Compton to be Cremated...
Space.com, May 28, 2000,
Science/Astronomy: "Scientists Prepare to Deorbit Compton Satellite"
Last
December, when one of three gyroscopes on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
failed, NASA started to worry. Not that the 9-year-old workhorse
spacecraft was ending its life, but that the 17-ton behemoth would eventually
enter the Earth's atmosphere uncontrolled, and rain debris upon populated
areas. If a second gyroscope failed, ground controls would not be
able to guide the observatory to an unpopulated crash site. NASA plans to
deorbit the $760 million satellite
for an eastern Pacific
crash-down on June 4. Large parts of the craft -- including beams and fuel
tanks -- are expected to hit the ocean over a 15,000-square-mile area . It will be the first U.S. spacecraft
pulled from orbit with a specific "crash route".
...Replacement on the Drawing Board
Lockheed Martin Space
Systems; May 22, 2000; Company Press Release:
"Lockheed Martin Space Systems
Awarded One of Three Design Contracts for NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space
Telescope"
"Lockheed Martin Space Systems has
been awarded one of three design contracts by the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
for NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST). Planned for launch in
2005, GLAST will inaugurate a new epoch in space-based physics
investigation."
"GLAST is designed to operate in the energy range from 20 MeV to 300 GeV. It will provide a factor of better than 30 times the sensitivity of the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) onboard the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO)."
"The mission's scientific objectives require a high-energy gamma-ray telescope with angular resolution sufficient to identify point sources with objects at other wavelengths, a wide field-of-view that will permit the study of sources that exhibit extreme intensity variations on timescales from seconds to months or longer, and a large effective area to detect a large sample of sources and determine their energy spectra. New detector technologies that offer significant improvements over existing hardware (a factor of between 10 and 100 improvement in source sensitivity, depending on energy) will allow these requirements to be met well within the cost constraints of an intermediate class astrophysics mission."
Clarke Reaches Orbit
Reuters Newswire,
Apr 19, 2000: "Arthur C. Clarke Has Satellite Named After Him"
Arthur C. Clarke is now in orbit. Not the visionary and writer, but a
geostationary communications satellite named for him. Launched in April,
by the European Telecommunications Satellite Organization (EUTELSAT), it will
provide data, video and Internet access starting in June. Clark is being
recognized by EUTELSAT for his role in the development of global
communications. He first outlined the utility of geostationary
communication satellites in 1945 [in a Wireless World article titled
"Extra-Terrestrial Relays"].
Comet
Pons-Winnecke, the parent comet
for the June Boötids meteor shower, has an erratic orbit due to its interaction
with the planet Jupiter. The shower has been considered "dead"
until observations
submitted to the International Meteor Organization documented a 1998 Boötids
outburst. Having been ignored by observers for decades, these slow moving
meteors were observed by few people. But with peak rates near 80 meteors
per hour (at the zenith with perfect seeing) on June 27, 1998, more people will
be on the lookout. This year check the sky centered on on area bordered by
Boötes, Draco and Ursa Major after sundown on June 26th. This re-emergent
shower is not well understood and it is hard to predict what you will see that
evening.