Earth Day with Carter Emmart:
STUNNING SATELITE VIEWS OF EARTH OVER THE LAST DECADE
At the American Museum of Natural History
Thursday, April 21, 6:30 pm

This Earth Day, join Carter Emmart, director of astrovisualization at the
American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium, for a look at our home
planet from an astronaut's perspective. From your seat in the Hayden
Planetarium's Space Theater, view data sets from NASA's Earth Observing System
to see how the Earth has transformed over the past decade. This program will be
part ambient experience and part guided tour through stunning, multi-spectral
portraits of what is arguably the most beautiful planet in the solar system.

WHEN:
Thursday, April 21, 6:30 pm

WHERE:
American Museum of Natural History, Hayden Planetarium Space Center

ADMISSION:
$15; $13.50 Members, students, seniors

URL:
http://www.amnh.org/calendar/event/Earth-Day-with-Carter-Emmart/

FOLLOW:
Find the Museum on Facebook at facebook.com/naturalhistory or visit
twitter.com/AMNH to follow us on Twitter.

A list for asteroid and comet researcher




----- Original Message -----
From: mpml@yahoogroups.com
To: mpml@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2011 4:13 AM
Subject: {MPML} Digest Number 3797


A list for asteroid and comet researcher
Messages In This Digest (2 Messages)
1. NASA Seeks Education Partners To Help Inspire The Next Generation Of
From: Ron Baalke
2. New Horizons Team Launches Search for Post-Pluto Flyby Prospects From:
Ron Baalke

1. NASA Seeks Education Partners To Help Inspire The Next Generation Of
Posted by: "Ron Baalke" baalke@...
Wed Apr 20, 2011 11:09 am (PDT)




April 20, 2011

Ann Marie Trotta
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1601
ann.marie.trotta@...

RELEASE: 11-120

NASA SEEKS EDUCATION PARTNERS TO HELP INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATION OF
EXPLORERS

WASHINGTON -- NASA is seeking partners to help achieve its strategic
goals for education, including informal education done at museums,
science centers, and planetariums. The agency is committed to sharing
the excitement of NASA's space-based missions and inspiring students
of all ages to pursue studies in science, technology, engineering and
mathematics.

NASA seeks unfunded partnerships with organizations to engage new or
broader audiences on a national scale. The agency will work
collaboratively to leverage partners' unique resources.

Potential partnership activities are varied. NASA is receptive to a
broad range of possibilities from creative organizations with
wide-ranging areas of expertise. All categories of domestic entities,
including U.S. federal government agencies, are eligible to respond.
NASA will accept proposals through Dec. 31.

To view the announcement, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/about/NASA_Seeks_Collaborators.html

To learn more about NASA's broad education initiatives, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/education

-end-




2. New Horizons Team Launches Search for Post-Pluto Flyby Prospects
Posted by: "Ron Baalke" baalke@...
Wed Apr 20, 2011 11:26 am (PDT)



http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/news_center/news/20110420.php

Wanted: Kuiper Belt Targets
New Horizons team launches search for post-Pluto flyby prospects
April 20, 2011

The New Horizons team, working with astronomers using some of the
largest telescopes on Earth, will begin searching this month for distant
Kuiper Belt objects that the New Horizons spacecraft hopes to
reconnoiter after completing its observations of the Pluto system in
mid-2015.

No spacecraft has ever visited the Kuiper Belt, a distant, donut-shaped
region of the solar system filled with small planets and comets that
formed early in the solar system's history.

While the main target for NASA's New Horizons mission is Pluto and its
three moons, New Horizons was built with post-Pluto Kuiper Belt object
(KBO) flybys in mind.

"We have enough fuel on New Horizons, and there are enough Kuiper Belt
objects out there, that we have a good chance of visiting at least one
of them, probably one that's at least 50 kilometers [about 30 miles]
across," says New Horizons co-investigator John Spencer, of Southwest
Research Institute, who is coordinating the search effort. "But first,
we have to find them."

Spencer cites two reasons why suitable target KBOs aren't already known.
First, they are likely to be more than 10,000 times fainter than Pluto -
near the very limit of what large telescopes can detect. Second, by a
twist of fate, the current location of objects that New Horizons can
reach is superimposed on the dense star fields of the Milky Way's
center, in the constellation Sagittarius, which is the hardest region of
the Kuiper Belt to search for faint KBOs.

[Image]
Enlisted for the New Horizons KBO-target search: The 8-meter Subaru and
3.6-meter Canada-France-Hawaii (inset) telescopes at Mauna Kea
Observatory in Hawaii. (Credit: Subaru Telescope; CFHT)

"As a result, we have to conduct a special, dedicated search to find our
target KBOs," says New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern, also
of the Southwest Research Institute. "And, because it will take two to
three years to net a range of potential targets and refine their orbits
and physical characteristics well enough to select the best one or two
for New Horizons, we have long planned to begin this work in 2011, so we
can have our targets selected and propose this extended mission to NASA
before we get to Pluto."

To conduct the KBO search, the New Horizons project has recruited an
international team of astronomers from nine institutions in the U.S.,
Canada, France and Chile, which has secured 140 total hours of observing
time between April-July 2011 on some of the world's premier telescopes,
including the 8-meter Subaru and 3.6-meter Canada-France-Hawaii
telescopes at Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii, and the twin 6.5-meter
Magellan telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile.

During the search, which begins later this month, these telescopes will
take thousands of wide-field images, containing millions of stars. The
search team will then sort through this mass of data to find a few
moving points of light, with orbits in the Kuiper Belt. After follow-up
observations next year to refine the orbits of these flyby candidates,
one or two of them may become a New Horizons target.

