources are so different from each other.

Allison Mak -- 1999

-- Roger L. Bagula { email: rlbagula@... or rlbagulatftn@... } 11759 Waterhill Road, Lakeside, Ca. 92040 telephone: 619-561-0814

http://frank.harvard.edu/~howard/planets/pluto_mass.html

#1636 From: Roger Bagula <rlbagula@...>
Date: Tue Aug 2, 2005 2:15 am
Subject: On the mass of Pluto rlbagula@...
Send Email

On the mass of Pluto:

I recently made a plot of the masses and orbital radii of the known planets -- both extrasolar and those in the Solar System. I looked up Pluto's mass in two books, and the reported values differed by almost an order of magnitude -- 0.0023 versus 0.02561 Earth masses!

Shocked, shocked, I looked up the mass in every appropriate book on my shelf. Here's the data:

	Pluto's Mass (M_E)  Source
	******************************************************************************************
	0.9		    Astrophysical Quantities (Allen - 1955)
	0.002		    The Evolving Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy (Goldsmith - 1982)
	0.0023		    The Physical Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy (Shu - 1982)
	0.02561		    Astrophysical Data: Planets & Stars (Lang - 1992)
	0.0018		    Intro to Astronomy & Astrophysics (Zelik & Gregory - 1998)
	0.0025		    Astronomy: From the Earth to the Universe (Pasachoff - 1998)
	0.002200	    Allen's Astrophysical Quantities (Cox - 2000)
	0.0022		    Life in the Universe (Bennett, Shostak & Jakosky - 2003)

I also have a copy of The Planetary Science Companion, by Lodders & Fegley (1998). It cites actual papers with measurements, so it seems like a good source. It points out that "Pluto's mass" is not well defined. Do you include the mass of its moon, Charon, which is about 10-15% of the total mass? Here's some data from this book:

	System mass (M_E)	Pluto's mass (M_E)	Reference
	*********************************************************
	0.002471 +/- 0.000030	0.002200 +/- 0.000030	[NO96]
	0.002462 +/- 0.000003	0.002218 +/- 0.000119	[TB97]
	0.002397 +/- 0.000022	0.002072 +/- 0.000020	[YOE94]

	[NO96] = Null & Owen (1996), Astron. J. 111, 1368-1381.
	[TB97] = Tholen & Buie (1997), Icarus 125, 245-260.
	[YOE94] = Young, Olkin, Elliot, Tholen & Buie (1994), Icarus 108, 186-199.

So, it seems that 0.02561 Earth masses was a misprint in Astrophysical Data: Planets & Stars. With such an error, the extra decimal places look silly -- you know those astronomers: often in error, but never in doubt.

-- Roger L. Bagula { email: rlbagula@... or rlbagulatftn@... } 11759 Waterhill Road, Lakeside, Ca. 92040 telephone: 619-561-0814

#1637 From: craig@...
Date: Tue Aug 2, 2005 3:28 am
Subject: Titan Seashore Mosaic craigcarmich...
Send Email

Hi,

Here's a little mosaic I've done of some Titan seashore, with the original image sizes and no rotations, to retain full land details. I colorized the sky and sea. I doubt the colors are accurate. Coloring the land looked like a very big, very speculative project - maybe another time.

With blah blah blah: http://www.saers.com/~craig/TitanShorelineColorized.html

Without blah blah blah: http://www.saers.com/~craig/TitanSeashoreColorizedClip.jpg

Cheers,

Craig

#1638 From: "Hossein Javadi" <javadi_hossein@...>
Date: Mon Aug 1, 2005 5:32 pm
Subject: Re: [Cassini Huygens] New Planet orbit map? amir_javadi4
Send Email

Dear SEAN

Greetings;

Thank you for interesting news about new Planet.

Sincerely

Hossein Javadi

----- Original Message -----

From: SEAN.

To: cassinihuygens@yahoogroupscom

Sent: Monday, August 01, 2005 9:29 PM

Subject: Re: [Cassini Huygens] New Planet orbit map?

Matias/All,

I just found some extra information,

Here's some results from the Ephemeris generator.

http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eph

See the search page here.

http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eph#sb

2003 UB313 is listed under small bodies.

SEAN.

