Aug 22 2003
From The Space Library
A 66-foot-high (20-meter-high) VLS-1 O3 rocket exploded on its launchpad during tests at Alcântara Launch Center in Brazil, delivering “a serious blow to Brazil's nascent space program.” Brazil had hoped to be the first Latin American nation to place a satellite in orbit. According to the Brazilian Ministry of Defence, the accident, which occurred three days before a scheduled launch, killed 21 people, mostly civilian technicians, injured 20 others, and destroyed two research satellites. The rocket had successfully completed two days of tests before the explosion. Brazil's Minister of Defence José Veigas Filho stated that, for unknown reasons, one of the four main motors of the US$2.2 million rocket had ignited, leading to the explosion that destroyed the launchpad. The accident was Brazil's third failed attempt to launch a rocket with a research satellite. (“Brazil's Rocket Test Kills 21,” Orlando Sentinel (FL), 23 August 2003; Stan Lehman, “Brazil Mourns Dead, Vows to Reinforce Space Program,” Houston Chronicle, 25 August 2003.
Scientists studying data produced by the thermal emission spectrometer (TES) on board NASA's Mars Global Surveyor published findings in the journal Science disputing the theory that Mars once had a warm climate. Using the TES, which measured infrared light from rocks, scientists had searched for patterns of color to identify different minerals, particularly carbonates. Carbonates form only in the presence of liquid water. TES data confirmed small concentrations of carbonates in Martian dust, but no large deposits, such as those that would have formed at the bottom of a lake or ocean. Lead author of the article, Philip R. Christensen of Arizona State University, remarked that, according to the data, it was “extremely unlikely” that large bodies of water exposed to the atmosphere for an extended period had ever existed on Mars. Matthew P. Golombek of NASA's JPL commented that the new findings directly contradicted the idea that, at one time, Mars may have been warmer and wetter with a denser carbon-dioxide atmosphere. Previously, scientists had proposed this theory to explain Mars's apparent geological formations resembling the intricate patterns of riverbeds, carved canyons, and delta fans. (Joshua L. Bandfield, Timothy D. Glotch, and Philip R. Christensen, “Spectroscopic Identification of Carbonate Minerals in the Martian Dust,” Science 301, no. 5636 (22 August 2003): 1084; New York Times, “Study: No Past Standing Water on Mars,” 22 August 2003; Kenneth Chang, “New Data Dispute Theory That Mars Had Warm Climate,” New York Times, 22 August 2003.
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