"Other than New Horizons, no existing or planned spacecraft has the
chance to explore KBOs, which are ancient and highly scientifically
valuable relicts of the era of outer solar system formation," Stern
says. "We're very proud to carry that banner for NASA and the scientific
community."

At 6 PM Tuesday, May 3rd, the Consulate General of France will host a free talk
by Jean-Francois Clervoy, a European astronaut from France, on "Working and
Living in Space." Mr. Clervoy is a member of ESA's European Astronaut Corps,
with home base at the European Astronaut Center in Cologne, Germany. He is also
chairman and CEO of Novespace, a subsidiary of CNES (the French space agency) in
charge of the parabolic flight program based on the A300 ZERO-G in
Bordeaux-Merignac, France. RSVP to rsvp.new-york-fslt@... or
212-606-3648. The Consulate General of France is located at 934 Fifth Avenue,
New York, NY 10021, between 74th and 75th Streets.

Jason Kendall
NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, New York City

A list for asteroid and comet researcher



----- Original Message -----
From: mpml@yahoogroups.com
To: mpml@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2011 4:11 AM
Subject: {MPML} Digest Number 3810


A list for asteroid and comet researcher
Messages In This Digest
1. Dawn Journal - May 3, 2011 From: Ron Baalke
3. Comet Elenin: Preview of a Coming Attraction From: Ron Baalke
5. Mars Tribute Marks Memories of Shepard's Flight From: Ron Baalke

1. Dawn Journal - May 3, 2011
Posted by: "Ron Baalke" baalke@...
Wed May 4, 2011 10:59 am (PDT)

http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/journal_05_03_11.asp

Dawn Journal
Dr. Marc Rayman
May 3, 2011

Dear Dawntalizingly Close Readers,

Dawn is on the threshold of a new world. After more than three and a
half years of interplanetary travel covering in excess of 2.6 billion
kilometers (1.6 billion miles), we are closing in on our first
destination. Dawn is starting its approach to Vesta.

The interplanetary cruise phase of the mission ends today and the
15-month Vesta phase begins. The first three months are the "approach
phase," during which the spacecraft maneuvers to its first science
orbit. Many of the activities during approach were discussed in detail
in March and April last year, and now we are about to see those plans
put into action.

The beginning of the phase is marked by the first images of the alien
world Dawn has been pursuing since it left Earth. Vesta will appear as
little more than a smudge, a small fuzzy blob in the science camera's
first pictures. But navigators will analyze
where it shows up against the background stars to help pin down the
location of the spacecraft relative to its target. To imagine how this
works, suppose that distant trees are visible through a window in your
house. If someone gave you a photo that had been taken through that
window, you could determine where the photographer (Dawn) had been
standing by lining up the edge of the window (Vesta) with the pattern of
the background trees (stars). Because navigators know the exact position
of each star, they can calculate where Dawn and Vesta are relative to
each other. This process will be repeated as the craft closes in on
Vesta, which ultimately will provide a window to the dawn of the solar
system.

Even though the mysterious orb is still too far away to reveal new
features, it will be exciting to receive these first images. For most of
the two centuries that Vesta has been studied, it has been little more
than a pinpoint of light. Interrupting thrusting once a week this month
to glimpse its protoplanetary destination, Dawn will watch it grow from
about five pixels across to 12. By June, the images should be comparable
to the tantalizing views obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope. As the
approach phase continues and the distance diminishes, the focus will
grow still sharper and new details will appear in each subsequent set of
pictures. During the approach phase, images will be released in periodic
batches, with priority viewing for residents of Earth. The flow will be
more frequent thereafter.

The visible and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIR)
will join the camera in spying Vesta on
May 10 and again later in the approach phase. At the end of June, Dawn
will watch Vesta for a full Vestian day of 5 hours, 20 minutes. When the
camera searches for moons on July 9 and 10, it will also enjoy another
full pirouette. By the third and final time the spacecraft observes
Vesta throughout a complete rotation on its axis, during a set of
observations from July 23 to 25, Dawn will be in orbit.

On July 16, when the ship is at an altitude of around 15,500 kilometers
(9,600 miles) and propelling itself with its ion propulsion system in
the same way it has been for more than 900 days of interplanetary
travel, Vesta will gently take hold. For the first time since September
27, 2007, when Dawn rode atop the second and third stages
of the Delta rocket for a short time in Earth orbit, it will be bound
to a planetary body.

The precise time and distance at which Vesta gains control of its
visitor depend not only on subtleties of the thrusting until then but
also on the strength of the giant asteroid's gravity. Among the many
characteristics of Vesta yet to be known well is its mass. Astronomers
have estimated it by detecting the tiny changes Vesta induces in the
orbits of other asteroids and even of Mars, but those measurements yield
only approximate values. One of Dawn's objectives is to determine
Vesta's mass and to map its gravitational field.

The approach phase concludes when Dawn is ready to commence its survey
orbit in the second week of August. We will consider the timing of the
beginning of this next phase in a subsequent log.

While the start of the approach phase is defined by the beginning of the
navigation imaging, other changes are being made today as well, both in
procedures used by the operations team and in the configuration of the
spacecraft. Let's consider just one subsystem: attitude control.
(To achieve a certain mystique about their work,
engineers use the term "attitude" to describe the orientation of the
probe in the weightless conditions of spaceflight; the system also
happens to have a very enthusiastic attitude about its work.) Since
August Dawn has controlled its attitude with
its reaction control system, the small thrusters
that operate with hydrazine propellant. (When the craft is using the ion
propulsion system, which is most of the time, the ion thruster helps
control the attitude.)

At the beginning of the approach phase, the ship returns to using
reaction wheels, gyroscope-like devices which, when electrically spun
faster or slower, rotate (or stop the rotation of) the spacecraft.
During Vesta operations, Dawn will turn much more frequently, as it
points its sensors at the alien world it is exploring, aims its main
antenna to Earth frequently to transmit its precious findings, and
follows a complex flight profile to
travel from one science orbit to another. The reaction wheels will be
used until Dawn has departed from Vesta in July 2012, providing more
accurate control of the attitude while conserving hydrazine.