----- Original Message -----

From: Mat�as Ni�o ListMail

To: cassinihuygens@yahoogroupscom

Sent: Sunday, July 31, 2005 9:31 PM

Subject: [Cassini Huygens] New Planet orbit map?

Anyone manage to find an orbital map yet of the new planet? M.

#1639 From: "SEAN." <seanzedd@...>
Date: Tue Aug 2, 2005 4:45 am
Subject: Re: [Cassini Huygens] Kuiper Belt Exploration seanzedd
Send Email

Roger,

This makes sense. Thanks a lot for your explanation.

Sincerely,

SEAN.

----- Original Message -----

From: Roger Bagula

To: cassinihuygens@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, August 02, 2005 3:09 AM

Subject: Re: [Cassini Huygens] Kuiper Belt Exploration

By neutral atmosphere they seem to mean atmosphere below
any ionized gas belts and any ionosphere ( un-ionized atmosphere).
Pluto being relatively small and very cold, there are not very many gases as candidates.
The atmosphere may only be very close to the ground and on the sunny side of the planet?
With small planets in the Mars mass range only fairly heavy gases like CO2 remain
and that mostly because it freezes.

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07554

#1640 From: "SEAN." <seanzedd@...>
Date: Tue Aug 2, 2005 4:51 am
Subject: Rhea's Bright Blemish seanzedd
Send Email

Rhea's Bright Blemish
August 1, 2005

This view of Saturn's moon Rhea shows the tremendous bright splat that coats much of the moon's leading hemisphere. The bright feature may be impact-related and is visible in other Cassini images of Rhea (see Diversity of Impacts ). Rhea is 1,528 kilometers (949 miles) across.
North on Rhea is up in this view.

The image was taken in visible green light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 25, 2005, at a distance of approximately 1.1 million kilometers (700,000 miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of less than one degree. Resolution in the original image was 7 kilometers (4 miles) per pixel. The image has been contrast-enhanced and magnified by a factor of two to aid visibility.

Link,

#1641 From: Rob Sander <yosemiterob@...>
Date: Tue Aug 2, 2005 7:37 am
Subject: Re: [Cassini Huygens] Kuiper Belt Exploration yosemiterob
Send Email

Yes, from my understanding the New Horizons mission to Pluto is also suppose to study a Kuiper Belt object.

Rob

Chad Wilson <caeman@...> wrote:

So, oh gurus of everything aerospace, is there a project in the planning stages (or even the theory stages) of sending out a kuiper belt exploration probe? -w

**************

The following excerpt appeares in FIRE OFFICER'S GUIDE TO DISASTER CONTROL Chapter 13 approved by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Act).

"Near approaches of UFOs can be harmful to human beings. Do not stand under a UFO that is hovering at low altitude. Do not touch or attempt to touch a UFO that has landed. In either case the safe thing to do is to get away from there very quickly and let the military take over. There is a possibility of radiation danger and there are known cases where persons have been burned by rays emanating from UFOs. Don't take chances with UFO's!"
**Do not under any circumstance trust GRAY ALIENS or GEORGE BUSH!

Do you Yahoo!?
Read only the mail you want - Yahoo! Mail SpamGuard.

#1642 From: "Arthur Lortie" <alortie@...>
Date: Tue Aug 2, 2005 12:43 pm
Subject: RE: [Cassini Huygens] On the mass of Pluto neversurrender8
Send Email

Roger Bagula sez:
> I recently made a plot of the masses and orbital radii of the known

> planets -- both extrasolar and those in the Solar System.

Great! Then you'll know:

At http://exoplanets.org/ , are they using a different definition of "day"?

> I looked up Pluto's mass in two books, and the reported values differed

> by almost an order of magnitude -- 0.0023 versus 0.02561 Earth masses!

Great job. Try that with minor planets sometime if you want to be further amazed at published inconsistencies.

In the newspaper articles I posted, Pluto was first estimated to be "bigger than Jupiter" [based on perturbations of Neptune]. Albedo calculations downgraded it to earth size, where it remained until 1978. The discovery of Charon reduced it to Mercury sized. All other adjustments were due to refinements of G, c, and orbital data. [but those typos will drive you nuts!]

