Jan 18 2005
From The Space Library
Russian Space Agency Chief Anatoly N. Perminov and ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain signed an agreement allowing Russia to use ESA sites for space launches and enabling Russia and Europe freely to exchange research and development information. Specifically, ESA would permit Russia to conduct Soyuz launches from Kourou, French Guiana. In addition, the two would share information on the design of new launchers and fuels~ information once closely guarded by both sides~ with the intention of developing new launchers jointly. For example, Russia and Europe had studied the option of developing new reusable launchers and new propulsion systems. (Agence-France Presse, “Russia and Europe Sign Space Agreement,” 20 January 2005.)
In the journal Geophysical Research Letters, researchers studying data from the Mediterranean Israeli Dust Experiment (MEIDEX) reported their determination that a strange flash over the Indian Ocean, which had occurred on 20 January 2003, was not related to lightning. The researchers named the mysterious reddish glow Transient Ionospheric Glow Emission in Red, or TIGER. Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, a crew member of the ill-fated STS-107, had recorded the glow while aboard Space Shuttle Columbia, using an infrared video camera. During the Shuttle flight, Ramon had collected data about dust particles in the atmosphere for the MEIDEX Sprite campaign at the Open University in Ra'anana, Israel. Researchers for MEIDEX had analyzed Ramon's video, including a single frame that showed a mysterious reddish glow 150 kilometers (93.2 miles) above the ocean near Madagascar. Like blue jets and elves, sprites are emissions~transient luminous events (TLEs)~that occur above thunderstorms. Airline pilots had first reported TLEs several decades ago. The TIGER phenomenon contrasted with typical TLEs because of its shape and its lack of any direct relationship to thunderstorm activity. (Maggie McKee, “Columbia Crew Saw New Atmospheric Phenomenon,” New Scientist, 20 January 2005; Michael Schirber, “High-Altitude Mystery Flash Recorded by Space Shuttle,” LiveScience.com, 19 January 2005, http://www.livescience.com/environment/050118_tiger_flash.html (accessed 18 August 2009).)
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