To enable the explorer to point its camera and VIR even more delicately,
the ship's gyroscopes are powered on. Not to be confused with the
reaction wheels, these devices help determine exactly what the attitude
is so that the system can command the wheels to achieve the desired
attitude. The gyroscopes are not needed for most of Dawn's activities
during the interplanetary cruise phase of its mission, so they have been
off for most of the mission so far.

The gyroscopes serve another purpose at Vesta, which we discussed in
more detail in January. The probe usually relies on star trackers for
sensing its attitude. Each tracker takes pictures of the stars. Its
internal computer processes the images, finding familiar patterns of
stars to determine where it is pointed, just as you might use some of
the constellations visible from your planet to orient yourself at night.
When some component (such as the main antenna or an ion thruster) needs
to be oriented in such a way that the star trackers happen to point at
Vesta, the gyroscopes will take over so the spacecraft doesn't lose
track of its attitude. There will be much to discover about the
enigmatic 530-kilometer-diameter (330-mile) rocky world, but its ability
to block starlight is not in doubt.

While the science camera and VIR will be turned on and off as needed
during the Vesta phase, the gamma-ray and neutron detector (GRaND)
is being activated today and will remain on
until the departure next year. Most of that time, the majority of the
signals it detects will be from space radiation known as cosmic rays.
But the closer it gets to Vesta, the more gamma rays and neutrons it
will receive from the surface, gradually allowing scientists to
formulate a census of the atomic constituents. GRaND's greatest ability
to sense the faint radiation will be in the low altitude mapping orbit.

The instruments were tested during a planned coast period in March,
and each was in excellent condition. Dawn had
another scheduled hiatus in thrusting from April 11 to 19, but this one
was not intended for calibrations or tests. Rather, controllers had
planned this for an upgrade to the software in the craft's main computer.

When version 9.0 of the software was installed last year,
it was intended to be used at Vesta. By
coincidence, the day after they rebooted the computer to start running
with 9.0, the operations team began thinking about adding a new
capability to the software. The motivation was the development of
excessive friction in reaction wheel no. 4.
While Dawn performs perfectly well with
the other three wheels, the unavailability of one wheel meant that there
was no longer a spare. Since then, three tests of wheel no. 4 have shown
that it cannot be restored as a backup prior to Vesta and probably not
for the rest of the mission. Therefore, to regain the robot's resilience
to the loss of almost any component, work began immediately at Orbital
Sciences Corporation and JPL on new software that would allow safe and
stable attitude control with only two wheels. (Of course, the spacecraft
can function with all wheels powered off, relying on the reaction
control system, but ever-cautious engineers wanted the two-wheel option
to reduce the hydrazine expenditure for complex Vesta and Ceres operations.)

The installation of software on our probe flying in deep space is a
delicate task. To begin running with the new version, the computer has
to be rebooted. That same computer constantly performs such essential
functions as maintaining a steady attitude and acceptable temperatures.
Controllers followed the same intricate procedures they used
successfully to load new software in November 2007, April 2009, and
June 2010. Preparing the spacecraft, radioing the
new software to it, rebooting the computer, and commanding the craft
back to its normal flight configuration all went exactly according to
plan. Although more than a week was allocated, it only took three days.

Dawn is now running what the team officially designates OBC flight
software version 10.0, but what the more zany team members refer to as
10.0 or "ten oh." It may be surprising that even with the complex and
rigorous work to overcome myriad challenges of operating the first
explorer from Earth to take up residence in the main asteroid belt,
normally dispassionate engineers can display such frivolity.

Now with new software, the spacecraft is beginning the approach phase.
Its journey has been long, but the reward is almost in view. Since
leaving Earth in September 2007, Dawn has made about one and three
quarters circuits around the sun as it spirals outward.
Earth itself (along with your
correspondent and some readers) has completed more than three and a half
orbits in that time. But on May 14, Vesta will finish its first
revolution around the sun since Dawn has been in flight; the mission
will then have been under way for exactly one Vestian year.

We have seen before that objects travel more
slowly in more distant orbits, where the force of gravity holding them
is weaker. Dawn has been climbing the solar system hill, traveling
farther and farther from the sun at the bottom. It began its journey on
Earth, partway up the hill. Now far above Mars, the probe is closing in
on Vesta. As the adventurer and the mysterious world each race around
the sun at nearly 21 kilometers per second (47,000 mph), Dawn is
gradually closing in for its rendezvous. Two months ago, the
spacecraft's course was bringing it toward Vesta at 0.7 kilometers per
second (1,600 mph). Today, having
completed more thrusting to bring its orbit into a closer and closer
match with Vesta's, the craft is approaching at about 0.37 kilometers
per second (830 mph). The speed will continue to diminish as Dawn
gradually reshapes its flight path to be exactly the same as Vesta's.
Soon, they will travel together around the sun.

Meanwhile, the distance between them continues to shrink. Since the
middle of March, Vesta has outshone everything in Dawn's sky save the
sun. By the middle of April, a sharp-eyed passenger would notice that
Vesta is more than a pinpoint of light like the myriad stars and distant
planets; it would appear as a tiny disk, hinting of the exciting
adventure ahead. (The passenger also might notice that his luggage was
left back on Earth, more than 320 million kilometers or 200 million
miles away.) Now, with Dawn's interplanetary cruise ending and the
approach beginning, Vesta is coming into its sights, as the ship
prepares to sail into port after an extraordinarily long journey across
the lonely emptiness of the vast interplanetary seas.