The SPICE data that we were pointed to before [presumably "official" JPL data] unfortunately omits Pluto

#1643 From: Roger Bagula <rlbagula@...>
Date: Tue Aug 2, 2005 2:35 pm
Subject: Re: [Cassini Huygens] On the mass of Pluto rlbagula@...
Send Email

Dear Arthur Lortie,
I did a search for the mass of Pluto: I found the link given and gave what was said at that link by some Harvard fellow.
He used "I" , not me in this case.
As for "me" I have remembered that it has been said that they only found Pluto because it moves out of the plane of the elliptic
and is more visible at a long distance. It appears to be more of a small asteriod/ planetiod like object.
When they found it they stopped searching, but that actually massive object that was
causing the calculations to have "bumps" hadn't been found.
We are, now, aware of that large group of new ring like material left over from the formation of the
solar system. This new tenth planet is only one of the planetiods that escaped detection about 100 years ago
when Ploto was found.
As to the definition of a "day" for a planet, they usually mean how long it takes the planet to rotate on it's axis once.
For instance: the Martian day is very close to 24 hours although it's year is nearly twice the Earth's year.
Arthur Lortie wrote:

Message
Roger Bagula sez:
> I recently made a plot of the masses and orbital radii of the known

> planets -- both extrasolar and those in the Solar System.

Great! Then you'll know:

At http://exoplanets.org/ , are they using a different definition of "day"?

> I looked up Pluto's mass in two books, and the reported values differed

> by almost an order of magnitude -- 0.0023 versus 0.02561 Earth masses!

Great job. Try that with minor planets sometime if you want to be further amazed at published inconsistencies.

In the newspaper articles I posted, Pluto was first estimated to be "bigger than Jupiter" [based on perturbations of Neptune]. Albedo calculations downgraded it to earth size, where it remained until 1978. The discovery of Charon reduced it to Mercury sized. All other adjustments were due to refinements of G, c, and orbital data. [but those typos will drive you nuts!]

The SPICE data that we were pointed to before [presumably "official" JPL data] unfortunately omits Pluto

Arthur Lortie
16 Adams Street #3
Taunton, MA 02780-2504
USA

ALortie@...
508-828-5821

Flash Gordon column: http://www.perpetualcomics.com/column.asp?colid=350
International Flash Gordon books:
http://www.keefestudios.com/flashfile/story.html

Web site: Stookie Allen's Men of Daring: http://personal.tmlp.com/alortie/MenOfDaringBook.html
Web site: Frank Godwin's Connie: http://personal.tmlp.com/alortie/Connie.htm
Web site: Russ Winterbotham / Art Sansom's Chris Welkin:
http://personal.tmlp.com/alortie/ChrisWelkin.htm
Web site: Strip indexes: http://personal.tmlp.com/alortie/indexes/

"H. G. Wells did not invent the future, but he tried." - Joel Achenbach

-- Roger L. Bagula { email: rlbagula@... or rlbagulatftn@... } 11759 Waterhill Road, Lakeside, Ca. 92040 telephone: 619-561-0814

#1644 From: Roger Bagula <rlbagula@...>
Date: Tue Aug 2, 2005 2:40 pm
Subject: Andrew Howard's useful, unusual, and amusing stuff rlbagula@...
Send Email

Notice that Andrew Howard of Harvard has a link: Plots of Extrasolar Planets' Properties
http://frank.harvard.edu/~howard/
ANDREW HOWARD'S useful, unusual, and amusing stuff:

PERSONAL STUFF:

RECENT STUFF:

My Electoral College Simulator -- model the election using current polling data
My work at photo.net
Dan and Weeze's Wedding!!!
Frances Humphrey Howard (1914-2002), my grandmother
Photos from Germany and Prague, Sept/Oct 2003
My GPS-logged bicycle routes in the Boston-area
Photos from Germany and Switzerland, April 2003
The Brights -- articles by Daniel Dennett and Richard Dawkins; the-brights.net
Article about my Dad
Stanford Photo collection, 2001-2002
Photos from Dudley House Crew races
Relative risk statistics
Plots of Extrasolar Planets' Properties
On the mass of Pluto
Costas Papaliolios (1931-2002)
Paul's Lorenz Attractor page
Josh Lang and Kari Binning's wedding pix
Waste to Oil -- inverse Urey-Miller!

