Oct 25 2010
From The Space Library
RELEASE: 10-217
AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS ARE FIRST TO DETECT OBJECTS IMPACTING JUPITER
WASHINGTON -- Amateur astronomers using backyard telescopes were the first to detect two small objects that burned up in Jupiter's atmosphere on June 3 and Aug. 20. Professional astronomers at NASA and other institutions followed up on the discovery and gathered detailed information on the objects, which produced bright spots on Jupiter. The object that caused the June 3 fireball was estimated to be 30 to 40 feet in diameter - comparable in size to asteroid 2010 RF12 that flew by Earth on Sept. 8. The June 3 fireball released five to 10 times less energy than the 1908 Tunguska meteoroid, which exploded 4-6 miles above Earth's surface with a powerful burst that knocked down millions of trees in a remote part of Russia. Scientists continue to analyze the Aug. 20 fireball, but think it was comparable to the June 3 object. ?Jupiter is a big gravitational vacuum cleaner,? said Glenn Orton, an astronomer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., and co-author of a paper that will appear online Thursday in Astrophysical Journal Letters. ?It is clear now that relatively small objects that are remnants from the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago still hit Jupiter frequently. Scientists are trying to figure out just how frequently.? The lead author of the paper in Astrophysical Journal Letters is Ricardo Hueso of the Universidad del Pais Vasco in Bilbao, Spain. Before amateurs spotted the June 3 impact, scientists were unaware collisions that small could be observed. Anthony Wesley, an amateur astronomer from Australia who discovered a dark spot on Jupiter in July 2009, was the first to see the tiny flash on June 3. Amateur astronomers had trained their backyard telescopes on Jupiter that day because the planet was in a particularly good position for viewing. Wesley was watching real-time video from his telescope when he saw a 2.5-second-long flash of light near the edge of the planet. ?It was clear to me straight away it had to be an event on Jupiter,? Wesley said. Another amateur astronomer, Christopher Go, of Cebu, Philippines, confirmed the flash also appeared in his recordings. Professional astronomers, alerted by email, looked for signs of the impact in images from larger telescopes, including NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile, and Gemini Observatory telescopes in Hawaii and Chile. Scientists saw no thermal disruptions or typical chemical signatures of debris, which allowed them to put a limit on the size of the object. Based on the data, the astronomers deduced the flash came from an object ? probably a small comet or asteroid ? burning up in Jupiter's atmosphere. The object likely had a mass of about 1-4 million pounds, about 100,000 times lighter than another object that hit Jupiter in July 2009. The second fireball on Aug. 20 was first detected by Japanese amateur astronomer Masayuki Tachikawa. It flashed for about 1.5 seconds and left no debris observable by a large telescope. It is interesting to note that while Earth gets smacked by a 10-meter-sized object about every 10 years on average, it looks as though Jupiter gets hit with the same-sized object a few times each month,? said Don Yeomans, manager of the Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL. ?The Jupiter impact rate is still being refined and studies like this one help to do just that.? Previous models of collisions this size on Jupiter had predicted as few as one and as many as 100 such collisions a year. Scientists now believe the frequency must be closer to the high end of the scale. To see images and videos of the two impacts, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/jupiter20100909.html
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-002
NASA'S SPACE SHUTTLE CREW IN WASHINGTON, AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS
WASHINGTON -- NASA Headquarters in Washington will welcome space shuttle Atlantis' STS-129 astronauts for a visit on Monday, Jan. 11, through Thursday, Jan. 14. The crew wrapped up an 11-day journey in space of nearly 4.5 million miles on Nov. 27. Commander Charlie Hobaugh, Pilot Barry Wilmore, Mission Specialists Leland Melvin, Randy Bresnik, Mike Foreman and Bobby Satcher will share mission highlights with NASA employees, school children, college students and the general public while in the nation's capital. Reporters interested in covering the events or interviewing a crew member should contact NASA Public Affairs at 202-358-1100. To kick off their visit, the crew will give a postflight presentation to NASA employees, their families and reporters at 10 a.m. EST, Monday, at NASA Headquarters' James E. Webb Auditorium, 300 E. Street, S.W. The crew's presentation will air live on NASA Television's education channel. On Tuesday, Melvin and Satcher will present mission highlights from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the Howard University School of Science and Mathematics on campus.
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-055
NASA ANNOUNCES CONFERENCE ON THE AMERICAN SPACE PROGRAM FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a conference following President Obama's remarks about the bold new course the administration is charting for NASA and the future of U.S. leadership in human spaceflight on Thursday, April 15, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A diverse group of senior officials, space leaders, academic experts, industry leaders and others who have specific expertise or interests related to the topics of discussion will attend the conference and participate in four concurrent sessions on different aspects of the President's new direction for NASA. Following the President's remarks, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will host a conference overview, beginning at 3:45 p.m. EDT, with Norm Augustine, chair, Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee and John Holdren, assistant to the President for science and technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The conference overview and the four concurrent conference sessions, beginning at 4:25 p.m., will take place in both the Operations and Checkout Building and in the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will host a conference wrap-up with the four panel moderators at 5:40 p.m. in the visitor complex's Astronaut Encounter Theater. Conference Session Topics: * Increasing Access to and Utilization of the International Space Station * Jumpstarting the New Technologies to Take Us Beyond * Expanding our Reach into the Solar System * Harnessing Space to Expand Economic Opportunity The President's remarks and all four conference sessions will be streamed live on the agency's Web site at: http://www.nasa.gov The conference overview and wrap-up are open to pre-credentialed media and also will be available on the agency's Web site. Pre-credentialed media wishing to pre-position live trucks at the Visitor Complex should contact Andrea Farmer at 321-449-4318.