Dawn is 1.2 million kilometers (760,000 miles) from Vesta, or 3.2 times
the average distance between Earth and the moon. It is also 1.90 AU (284
million kilometers or 177 million miles) from Earth, or 715 times as far
as the moon and 1.89 times as far as the sun today. Radio signals,
traveling at the universal limit of the speed of light, take 32 minutes
to make the round trip.


3. Comet Elenin: Preview of a Coming Attraction
Posted by: "Ron Baalke" baalke@...
Wed May 4, 2011 5:53 pm (PDT)

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-135

Comet Elenin: Preview of a Coming Attraction
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
May 04, 2011

You may have heard the news: Comet Elenin is coming to the inner-solar
system this fall. Comet Elenin (also known by its astronomical name
C/2010 X1), was first detected on Dec. 10, 2010 by Leonid Elenin, an
observer in Lyubertsy, Russia, who made the discovery "remotely" using
the ISON-NM observatory near Mayhill, New Mexico. At the time of the
discovery, the comet was about 647 million kilometers (401 million
miles) from Earth. Over the past four-and-a-half months, the comet has -
as comets do - closed the distance to Earth's vicinity as it makes its
way closer to perihelion (its closest point to the sun). As of May 4,
Elenin's distance is about 274 million kilometers (170 million miles).

"That is what happens with these long-period comets that come in from
way outside our planetary system," said Don Yeomans of NASA's Near-Earth
Object Program Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,
Calif. "They make these long, majestic, speedy arcs through our solar
system, and sometimes they put on a great show. But not Elenin. Right
now that comet looks kind of wimpy."

How does a NASA scientist define cometary wimpiness?

"We're talking about how a comet looks as it safely flies past us," said
Yeomans. "Some cometary visitors arriving from beyond the planetary
region - like Hale-Bopp in 1997 -- have really lit up the night sky
where you can see them easily with the naked eye as they safely transit
the inner-solar system. But Elenin is trending toward the other end of
the spectrum. You'll probably need a good pair of binoculars, clear
skies, and a dark, secluded location to see it even on its brightest night."

Comet Elenin should be at its brightest shortly before the time of its
closest approach to Earth on Oct. 16 of this year. At its closest point,
it will be 35 million kilometers (22 million miles) from us. Can this
icy interloper influence us from where it is, or where it will be in the
future? What about this celestial object inspiring some shifting of the
tides or even tectonic plates here on Earth? There have been some
incorrect Internet speculations that external forces could cause comet
Elenin to come closer.

"Comet Elenin will not encounter any dark bodies that could perturb its
orbit, nor will it influence us in any way here on Earth," said Yeomans.
"It will get no closer to Earth than 35 million kilometers [about 22
million miles]. "

"Comet Elenin will not only be far away, it is also on the small side
for comets," said Yeomans. "And comets are not the most densely-packed
objects out there. They usually have the density of something akin to
loosely packed icy dirt.

"So you've got a modest-sized icy dirtball that is getting no closer
than 35 million kilometers," said Yeomans. "It will have an immeasurably
miniscule influence on our planet. By comparison, my subcompact
automobile exerts a greater influence on the ocean's tides than comet
Elenin ever will."

Yeomans did have one final thought on comet Elenin.

"This comet may not put on a great show. Just as certainly, it will not
cause any disruptions here on Earth. But there is a cause to marvel,"
said Yeomans. "This intrepid little traveler will offer astronomers a
chance to study a relatively young comet that came here from well beyond
our solar system's planetary region. After a short while, it will be
headed back out again, and we will not see or hear from Elenin for
thousands of years. That's pretty cool."

NASA detects, tracks and characterizes asteroids and comets passing
relatively close to Earth using both ground- and space-based telescopes.
The Near-Earth Object Observations Program, commonly called
"Spaceguard," discovers these objects, characterizes a subset of them,
and predicts their paths to determine if any could be potentially
hazardous to our planet.

JPL manages the Near-Earth Object Program Office for NASA's Science
Mission Directorate in Washington, DC. JPL is a division of the
California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

More information about asteroids and near-Earth objects is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch , and on Twitter: @asteroidwatch .

DC Agle (818) 393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
agle@...

2011-135


4. Be Our Guest: JPL Invites Public to Open House
Posted by: "Ron Baalke" baalke@...
Wed May 4, 2011 5:56 pm (PDT)

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-134

Be Our Guest: JPL Invites Public to Open House
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
May 04, 2011

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory invites the public
to its annual Open House on Saturday, May 14, and Sunday, May 15, from 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. The event, themed "The Excitement of Explorations,"
invites visitors to share in the wonders of space through
high-definition and 3-D videos, live demonstrations, interactions with
scientists and engineers, and a first look at JPL's new Earth Science
Center.

The Earth Science Center showcases our home planet and JPL's Earth
science missions. Visitors will pass by two touchscreens located on
opposite walls of the facility that control real-time views of "Eyes on
the Earth," an interactive 3-D visualization website. Visitors will also
have the opportunity to watch a movie in the 3-D theater, which seats up
to 40 people.

Other Open House highlights include:

- A chance to see the most unique car in this world before it leaves
Earth: The next rover bound for Mars, Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity,
in the "clean room" before it is shipped to Florida for a November 2011
launch. Curiosity also stars in its own "reality TV show" via
live-streaming webcam: http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl .
- Life-size rover models in a "Mars" test bed.
- A perennial crowd-pleaser, the Robo-Dome, where a pair of 700-pound
robots glide in a high-tech arena under artificial stars. The Robo-Dome
is used to simulate complex maneuvers that could be used for future
space missions.
- JPL's Microdevices Lab, where engineers and scientists use tiny
technology to revolutionize space exploration.
- Solar-safe telescopes that allow visitors to see the sun.