-- Roger L. Bagula { email: rlbagula@... or rlbagulatftn@... } 11759 Waterhill Road, Lakeside, Ca. 92040 telephone: 619-561-0814

#1645 From: "SEAN." <seanzedd@...>
Date: Tue Aug 2, 2005 2:41 pm
Subject: Atmospheric Illusion seanzedd
Send Email

Atmospheric Illusion
August 2, 2005

Believe it or not, this extreme close-up of Saturn's swirling clouds was acquired from more than one million kilometers (621,370 miles) from the gas giant planet. The rings' image is severely bent by atmospheric refraction as they pass behind the planet.
The dark region in the rings is the 4,800-kilometer-wide (2,980 mile) Cassini Division.

The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 25, 2005, at a distance of approximately 1 million kilometers (600,000 miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 6 kilometers (4 miles) per pixel.

Link: - http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07555

Enjoy,

SEAN.

#1646 From: "Arthur Lortie" <alortie@...>
Date: Tue Aug 2, 2005 2:58 pm
Subject: RE: [Cassini Huygens] On the mass of Pluto neversurrender8
Send Email

Roger Bagula sez:
> > At http://exoplanets.org/ , are they using a different definition of "day"?

> As to the definition of a "day" for a planet, they usually mean

> how long it takes the planet to rotate on it's axis once.
> For instance: the Martian day is very close to 24 hours although

> it's year is nearly twice the Earth's year.

Well, yes, I know. I may deal with children, but unfortunately I'm not one [sigh]. They are exceptionally talented so already they know the basics -- and a whole lot more.

But at http://exoplanets.org/ [choose the link that says "Almanac of Planets"] they are defining ONLY orbital parameters [by which they're calculating mass].

The "period" is in "days" -- but the numbers don't make sense according to Keplerian motion. Not even close.

#1647 From: Roger Bagula <rlbagula@...>
Date: Tue Aug 2, 2005 3:04 pm
Subject: Who is Roger Bagula? rlbagula@...
Send Email

I'm a fellow who posts informational and news links to
these astronomy egroups: Cassini Huygens (  by invitation of the owner),
Quad-A, science_math_hist
I was trained as a physical inorganic chemist in the 1960's at UCLA.
My work in the last 20 years have been mostly about fractals and chaos,
tiles and number theory, 3d surfaces and population dynamics.
I have been currently working on the gap structure of the primes.

Growing up I was a "space nut"  kid.
Before the space program started I was reading about the planets.
I never got over my love of
astronomy, so I've kept up on it.
In the 1970-80 period I studied general relativity to the point that
I knew I was confused by Weyl's conformal tensor
and Einstein's cosmological Lambda. I know the Robertson-Walker Metric
, the black hole ( Schwarzschild) metric and the Kerr metric intimately
to my shame, ha, ha...
None of that is much good in anything besides precession of Mercury
calculations.

On my own I'm not a very good sky gazer, but over the years
I've become very good on trivia about the solar system
and the space program. Someone wise in the 70's who was wise
said we should put all our eggs in the shuttle basket.
They also predicted that manned missions in space  would take the back
seat to robots in space
as long as the politicians ruled the space program.
We, now, have the technology available for accelerated flights to Mars
using plasma/ ionic drives. I doubt we will use it unless the Chinese
do first?
Roger L. Bagula { email: rlbagula@... or rlbagulatftn@... }

11759 Waterhill Road,
Lakeside, Ca. 92040    telephone: 619-561-0814

Reply | Messages in this Topic (2)

#1648 From: Roger Bagula <rlbagula@...>
Date: Tue Aug 2, 2005 3:41 pm
Subject: two types of Cantor primes based on self-similarity dimension rlbagula@...
Send Email

