Fri Jun 21 09:15:51 CEST 2002

20 June Potentially Hazardous Objects:
2002 MN
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/mpec/K02/K02M14.html
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/db?name=2002+MN
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/2002mn.html
http://newton.dm.unipi.it/cgi-bin/neodys/neoibo?objects:2002MN;risk
2002 MX
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/mpec/K02/K02M16.html
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/db?name=2002+MX
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/2002mx.html
http://newton.dm.unipi.it/cgi-bin/neodys/neoibo?objects:2002MX;risk
announced on 18 and 19 June respectively, are on both the JPL and NEODyS risk pages, and, as of 20 June, are also on the European Spaceguard Central Node http://spaceguard.ias.rm.cnr.it/SSystem/NEOCS/Announcements.html
observation campaigns page as "rapidly fading ... [observations] are urgently needed."
MN, which is about 100 meters/yards across, passed Earth at less than one lunar distance (about 1/3 LD) on 14 June, but wasn't caught (by MIT's LINEAR program) until the 17th. http://www.ll.mit.edu/LINEAR/

A Close Asteroid Flyby
http://skyandtelescope.com/news/current/article_641_1.asp

As scientists demand more from space missions travelling to other worlds and beyond, traditional rocket technologies are beginning to show shortcomings. In response, ESA are helping to develop a new type of rocket engine, known as solar-electric propulsion, or more commonly, an ion engine, that can mark a whole new era of space exploration.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0206/18smart/

The last five days have witnessed the unprecedented announcement of 25 new planet discoveries. These discoveries are split almost evenly between European and American astronomers. Didier Queloz and his colleagues at the Observatoire de Gen?ve, Switzerland, have found a dozen of the new planets. Their discoveries include the most tantalising one yet: a planet that closely resembles Jupiter in our own Solar System. The find brings astronomers another step closer to detecting an Earth-like world. Read more at:
http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/ESAQW0OED2D_Life_0.html

Atlas 2as and Ariane 5 win new launch contracts Four satellite launch contracts were announced Tuesday by operator SES AMERICOM, with two going to Lockheed Martin's Atlas 2AS rocket and Arianespace's Ariane 5 receiving the other pair.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0206/19sesamericom/

Controllers believe Galileo tape recorder fixed The Galileo spacecraft has now rounded the corner in its longest looping orbit around Jupiter and is again heading back in towards the giant planet and a close flyby of the tiny moon Amalthea in November. This past week brought good news about the on-board tape recorder, which got stuck in April. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0206/19galileo/

Life after retirement for Hubble hardware Two pieces of 'retired' hardware retrieved from the Hubble Space Telescope provide scientists and engineers with unique knowledge of how long-term exposure to the harsh space environment affects hardware. Read more at: http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/ESA712OED2D_Expanding_0.html

'Winking' star may be home to new solar system A distant star with an unusual cycle of brightening and dimming may have one or more planets forming around it, astronomers announced Wednesday. Detailed observations of the star KH 15D revealed a pattern of brightness changes that astronomers have interpreted to be created by one or more objects churning up material in a protoplanetary disk around the star. http://www.astro.wesleyan.edu/kh15d/

NASA Satellite Confirms Urban Heat Islands Increase Rainfall Around Cities http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20020613urbanrain.html

Where have all the comets gone?
Most comets disintegrate after their first few passages through the inner solar system, say scientists at Southwest Research Institute. A new study has revealed that 99 percent of the objects from the cloud of comets at the edge of the solar system, known as the Oort cloud, break apart sometime after they enter the inner solar system.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0206/21comets/

Warmer world will be a sicker world, say scientists Global warming and changing climatic conditions are triggering disease epidemics in wildlife around the world, reports a renowned team of ecologists and epidemiologists in the Friday June 21st issue of Science. The outbreaks are occurring in habitats ranging from coral reefs to rainforests. Contact: Jessica Brown jbrown@seaweb.org http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-06/s-www061702.php

COBRA engine, an option for Space Launch Initiative propulsion, completes milestone review COBRA, one of the engines being considered for the next generation reusable launch vehicle, has recently completed its preliminary design review for NASA's Space Launch Initiative - a technology development effort to establish reliable, affordable space access. Contact: June Malone june.malone@msfc.nasa.gov http://www1.msfc.nasa.gov/NEWSROOM/news/releases/2002/02-152.html

Ice cores show volcanic eruptions interfere with the effect of sunspots on global climate University at Buffalo scientists working with ice cores have solved a mystery surrounding sunspots and their effect on climate that has puzzled scientists since they began studying the phenomenon. Contact: Ellen goldbaum goldbaum@buffalo.edu http://www.buffalo.edu/news/fast-execute.cgi/article-page.html?article=57350009

100,000-year climate pattern linked to Sun's magnetic cycles Mukul Sharma, Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences at Dartmouth, examined existing sets of geophysical data and noticed something remarkable: the sun's magnetic activity is varying in 100,000-year cycles, a much longer time span than previously thought, and this solar activity, in turn, may likely cause the 100,000-year climate cycles on earth. Contact: Sue Knapp sue.knapp@dartmouth.edu http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-06/dc-1c060602.php

Geophysicists find sharp sides to African superplume Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have discovered that the African superplume - a massive, hot upwelling of rock beneath southern Africa - has edges that are sharp and distinct, not diffuse and blurred as previously thought. Such sharp, lateral boundaries have never been found in the Earth's mantle before, and they challenge scientists' understanding of the interior. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Contact: Cheryl Dybas cdybas@nsf.gov
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-06/nsf-gfs060302.php

Deluge carved massive canyon on Mars, scientists say Water roaring out of an overfilled lake carved an instant Grand Canyon -- a valley more than mile deep -- on the surface of Mars some 3.5 billion years ago, according to a new analysis of pictures taken by spacecraft. http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/RTGAMArticleHTMLTemplate/C/20020620/wmarz0620?hub=homeBN&tf=tgam%252Frealtime%252Ffullstory.html&cf=tgam/realtime/config-neutral&vg=BigAdVariableGenerator&slug=wmarz0620&date=20020620&archive=RTGAM&site=Front&ad_page_name=breakingnews

Microbes and the dust they ride in on pose potential health risks Potentially hazardous bacteria and fungi catch a free ride across the Atlantic, courtesy of North African dust plumes. NASA-funded researchers who made the discovery believe the stowaway microbes might pose a health risk to people in the western Atlantic region.
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftp/pub/pao/releases/2001/h01-120.htm

10th anniversary of the eruption felt around the world The explosion of the Mt. Pinatubo volcano on June 15, 1991, was the largest volcanic eruption the world had seen in nearly a century. In addition to the widespread destruction that the volcano wrought on the Philippine island of Luzon, Mt. Pinatubo's impact was felt around the world. Global average temperatures cooled for more than a year after the eruption due to the massive injection of dust and gases into the upper atmosphere. http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftp/pub/pao/releases/2001/n01-62.htm

Stardust tests new ESA deep-space ground station in Australia The spacecraft Stardust, which is on its way to meet the Comet Wild 2 in January 2004, last week helped ESA to carry out final testing of the Agency?s first deep-space ground station, situated just 140 km north of Perth in New Norcia, Australia. Read more at:
http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/ESA7G3OED2D_Expanding_0.htm