Selected locations at Open House will be featured live online, with a
live chat available, on Ustream TV at: http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2 on
Sat., May 14, from 9 a.m. to noon PDT (noon to 3 p.m. EDT).

JPL is located at 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, Calif., 91109.
Admission to Open House is free. Parking is also free, but is limited.
To get to JPL, take the Berkshire Avenue/Oak Grove Drive exit from the
210 Freeway in La Canada/Flintridge. All visitors should wear
comfortable shoes -- no buses will be provided from JPL parking lots.
JPL will provide vans for mobility-challenged guests.

Vehicles entering NASA/JPL property are subject to inspection. Visitors
cannot bring these items to NASA/JPL: weapons, explosives, incendiary
devices, dangerous instruments, alcohol, illegal drugs, pets, all types
of skates including skateboards, Segways and bicycles. No bags,
backpacks or ice chests are allowed, except small purses and diaper bags.

More information about JPL is online at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov .
Follow us via social media, including Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/NASAJPL> and Twitter
<http://twitter.com/#!/nasajpl> . A full list, with links, is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/social/ .

Media wishing to cover the event should RSVP to Priscilla Vega at
Priscilla.r.vega@... or at 1-818-354-1357.

Priscilla Vega 818-354-1357
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
priscilla.r.vega@...

2011-134


5. Mars Tribute Marks Memories of Shepard's Flight
Posted by: "Ron Baalke" baalke@...
Wed May 4, 2011 5:58 pm (PDT)

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-133

Mars Tribute Marks Memories of Shepard's Flight
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
May 04, 2011

The team exploring Mars via NASA's Opportunity rover for the past seven
years has informally named a Martian crater for the Mercury spacecraft
that astronaut Alan Shepard christened Freedom 7. On May 5, 1961,
Shepard piloted Freedom 7 in America's first human spaceflight.

The team is using Opportunity this week to acquire images covering a
cluster of small, relatively young craters along the rover's route
toward a long-term destination. The cluster's largest crater, spanning
about 25 meters (82 feet), is the one called "Freedom 7." The diameter
of Freedom 7 crater, about 25 meters (82 feet), happens to be equivalent
to the height of the Redstone rocket that launched Shepard's flight.

"Many of the people currently involved with the robotic investigations
of Mars were first inspired by the astronauts of the Mercury Project who
paved the way for the exploration of our solar system," said Scott
McLennan of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, who is this
week's long-term planning leader for the rover science team. Shepard's
flight was the first of six Project Mercury missions piloted by solo
astronauts.

An image of Freedom 7 crater taken this week is online at:
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA13988.

Rover team member James Rice of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, Md., said, "The first 50 years of American manned spaceflight
have been built upon immeasurable courage, dedication, sacrifice,
vision, patriotism, teamwork and good old-fashioned hard work, all terms
that embody and define the United States and her people. Alan Shepard's
brave and historic 15-minute flight in Freedom 7 put America in space,
and then a scant eight years later, Americans were standing upon the
surface of the moon." Shepard himself would later walk on the moon when
he commanded the Apollo 14 mission in early 1971, less than 10 years
after his Freedom 7 flight. He died on July 21, 1998.

By taking advantage of seeing many craters of diverse ages during drives
toward major destinations, the Opportunity mission is documenting how
impact craters change with time. The cluster that includes Freedom 7
crater formed after sand ripples in the area last migrated, which is
estimated to be about 200,000 years ago.

"This cluster has about eight craters, and they're all the same age,"
said Matt Golombek, rover team member at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "They're from an impactor that broke up
in the atmosphere, which is quite common."

Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, completed their three-month prime
missions on Mars in April 2004. Both rovers continued for years of
bonus, extended missions. Both have made important discoveries about wet
environments on ancient Mars that may have been favorable for supporting
microbial life. Spirit has not communicated with Earth since March 2010.
Opportunity remains active. It has driven 28.6 kilometers (17.8 miles)
total on Mars, including 1.9 kilometers (1.2 miles) since leaving "Santa
Maria" crater on March 24, 2011, after studying that crater for three
months.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute
of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project
for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. More information
about the rovers is online at: http://www.nasa.gov/rovers .

Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy.webster@...

2011-133

A list for asteroid and comet researcher


----- Original Message -----
From: mpml@yahoogroups.com
To: mpml@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, May 06, 2011 4:13 AM
Subject: {MPML} Digest Number 3811


A list for asteroid and comet researcher

3. MRO HiRISE Images - May 4, 2011 From: Ron Baalke
4. NASA Selects Investigations For Future Key Planetary Mission From: Ron
Baalke
Thu May 5, 2011 7:07 am (PDT)



3. MRO HiRISE Images - May 4, 2011
Posted by: "Ron Baalke" baalke@...
Thu May 5, 2011 9:34 am (PDT)

MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER HIRISE IMAGES
May 4, 2011

o The Western Wall of Holden Crater
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_021946_1535

Hydrothermal deposits may represent evidence for a habitable
environment on Mars.

o Exposures of Layered Rocks in the Argyre Region
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_021947_1300

This observation shows great exposures of layered rocks in
Argyre region. Could it be evidence for an ancient sea or lake?

o New Impact Cluster
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_022057_2070

With the combination of CTX and HiRISE monitoring, a crucial aspect
of Mars science is being detailed for the first time -- the current
surface cratering rate.

All of the HiRISE images are archived here:

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/

Information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is
online at http://www.nasa.gov/mro. The mission is
managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division
of the California Institute of Technology, for the NASA
Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. Lockheed
Martin Space Systems, of Denver, is the prime contractor
and built the spacecraft. HiRISE is operated by the
University of Arizona. Ball Aerospace and Technologies
Corp., of Boulder, Colo., built the HiRISE instrument.



