MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 7, Number 50, 29 December 2000. Editors: Dr. David J. Thomas, Math and Science Division, Lyon College, Batesville, AR 72503-2317, USA. dthomas@lyon.edu Dr. Julian A. Hiscox, School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AJ, United Kingdom. J.A.Hiscox@reading.ac.uk Marsbugs is published on a weekly to quarterly basis as warranted by the number of articles and announcements. Copyright of this compilation exists with the editors, except for specific articles, in which instance copyright exists with the author/authors. While we cannot copyright our mailing list, our readers would appreciate it if others would not send unsolicited e-mail using the Marsbugs mailing list. The editors do not condone “spamming” of our subscribers. Persons who have information that may be of interest to subscribers of Marsbugs should send that information to the editors. E-mail subscriptions are free, and may be obtained by contacting either of the editors. Article contributions are welcome, and should be submitted to either of the two editors. Contributions should include a short biographical statement about the author(s) along with the author(s)’ correspondence address. Subscribers are advised to make appropriate inquiries before joining societies, ordering goods etc. Back issues and Adobe Acrobat PDF files suitable for printing may be obtained from the official Marsbugs web page at http://welcome.to/marsbugs. The purpose of this newsletter is to provide a channel of information for scientists, educators and other persons interested in exobiology and related fields. This newsletter is not intended to replace peer- reviewed journals, but to supplement them. We, the editors, envision Marsbugs as a medium in which people can informally present ideas for investigation, questions about exobiology, and announcements of upcoming events. Astrobiology is still a relatively young field, and new ideas may come from the most unexpected places. Subjects may include, but are not limited to: exobiology and astrobiology (life on other planets), the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), ecopoeisis and terraformation, Earth from space, planetary biology, primordial evolution, space physiology, biological life support systems, and human habitation of space and other planets. --------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS 1) SPACE ODYSSEY FOR NASA RENEWED IN 2000 NASA release 00-198 2) HUNT STARTS FOR MARS ROVER LANDING SITES By Leonard David 3) NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas 4) CASSINI MISSION STATUS JPL release 5) GALILEO MILLENNIUM MISSION STATUS JPL release 6) TODAY ON GALILEO JPL releases 7) ISS STATUS REPORT NASA/JSC release 8) MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR STATUS REPORT JPL release --------------------------------------------------------------------- SPACE ODYSSEY FOR NASA RENEWED IN 2000 NASA release 00-198 22 December 2000 NASA has pioneered the future for more than four decades, and the agency's achievements this past year are marked by a spirit of cooperation never-before-seen in the history of space exploration. The dream of the first crew to live on the International Space Station is realized at a time when nations that were once separated by the Cold War are now joined in a project of discovery. The discovery in 2000 of evidence of flowing water on Mars rekindled hopes of finding life on our planetary neighbor. The images from Mars Global Surveyor also helped fuel the excitement for NASA's long- term exploration plans of the Red Planet. “We face a new frontier of possibilities and opportunities in 2001,” said NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin. “NASA is about discovery and that's what we're going to do next year and for many years to come.” For additional information and images from the past year, visit http://www.nasa.gov/newsinfo/topten2000.html. Expedition One crew begins International Space Station adventure The arrival of the Zvezda service module cleared the way for the Expedition One crew to launch a new era in space history October 31. American Commander Shepherd and his Russian crewmates, Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev lifted off in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to make their new home aboard the International Space Station. http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/ Evidence of liquid water found on Mars Imaging scientists using data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor camera spacecraft found features that suggest there may be current sources of liquid water at or near the surface of the red planet. Studies of later images by Mars Global Surveyor revealed layers of sedimentary rock that paint a portrait of an early Mars filled with numerous lakes and shallow seas. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2000/marswater.html Earth mapping mission a stunning success The Space Shuttle Endeavour served as an Earth observatory early in 2000 during STS-99. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission was a breakthrough in the science of remote sensing and produced topographic maps of Earth 30 times as precise as the best global maps in use today. The information collected will help produce one of the most comprehensive and accurate maps of Earth ever assembled. http://www-radar.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/ SOHO sees turbulent side of the sun A week's advance warning of potential bad weather in space is now possible thanks to the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft. With a technique that uses ripples on the Sun's visible surface to probe its interior, SOHO scientists have, for the first time, imaged solar storm regions on the far side of the Sun, the side facing away from the Earth. http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov NASA technology may ease flight delays and enhance runway safety The Aircraft Vortex Spacing System can predict aircraft wake turbulence on final approach, so airliners can be spaced more safely and efficiently. NASA's Runway Incursion Prevention System is designed to prevent runway incursion incidents by giving pilots and air traffic controllers earlier warnings. http://avsp.larc.nasa.gov NEAR has close-call with asteroid Eros The