Mar 26 1999
From The Space Library
Space News for this day. (3MB PDF)
Lockheed Martin and its Russian business partners announced the appointment of Wilbur C. Trafton as President of International Launch Services (ILS); Trafton had been Acting President since the previous December. Lockheed Martin, Russia's Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, and S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia had established ILS in 1995, as a joint venture to market commercial launch services on Russian Proton rockets and Lockheed Martin Atlas rockets. Before joining ILS, Trafton had been Associate Administrator for NASA's Office of Space Flight. In that position, he had headed NASA's Human Exploration and Development of Space Enterprise. Ray Colloday, President of Lockheed Martin Astronautics, remarked that Trafton had brought to ILS "years of experience working on joint space programs with Russia." Colladay said that Trafton's background, together with his knowledge of the Atlas product line, made him "particularly well suited to lead ILS.”
Researchers reported in the journal Science that NASA's Galileo spacecraft had detected hydrogen peroxide on Jupiter's moon Europa. Hydrogen peroxide does not occur naturally on Earth. A scientific instrument aboard the craft the Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS)--had aided scientists in their study of Europa's surface. Working like a prism, the instrument had broken up infrared light, detecting dark areas of hydrogen peroxide. The scientists reported that the chemical was forming constantly on Europa, through the process of radiolysis; in this case, the process involved "intense particle radiation" emanating from Jupiter. Principal Investigator for NIMS Robert W. Carlson explained that hydrogen peroxide begins breaking down almost as soon as it forms and, therefore, its life on Europa spans no more than a few months. The short lifespan of the chemical limited the scientists' ability to study the long-term chemical history of Europa. However, scientists would be able to apply their observations of short-term chemical changes on Jupiter to the study of how the moons of Jupiter interact with the planet, as well as to the study of similar processes elsewhere in the solar system.
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