4. NASA Selects Investigations For Future Key Planetary Mission
Posted by: "Ron Baalke" baalke@...
Thu May 5, 2011 2:59 pm (PDT)

May 05, 2011

Dwayne C. Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@...

RELEASE: 11-132

NASA SELECTS INVESTIGATIONS FOR FUTURE KEY PLANETARY MISSION

WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected three science investigations from
which it will pick one potential 2016 mission to look at Mars'
interior for the first time; study an extraterrestrial sea on one of
Saturn's moons; or study in unprecedented detail the surface of a
comet's nucleus.

Each investigation team will receive $3 million to conduct its
mission's concept phase or preliminary design studies and analyses.
After another detailed review in 2012 of the concept studies, NASA
will select one to continue development efforts leading up to launch.
The selected mission will be cost-capped at $425 million, not
including launch vehicle funding.

NASA's Discovery Program requested proposals for spaceflight
investigations in June 2010. A panel of NASA and other scientists and
engineers reviewed 28 submissions. The selected investigations could
reveal much about the formation of our solar system and its dynamic
processes. Three technology developments for possible future
planetary missions also were selected.

"NASA continues to do extraordinary science that is re-writing
textbooks," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "Missions like
these hold great promise to vastly increase our knowledge, extend our
reach into the solar system and inspire future generations of
explorers."
The planetary missions selected to pursue preliminary design studies
are:

-- Geophysical Monitoring Station (GEMS) would study the structure and
composition of the interior of Mars and advance understanding of the
formation and evolution of terrestrial planets. Bruce Banerdt of
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., is
principal investigator. JPL would manage the project.

-- Titan Mare Explorer (TiME) would provide the first direct
exploration of an ocean environment beyond Earth by landing in, and
floating on, a large methane-ethane sea on Saturn's moon Titan. Ellen
Stofan of Proxemy Research Inc. in Gaithersburg, Md., is principal
investigator. Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory
in Laurel, Md., would manage the project.

-- Comet Hopper would study cometary evolution by landing on a comet
multiple times and observing its changes as it interacts with the
sun. Jessica Sunshine of the University of Maryland in College Park
is principal investigator. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Md., would manage the project.

"This is high science return at a price that's right," said Jim Green,
director of NASA's Planetary Science Division in Washington. "The
selected studies clearly demonstrate a new era with missions that all
touch their targets to perform unique and exciting science."

The three selected technology development proposals will expand the
ability to catalog near-Earth objects, or NEOs; enhance the
capability to determine the composition of comet ices; and validate a
new method to reveal the population of objects in the poorly
understood, far-distant part of our solar system. During the next
several years, selected teams will receive funding that is determined
through contract negotiations to bring their respective technologies
to a higher level of readiness. To be considered for flight, teams
must demonstrate progress in a future mission proposal competition.

The proposals selected for technology development are:

-- Primitive Material Explorer (PriME) would develop a mass
spectrometer that would provide highly precise measurements of the
chemical composition of a comet and explore the objects' role in
delivering volatiles to Earth. Anita Cochran of the University of
Texas in Austin is principal investigator.

-- Whipple: Reaching into the Outer Solar System would develop and
validate a technique called blind occultation that could lead to the
discovery of various celestial objects in the outer solar system and
revolutionize our understanding of the area's structure. Charles
Alcock of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge,
Mass., is principal investigator.

-- NEOCam would develop a telescope to study the origin and evolution
of NEOs and study the present risk of Earth-impact. It would generate
a catalog of objects and accurate infrared measurements to provide a
better understanding of small bodies that cross our planet's orbit.
Amy Mainzer of JPL is principal investigator.

Created in 1992, the Discovery Program sponsors frequent, cost-capped
solar system exploration missions with highly focused scientific
goals. The program's 11 missions include MESSENGER, Dawn, Stardust,
Deep Impact and Genesis. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, Ala., manages the program for the agency's Science
Mission Directorate.

For more information about the Discovery Program, visit:

http://discovery.nasa.gov

-end-

We've decided to cancel tonight's observing session: The Clear Sky Chart was
updated again at 12:45, but it still doesn't look good. The "cloud cover"
reads as about 60%, but the atmospheric "transparency" is pure white.
AccuWeather has showers in the 9 p.m. zone. The satellite image shows clouds
coming our way from Ohio across Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

So that's life for an astronomer in this part of the world. On average, we
cancel these sessions more than half the time. I'm hoping for better luck
for our next session, scheduled for June 10.

http://cleardarksky.com/c/NYCNYkey.html?1

http://www.accuweather.com/us/ny/new-york/10017/forecast-hourly.asp?fday=1&hbhho\
ur=21

http://www.goes.noaa.gov/

Meanwhile, faculty and students from the Dwight School on Central Park West
at 89th Street had been planning to attend. We're going to try to arrange a
special session for them at the Great Lawn in Central Park. That will be
open to the public, so any of you may join us there. We're tentatively
saying next Thursday, May 12. I'll keep you all posted with further
bulletins here.

Bruce Kamiat

Some faculty and students from the Dwight School on Central Park West at
89th Street had planned to attend our Carl Schurz Park observing session
last Friday night. That session was canceled due to concerns about sky
conditions. We've arranged a special session for them tomorrow (Thursday)
night at the Great Lawn in Central Park. That will be open to the public, so
any of you may join us there.

We should be ready to start about 8:30 p.m., a half hour after sunset. The
weather forecasts are good so far:

http://cleardarksky.com/c/NYCNYkey.html?1
http://www.accuweather.com/us/ny/new-york/10017/forecast-hourly.asp?fday=2&hbhho\
ur=17

The main targets will be Saturn and the Moon. The nine-day-old gibbous Moon
should stay high in the sky for a while and should be an excellent sight in
the telescope. The Moon's bright light will, however, make faint deep-sky
objects more difficult to see. I still want to try for Porrima, though.
That's a famous binary star, the components of which have been gradually
separating over the past few years. The separation should now be wide enough
to see it in the scope without going too high in magnification.