The fractal dimension estimate of the primes as a
declining variable probability Cantor set gives two "near"
dimensions
s1=Log[2]/(3*Log[3])
whose Moran ratio is 27=3^3.
s2=Log[2]/Log[20]
whose Moran ratio is 20.
I have simulastions for these types of primes as Cantor type switches.
First the ratio 27 function that gives odd numbers:
f[n_] := If[Mod[27*n, 2] == 0, 27*n - 1, 27*n + 2]
a = Table[f[n], {n, 1, 200}]
b = Flatten[Table[If[PrimeQ[f[n]] == True, f[n], {}], {n, 1, 200}]]
{29, 53, 83, 107, 137, 191, 269, 353, 431, 461, 569, 593, 647, 677, 701,
809,
839, 863, 947, 971, 1109, 1163, 1187, 1217, 1433, 1487, 1511, 1619, 1811,
1889, 1973, 1997, 2027, 2081, 2213, 2243, 2267, 2297, 2351, 2459, 2591,
2621,
2699, 2729, 2753, 2837, 2861, 2969, 2999, 3023, 3323, 3347, 3539, 3593,
3617,
3671, 3701, 3779, 3833, 3863, 3917, 4049, 4079, 4133, 4157, 4211, 4241,
4349,
4373, 4457, 4481, 4643, 4673, 4751, 4889, 4943, 4967, 5021, 5051, 5237,
5399}

Second, the ratio 20 function that gives odd numbers:
f[n_, m_] := 20*m + 2*n - 5
a = Table[f[n, m], {n, 1, 4}, {m, 1, 25}]
b = Flatten[Table[If[PrimeQ[f[n, m]] == True, f[n, m], {}], {n, 1, 4},
{m, 1, 25}]]
{17, 37, 97, 137, 157, 197, 257, 277, 317, 337, 397, 457, 19, 59, 79, 139,
179, 199, 239, 359, 379, 419, 439, 479, 499, 41, 61, 101, 181, 241, 281,
401,
421, 461, 23, 43, 83, 103, 163, 223, 263, 283, 383, 443, 463, 503}

In non-Euclidean geometry one of the famous "models" is the Poincare
universe:
a^2-r^2=T
In this universe the maximum radius is "a"
and the radial radius in polar type coordinates is r.
The temperature decreases  as r gets larger ( this kind of model is
usually assiociated with Klein geometry or the Poincare disk).

In the case of the primes where where we have a gap function:
Gap[n]=Prime[n+1]-Prime[n]
where the gap grows ever bigger
we have a temperature model of:
Gap[n]=1/T[n]
That is the Prime geometry is also non-Euclidean
in a Poincare type of way:
as the temperature gets smaller the gap between primes grows larger.
Since the probability density in asymptotic terms for the Primes is:
p[n]=1/Log[n]
as n gets larger you find less and less primes and more and more
composite numbers.
Infinity as usually defined answers more to a composite definition than
to that of a prime.
The picture of the primes as a Cantor set of the counting numbers
allows us to consider it as a dust like fractal set in one dimension.
The idea that the primes get colder as they get bigger gives a diffusion
type
model for the primes much like that Poincare had for his universe.
Roger L. Bagula { email: rlbagula@... or rlbagulatftn@... }

11759 Waterhill Road,
Lakeside, Ca. 92040    telephone: 619-561-0814

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4721091.stm

#1649 From: Roger Bagula <rlbagula@...>
Date: Tue Aug 2, 2005 4:15 pm
Subject: BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | 'Eternal planes' to watch over us rlbagula@...
Send Email

'Eternal planes' to watch over us

By Jo Twist
BBC News science and technology reporter

Unmanned surveillance vehicles are increasingly evident in a world that relies on knowing what people and places are doing.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) patrol innocuous-looking skies and silently report back streams of strategically important data, video, and images from locations around the world.

They are the ultimate Earth watchers.

It is believed that up to 800 remotely piloted aircraft are in operation in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But observing Earth from afar is not just about battlefields and spy missions, the type usually done by expensive and heavy craft like the US's Predator drone. UAVs are increasingly being recruited to carry out more humanitarian missions, from the stratosphere.