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-024
NASA SETS MEDIA CREDENTIALS DEADLINES FOR NEXT SPACE SHUTTLE FLIGHT
WASHINGTON -- NASA has set media accreditation deadlines for the March space shuttle flight to the International Space Station. Shuttle Discovery and seven crew members are targeted to launch the STS-131 mission on March 18 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Deadlines for international journalists to apply for the shuttle rollout and Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test are as early as 5 p.m. EST Feb. 11. During the 13-day flight, the crew will deliver a multipurpose logistics module with science racks to the space station. Among the shuttle crew is Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, a former high school science teacher who is now a fully trained astronaut. Reporters must apply for credentials to attend the launch or cover the mission from other NASA centers. To be accredited, reporters must work for verifiable news-gathering organizations. No substitutions of credentials are allowed at any NASA facility. Additional time may be required to process accreditation requests by journalists from certain designated countries. Designated countries include those with which the United States has no diplomatic relations, countries on the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism, those under U.S. sanction or embargo, and countries associated with proliferation concerns. Please contact the accrediting NASA center for details. Journalists should confirm they have been accredited before they travel. KENNEDY SPACE CENTER Reporters applying for credentials at Kennedy should submit requests via the Web at: http://media.ksc.nasa.gov Reporters must use work e-mail addresses, not personal accounts, when applying. After accreditation is approved, applicants will receive confirmation via e-mail. Accredited media representatives with mission badges will have access to Kennedy from launch through the end of the mission. The application deadline for mission badges is March 8 for all reporters requesting credentials. Discovery's move from the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, to Launch Pad 39A, planned for Feb. 19, follows its rollover from Orbiter Processing Facility-3 to the VAB, which is targeted for Feb. 12. Launch dress rehearsal activities, known as the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, and related training are scheduled for Feb. 22-24. International journalists must apply by 5 p.m. EST Feb. 11 to allow time for processing, and U.S. media representatives must apply by Feb. 17. Media badges will be valid for both rollout and the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test. Reporters with special logistic requests for Kennedy, such as space for satellite trucks, trailers, electrical connections or work space, must contact Laurel Lichtenberger by March 11 at: laurel.a.lichtenberger@nasa.gov There is no longer free wireless Internet access provided at Kennedy's news center. Work space in the news center and the news center annex is provided on a first-come basis, limited to one space per organization. To set up temporary telephone, fax, ISDN or network lines, media representatives must make arrangements with BellSouth at 800-213-4988. Reporters must have an assigned seat in the Kennedy newsroom prior to setting up lines. To obtain an assigned seat, contact Patricia Christian at: patricia.christian-1@nasa.gov Journalists must have a public affairs escort to all other areas of Kennedy except the Launch Complex 39 cafeteria. JOHNSON SPACE CENTER Reporters may obtain credentials for NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston by calling the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 or by presenting STS-131 mission credentials from Kennedy. Media representatives planning to cover the mission only from Johnson need to apply for credentials only at Johnson. The application deadline for mission badges is March 9 for all reporters requesting credentials. Journalists covering the mission from Johnson using Kennedy credentials must contact the Johnson newsroom by March 9 to arrange workspace, phone lines and other logistics. Johnson is responsible for credentialing media if the shuttle lands at NASA's White Sands Space Harbor, N.M. If a landing is imminent at White Sands, Johnson will arrange credentials. Dryden Flight Research Center Notice for a space shuttle landing at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base in California could be short. Domestic media outlets should consider accrediting Los Angeles-based personnel who could travel quickly to Dryden. Deadlines for submitting Dryden accreditation requests are Feb. 19 for non-U.S. media, regardless of citizenship, and March 24 for U.S. media who are U.S. citizens or who have permanent residency status. For Dryden media credentials, U.S. citizens representing domestic media outlets must provide their full name, date of birth, place of birth, media organization, driver's license number with the name of the issuing state, and the last six digits of their social security number. In addition to the above requirements, foreign media representatives, regardless of citizenship, must provide data including their citizenship, visa or passport number and its expiration date. Foreign nationals representing either domestic or foreign media who have permanent residency status must provide their alien registration number and expiration date. Journalists should fax requests for credentials on company letterhead to 661-276-3566 or e-mail requests to: DrydenPAO@nasa.gov Requests must include a phone number and business e-mail address for follow-up contact. Journalists who previously requested credentials will not need to do so again. NASA PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACTS: Kennedy Space Center: Allard Beutel, 321-867-2468, allard.beutel@nasa.gov Johnson Space Center: James Hartsfield, 281-483-5111, james.a.hartsfield@nasa.gov Dryden Flight Research Center: Leslie Williams, 661-276-3893, leslie.a.williams@nasa.gov
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