Bruce

Look for us along the path that circles the Great Lawn. We'll probably be on
the northern or northwestern side of the Lawn.

Bruce

A list for asteroid and comet researcher



----- Original Message -----
From: mpml@yahoogroups.com
To: mpml@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2011 4:12 AM
Subject: {MPML} Digest Number 3822


A list for asteroid and comet researcher
Messages In This Digest (4 Messages)
2. At the Heart of Hartley-2, a New Breed of Comet? From: Ron Baalke
3. Free-Floating Planets May Be More Common Than Stars From: Ron Baalke

2. At the Heart of Hartley-2, a New Breed of Comet?
Posted by: "Ron Baalke" baalke@...
Thu May 19, 2011 10:25 am (PDT)

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/epoxi/hartley-2.html

At the Heart of Hartley-2, a New Breed of Comet?
Elizabeth Zubritsky
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
May 17, 2011

At the heart of every comet lies a remnant of the dawn of the solar system.
Or is that remnants? Astronomers don't know, but the answer would give them
a clearer picture of exactly how comets were born eons ago at the birth
of the Solar System. Did thin tendrils of dust and ice get drawn slowly
inward and pack themselves into a single, uniform mass? Or did a
hodge-podge of mini-comets come together to form the core for a comet of
substance?

For Hartley-2, the answer so far is neither. "We haven't seen a comet
like this before," says Michael Mumma of NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Hartley-2 could be the first of a new breed."

Both data collected by Mumma's team and detailed images of the comet
taken by NASA's EPOXI mission reveal that the comet's core is not
uniform. "We have evidence of two different kinds of ice in the core,
possibly three," says Mumma. "But we can also see that the comet's
overall composition is very consistent. So, something subtle is
happening. We're not sure what that is."

The researchers observed Hartley-2 six times during the summer, fall and
winter of 2010, both before and after the EPOXI mission's Deep Impact
spacecraft had its November rendezvous with the comet. Using telescopes
perched high in the mountains of Hawaii and Chile, Mumma's team studied
the comet's coma - the aura of gas, dust and ice particles that surround
the core. The findings of Mumma and his colleagues at Catholic
University of America in Washington, D.C., the University of Missouri in
St. Louis, the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, the California
Institute of Technology in Pasadena, the Max Planck Institute for Solar
System Research in Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany, and Rowan University in
Glassboro, N.J., are being reported in a special issue of Astrophysical
Journal Letters on May 16, 2011

The gases and rocky particles that make up the coma are the clues that
astronomers use to deduce what the core is made of, and thus its origin.
To see which types of molecules are there, researchers check for
telltale signatures in the near-infrared region of light, at wavelengths
from 2.9 to 3.8 micrometers. In this way, it's also possible to tell how
plentiful each type of molecule is.

Ices in Hartley-2 are mostly made of water, along with traces of many
other types of molecules, the team learned. This is in addition to the
plentiful carbon dioxide detected in the comet in 1997 by the European
Space Agency’s Infrared Space Observatory. Mumma and colleagues paid
close attention to the levels of water and seven other molecules that
evaporate easily. The molecules remain frozen either on or below the
core's surface until the warming rays of the sun vaporize them; then,
they are swept into the coma.

The release of the molecules depends a great deal on exposure to the
sun. The researchers knew that in 2009 ground-based observers had
detected telltale signs that the core was rotating quickly. So the team
was interested in what would happen to the production levels of these
molecules as the comet rotated every 18 hours, giving each of its faces
a turn to bathe in sunlight. Turns out, they saw something that nobody
has seen before.

First of all, they saw the comet's wild side. "The amount of water
changed dramatically night by night and even within a single night—in
some cases, doubling in that time," says Mumma. But, in truth, Hartley-2
isn't the only comet to get caught being fickle.

What surprised the researchers was this: as the amount of water went up,
so did the amounts of the other gases. And as the amount of water went
down, the others did, too. "This is the first time anyone has seen an
entire suite of these gases change in the same way at the same time,"
says Mumma.

This result is important for astronomers, he notes, because they often
study the gases in a comet's coma one at a time. "But this suggests that
if you look at one gas on one night and another the next night, the
production rates might change quite a bit. The findings could be
different than if you measured the two gases together," he says. "And in
the worst case, you could get the wrong idea about the composition of
the comet."

Beyond that, Mumma says, "this tells us that the overall composition of
the gas in the coma did not change." Taken by itself, this might seem to
imply that the core of the comet is uniform. But when the findings of
the EPOXI science team are considered, the picture gets more complicated.

"The fact that the gases all vary together is somewhat puzzling, because
EPOXI found a large variation in the release of carbon dioxide relative
to water," says the head of the EPOXI science team, Michael A'Hearn of
the University of Maryland. "At this point the interpretation is pretty
speculative."

EPOXI's Deep Impact spacecraft had a rendezvous with the comet in
November 2010. The rich images taken then of the comet's surface
revealed small, volcano-like "jets" spewing out carbon dioxide gas and
water ice at one end. The jets activate when sunlight warms that end of
the comet, turning the frozen carbon dioxide (aka dry ice) below the
surface into gas that escapes through open holes.

The researchers think that chunks of water ice are glued together in the
comet's core by the frozen carbon dioxide, which evaporates before the
water ice. "The carbon dioxide gas drags with it chunks of ice, which
later evaporate to provide much of the water vapor in the coma," A'Hearn
explains.

Researchers had never seen this before. "In other comets that have been
visited, most of the water appears to be converted into gas below or at
the surface," says A'Hearn. "We have not seen icy grains, or at least,
very few, being dragged into the coma."