Eternal flight

Called high-altitude long-endurance (Hale) craft, they can be crucial information-gatherers for disaster management, crop management, coastal management, and mapping; they can be more flexible and cheaper options than low-orbit satellites, particularly for developing nations.

But one of the biggest issues for such craft is finding the power to fly continuously at altitudes of 18 to 20km, for the very long periods of time often required for such missions.

Once this barrier is overcome, they can rightfully be called "eternal planes". It is hoped that a new Hale UAV vehicle, built by former UK defence research lab QinetiQ, will push the boundaries for eternal planes a bit further.

It is called Mercator. It has a wingspan of 16m and a light weight of 27kg. Together with its hi-tech ground station, it makes up the equally grand-sounding project known as Pegasus.

"No one has produced an eternal airplane yet," Andrew Rogoyski, head of QinetiQ's space division explained to the BBC News website.

"The US has spent lots of money on the Helios platform which is aimed at demo-ing eternal flight." QinetiQ hope to bring its space technology expertise to Mercator.

In 2001, the Nasa-backed Helios reached a record altitude for a non-rocket-powered winged aircraft, climbing to 96,863ft (29.5km), but it crashed in 2003 on a flight from the US Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii.

Earth observation is crucial for environmental monitoring and management. Usually, it is done by either airborne or space-borne platforms.

Satellites do a splendid job in most circumstances of keeping an eye on what is happening on Earth. But they are expensive to run and not as flexible as remotely controlled aircraft.

A solar powered Hale UAV could also be a viable option for nations that perhaps aspire to a space programme, but are economically restricted, thinks Paul Davey, QinetiQ's Mercator project manager.

European efforts

In 2000, the Belgian Flemish Institute for Technological Research (Vito) set up the Pegasus project.

Pegasus (Policy support for European Governments by Acquisition of information from Satellite and UAV-borne Sensors) was designed to spearhead Europe's development of solar-powered UAVs that can stay airborne for long periods.

"One of these craft could get anywhere in the world in 24 hours," explains Dr Rogoyski.

"A UAV will be able to keep up over a particular part of the world for months at a time, whereas satellites have to continue travelling in orbit."

Precise, high-quality images and data can be sent back in under 30 minutes to a mobile ground station which can then disseminate images online.

But for a solar eternal plane to be exactly that it needs an efficient energy harvesting, conversion and storage system that will work when the Sun has set.

"We use a lightweight solar array coupled to lithium-based rechargeable batteries. They are incorporated into the carbon fibre airframe which gives us a low-mass structure capable of flying at high altitude," says Dr Davey.

The challenge is to make the craft as light as possible, carrying payloads of 2kg, while making it robust enough to withstand the extreme conditions it has to navigate. Temperatures at the altitudes UAVs fly drop to 50 degrees below zero.

Based on computer modelling, the craft QinetiQ has developed thus far could complete a day-night cycle. It would use solar power during the day, while recharging the batteries, which would then provide enough "juice" to fly at night.

It seems straightforward, but it is only the improved efficiencies in solar cell and battery technologies, even over the last year, that has made this at all possible.

"The key technologies are solar cells and batteries. Battery technology is receiving billions worldwide and it is a very rapidly evolving technology," says Dr Rogoyski.

The solar panels on the craft are paper thin and deformable so they hug the surface of the plane itself, cutting out excess material.

Initial tests on a 40% scale model of the QinetiQ Mercator UAV have proved successful.

"The technology we have right now will enable us to stay up in the air for 60 hours, but we will not be trying that tomorrow," says Dr Davey. "Trials are planned for next year."

By then, Dr Davey expects improvements in battery efficiency of about 20%.

