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UA9FBV > SAT 26.01.03 08:02l 85 Lines 3210 Bytes #999 (0) @ AMSAT
BID : ANS-026.06
Read: DB0FHN GUEST
Subj: News Briefs
Path: DB0FHN<DB0RGB<OK0PPL<RZ6HXA<UA9FBV
Sent: 030126/0641Z @:UA9FBV.PRM.RUS.AS #:26482 [Perm] FBB7.00i $:ANS-026.06
From: UA9FBV@UA9FBV.PRM.RUS.AS
To : SAT@AMSAT
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 026.06 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD. JANUARY 26, 2003
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-026.06
A new NASA satellite is ready to leave the sandy coast of Florida and head
to space to catch some rays. The SORCE mission will study our sun's
influence
on our planet's climate by measuring how the star affects the Earth's ozone
layer, atmospheric circulation, clouds, and oceans. The research data that
will help us to better protect and understand our home planet.
---Space Daily
Science Minister Lord Sainsbury unveiled this week the British Government's
plans for the UK space industry for the next three years. "The draft
strategy
is focused much more than before on the use of space systems throughout the
economy. This will require the space community to work even more closely
with
commercial companies," said Lord Sainsbury.
"Increasingly, space is opening up new commercial opportunities in areas
such
as telecommunications and global positioning systems and a key objective of
the draft strategy is to provide a framework which will enable UK companies
to take advantage of these opportunities," he added.
---Space Daily
Australian antennas of NASA's Deep Space Network used for communicating with
spacecraft are back in normal operation after a close call with wildfires
that destroyed hundreds of homes and took four lives in the Canberra area.
Brush fires surrounded the network's Canberra complex on Saturday. Workers
used hoses to dowse spot fires on the site Saturday and were still
extinguishing flare-ups Monday.
The Canberra dish antennas were inactive for about three and one-half hours
Saturday so workers could concentrate on the fire. During that period, the
complex had been scheduled to be in communication with five spacecraft on
interplanetary missions or in Earth orbit, but none of the missed
transmissions was critical or irreplaceable, said Joseph Wackley, Deep Space
Network operations manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena,
Calif.
---Space Daily
Mars Rovers launch in May, June.
CAPE CANAVERAL -- The science team for the Mars Exploration Rovers, set to
launch from here in May and June, approved two recommended landing sites
this
week.
Gusev Crater and an area called Terra Meridiani were deemed the top two
places
for accomplishing the mission's scientific goals after a series of open
meetings, the last of which occurred two weeks ago. Scientists hope the
sites
hold clues to Mars' water mystery.
"If you think about the landing site selection on Mars, it's really the
first
time that science is really being used to direct landing site selection,"
said
Matt Golombek, the landing site scientist for the Mars Exploration Program.
Those picks still have to pass several more rounds of scrutiny. A panel of
experts will review the sites and make its recommendation to NASA
headquarters
in March. Ed Weiler, NASA's associate administrator for space science, will
make the final call in April.
NASA stands a mere four months away from launching the next pair of Mars
rovers.
--- Kelly Young, FLORIDA TODAY
[ANS thanks the respective authors for the above information]
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