But the whole core is not made the same way. EPOXI revealed that the
carbon dioxide jets are not found at the large end of the comet, and in
the middle region, water vapor is released without any carbon dioxide.
"So clearly, when we look at the comet up close, the composition of the
core changes from one region to another," Mumma says.

Mumma's team found more evidence that Hartley-2's core is not uniform.
They did so by looking carefully at four types of gas to see in which
directions their molecules traveled after release. They saw that water
and another gas, methanol, came off the comet in all directions.
"Because they are found together, we infer that they come from the same
chunks of ice," he explains.

"So, we have water ice with methanol in it, and we have carbon dioxide
ice. Both are in the comet's core," Mumma says. "We may also have a
third type of ice, made from ethane."

That possibility is based on the fact that ethane, unlike water and
methanol, was released strongly in one direction. "This is actually
rather profound," says Mumma. "It suggests that some molecules, such as
methanol, may be mixed with water, while others, such as ethane, are
not. This isn't the way we've thought of comets, before now."

More research needs to be done, and whether all comets behave like
Hartley-2 isn't known, Mumma adds. "But now that we know what this one
does, we have a baseline to compare other comets against."


3. Free-Floating Planets May Be More Common Than Stars
Posted by: "Ron Baalke" baalke@...
Thu May 19, 2011 10:30 am (PDT)

May 18, 2011

Trent Perrotto
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0321
trent.j.perrotto@...

Whitney Clavin
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-4673
whitney.clavin@...

RELEASE: 11-148

FREE-FLOATING PLANETS MAY BE MORE COMMON THAN STARS

WASHINGTON -- Astronomers, including a NASA-funded team member, have
discovered a new class of Jupiter-sized planets floating alone in the
dark of space, away from the light of a star. The team believes these
lone worlds probably were ejected from developing planetary systems.

The discovery is based on a joint Japan-New Zealand survey that
scanned the center of the Milky Way galaxy during 2006 and 2007,
revealing evidence for up to 10 free-floating planets roughly the
mass of Jupiter. The isolated orbs, also known as orphan planets, are
difficult to spot, and had gone undetected until now. The planets are
located at an average approximate distance of 10,000 to 20,000 light
years from Earth.

"Although free-floating planets have been predicted, they finally have
been detected, holding major implications for planetary formation and
evolution models," said Mario Perez, exoplanet program scientist at
NASA Headquarters in Washington.

The discovery indicates there are many more free-floating Jupiter-mass
planets that can't be seen. The team estimates there are about twice
as many of them as stars. In addition, these worlds are thought to be
at least as common as planets that orbit stars. This adds up to
hundreds of billions of lone planets in our Milky Way galaxy alone.

"Our survey is like a population census," said David Bennett, a NASA
and National Science Foundation-funded co-author of the study from
the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. "We sampled a
portion of the galaxy, and based on these data, can estimate overall
numbers in the galaxy."

The study, led by Takahiro Sumi from Osaka University in Japan,
appears in the May 19 issue of the journal Nature.
The survey is not sensitive to planets smaller than Jupiter and
Saturn, but theories suggest lower-mass planets like Earth should be
ejected from their stars more often. As a result, they are thought to
be more common than free-floating Jupiters.

Previous observations spotted a handful of free-floating planet-like
objects within star-forming clusters, with masses three times that of
Jupiter. But scientists suspect the gaseous bodies form more like
stars than planets. These small, dim orbs, called brown dwarfs, grow
from collapsing balls of gas and dust, but lack the mass to ignite
their nuclear fuel and shine with starlight. It is thought the
smallest brown dwarfs are approximately the size of large planets.

On the other hand, it is likely that some planets are ejected from
their early, turbulent solar systems, due to close gravitational
encounters with other planets or stars. Without a star to circle,
these planets would move through the galaxy as our sun and others
stars do, in stable orbits around the galaxy's center. The discovery
of 10 free-floating Jupiters supports the ejection scenario, though
it's possible both mechanisms are at play.

"If free-floating planets formed like stars, then we would have
expected to see only one or two of them in our survey instead of 10,"
Bennett said. "Our results suggest that planetary systems often
become unstable, with planets being kicked out from their places of
birth."

The observations cannot rule out the possibility that some of these
planets may have very distant orbits around stars, but other research
indicates Jupiter-mass planets in such distant orbits are rare.

The survey, the Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics (MOA), is
named in part after a giant wingless, extinct bird family from New
Zealand called the moa. A 5.9-foot (1.8-meter) telescope at Mount
John University Observatory in New Zealand is used to regularly scan
the copious stars at the center of our galaxy for gravitational
microlensing events. These occur when something, such as a star or
planet, passes in front of another more distant star. The passing
body's gravity warps the light of the background star, causing it to
magnify and brighten. Heftier passing bodies, like massive stars,
will warp the light of the background star to a greater extent,
resulting in brightening events that can last weeks. Small
planet-size bodies will cause less of a distortion, and brighten a
star for only a few days or less.

A second microlensing survey group, the Optical Gravitational Lensing
Experiment (OGLE), contributed to this discovery using a 4.2-foot
(1.3 meter) telescope in Chile. The OGLE group also observed many of
the same events, and their observations independently confirmed the
analysis of the MOA group.

For more information about NASA's exoplanet research, visit:

http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/

-end-

At AAS conference just heard of a z 9.4 redshift galaxy found by SWIFT.

look for full release tomorrow...

Jason

We'll be out in the baseball diamonds with telescopes for this evening!  A great
way to start off your Memorial Day weekend!

Go here for a map:

http://www.moonbeam.net/InwoodAstronomy/location-bbd.shtml

Go here to sign up for future Astronomy Updates in Inwood!

http://www.moonbeam.net/InwoodAstronomy/contact.shtml

Jason Kendall

This email was sent to: sn1951bk@...

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