-- Roger L. Bagula { email: rlbagula@... or rlbagulatftn@... } 11759 Waterhill Road, Lakeside, Ca. 92040 telephone: 619-561-0814

#1650 From: Roger Bagula <rlbagula@...>
Date: Tue Aug 2, 2005 4:35 pm
Subject: forward: Visualizing the "10th planet" rlbagula@...
Send Email

Subject:

Visualizing the "10th planet"

From:

Jeff Bryant <jeffb@...>

Date:

Tue, 2 Aug 2005 07:15:51 +0000 (UTC)

Newsgroups:

comp.soft-sys.math.mathematica

With all the media attention on the newly announced "10th planet" a.k.a. 2003 UB313, I thought I'd create a couple of animations that shows the new object's orbit compared to some other solar system objects.
For orientation, the white orbit is Pluto, the red orbit is 2003 UB313, and the light blue orbit belongs to Sedna, the current record holder for most distant solar system object.
http://members.wri.com/jeffb/visualization/ss-rotate.shtml
-Jeff

-- Roger L. Bagula { email: rlbagula@... or rlbagulatftn@... } 11759 Waterhill Road, Lakeside, Ca. 92040 telephone: 619-561-0814

#1651 From: Roger Bagula <rlbagula@...>
Date: Tue Aug 2, 2005 4:43 pm
Subject: forward: Gemini Observatory Shows That '10th Planet' Has a Pluto-Like Surface rlbagula@...
Send Email

Subject:

Gemini Observatory Shows That '10th Planet' Has a Pluto-Like Surface

From:

baalke@...

Date:

1 Aug 2005 09:03:10 -0700

Newsgroups:

sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary

http://www.gemini.edu/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=142
Gemini Observatory Shows That "10th Planet" Has a Pluto-Like Surface
Gemini Observatory
29 July 2005
Gemini Observatory has obtained a preliminary spectrum of 2003 UB313,
the so-called "10th planet". These observations were obtained on
January
25, 2005 by Chad Trujillo, a Gemini staff member who is also on the
discovery team for 2003 UB313, the existence of which was formally
announced by the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, MA on July 29, 2005.
The discovery team (Mike Brown of Caltech, Chad Trujillo of Gemini and
David Rabinowitz of Yale) are still uncertain of the exact size of the
body, but report that it must be Pluto-sized or larger. The body is the
most distant solar system body known to orbit the sun at 97 AU from the
sun, over 3 times farther away than planet Pluto. The "planet" was
originally discovered in late December 2004 with data collected from
the
Samuel Oschin 1.2 meter telescope at Palomar Mountain, CA.
To better characterize the surface of the object the team obtained
spectra with NIRI (the near-infrared spectrograph) on the much larger 8
meter Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The NIRI spectra
shows strong signatures of methane ice, remarkably similar to the
spectrum of Pluto, which is also dominated by methane ice in
near-infrared observations. Figure 2 shows the spectra of Pluto and
2003
UB313, with arrows marking the "dips" that correspond to methane
features. The same features are readily apparent in both the Pluto and
the 2003 UB313 spectra.
Figure 2: 2003 UB313 spectrum (red, obtained at Gemini Observatory by
Trujillo, Brown and Rabinowitz) and Pluto (black, from Rudy et al.
2003). The "dips" characteristic of methane ice are indicated by red
arrows and are present in both 2003 UB313 and Pluto.
Trujillo states, "We still do not know much about this object, however,
it is clear that it is very similar to Pluto in both size and
composition, at least upon first glance." The presence of methane ice
is
unusual in that it indicates a primitive surface that has not likely
been heated significantly since the solar system formed 4.5 billion
years ago. "If 2003 UB313 ever got close to the sun, all the methane
ice
would have boiled off immediately," Trujillo continued. "To date, no
one
has seen methane on any other Kuiper Belt Object, only on Pluto and
Neptune's moon Triton." The distant Kuiper Belt is a collection of
bodies orbiting the sun beyond Neptune, and is likely the parent
population to the comets.
The team have also obtained spectra of the smaller mini-planet 2003
EL61, which was reported on July 28, 2005 by two independent teams: one
from the Sierra Nevada Observatory in Spain and the Brown, Trujillo and
Rabinowitz team. This object is smaller than Pluto, but shows strong
water-ice features, similar to what is seen on the surface of Pluto's
moon Charon.
Results will be reported in detail at the 37th annual meeting of the
Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society in
September 2005 at the University of Cambridge, UK.

-- Roger L. Bagula { email: rlbagula@... or rlbagulatftn@... } 11759 Waterhill Road, Lakeside, Ca. 92040 telephone: 619-561-0814