Shoemaker Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission became the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid February 15. NEAR's close encounter with the asteroid Eros brought the spacecraft within 3 miles (5 kilometers) of the space rock. The mission returned stunning images and other data on the object, which is also known as asteroid 433. http://near.jhuapl.edu TRACE illuminates superheated solar mystery Giant fountains of fast-moving, multi-million degree gas in the outermost atmosphere of the Sun revealed an important clue in September to a long standing mystery—the heating source that makes the corona 300 times hotter than the Sun's visible surface. NASA's Transition Region and Coronal Explorer captured dramatic images of the immense coils of hot, electrified gas, known as coronal loops. http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/GSFC/SpaceSci/sunearth/tracecl.htm Largest-ever ozone hole observed A NASA spectrometer has detected an Antarctic ozone “hole” (what scientists call an “ozone depletion area”) that is three times larger than the entire land mass of the United States, nearly 11 million square miles - the largest such area ever observed. Although production of ozone-destroying gases has been curtailed under international agreements, concentrations of the gases in the stratosphere are only now reaching their peak. Researchers believe it may be many decades before the ozone hole is no longer an annual occurrence. http://jwocky.gsfc.nasa.gov/TOMSmain.html Biofeedback technology developed for video games A unique interactive system developed for NASA by Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA, trains people to change their brainwave activity while playing off-the-shelf video games. This mind-over-matter technique is combined with hand-eye coordination to create video games that can actually improve your health. http://oea.larc.nasa.gov/news_rels/2000/00-063.html NASA outlines two decades of Mars exploration By means of orbiters, landers, sample return missions and next- generation super rovers, NASA revamped its campaign to explore Mars. The comprehensive exploration proposal is poised to unravel the secrets of the Red Planet's past environments, the history of martian rocks, its watery legacy and possible evidence of past or present life. http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/ Contact: Bob Jacobs Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1600 --------------------------------------------------------------------- HUNT STARTS FOR MARS ROVER LANDING SITES By Leonard David From Space.com 22 December 2000 Scientists have begun eyeing dozens of prospective landing spots for two Mars robots set to wheel across the martian landscape in early 2004. The twin Mars Exploration Rovers are outfitted with special gear to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. The Athena science payload is expected to open a new chapter in Mars exploration. The first of a series of landing-site workshops is to be held late next month at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. Mars experts have begun wrestling with sites that meet two criteria: locations that yield high science returns and that won't spell double-trouble for the twin spacecraft touchdowns. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/mars_landing_sites_0012 22.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/astrobiology.h tml 29 December 2000 Articles about astrobiology, exobiology and terraformation http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s1.html L. David, 2000. Hunt starts for Mars rover landing sites. Space.com. L. David, 2000. Landing site for British Mars mission selected. Space.com. Astrobiology and extreme environments book list http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/astrobiology_b ooks.html S. L. Gillett, 1996. World-Building. Writer’s Digest Books, Cincinnati. --------------------------------------------------------------------- CASSINI MISSION STATUS JPL release 28 December 2000 NASA's Cassini spacecraft, approaching Jupiter, has been operating trouble-free since its reaction-wheel system was reactivated for controlling the craft's orientation seven days ago. “Everything has been working smoothly, so we're planning to send up commands today to resume all scientific observations,” said Bob Mitchell, Cassini program manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. Increased friction in one of the electrically powered reaction wheels, which are used to rotate the spacecraft, prompted Cassini on December 17 to switch automatically to a different system, one that uses small, hydrazine-fueled thrusters. To conserve hydrazine for Cassini's primary mission at Saturn, managers suspended some scientific observations of Jupiter, beginning December 19. Observations that require pointing the spacecraft, such as taking pictures, were put on hold. Those that do not require pointing, such as magnetic-field measurements, continued. Cassini was put back on the reaction-wheel system for controlling its orientation on December 21, after testing indicated that the above- normal friction had ended. However, the spacecraft has been kept in an attitude with its main antenna pointed to Earth, and observations that require pointing of scientific instruments have remained on hold while reaction-wheel operation is monitored. Processing and analysis has continued on thousands of images and measurements taken by Cassini between early October and mid-December. Cassini's first color movie clip of Jupiter was released this week. It is available online from JPL at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pictures/jupiter and from the web site of the Cassini Imaging Science team at the University of Arizona, Tucson, at http://ciclops.lpl.arizona.edu/. Cassini has three reaction wheels mounted mutually perpendicular to each other and a fourth as a spare. The reaction wheels control the direction Cassini is facing, but not the direction of its trajectory through space. When a motor accelerates a wheel, the spacecraft rotates slowly in the opposite direction. Moving the three wheels in various combinations can point the spacecraft in any desired direction. A probable cause of the friction that temporarily increased the amount of force needed to turn reaction wheel number two is prolonged operation at relatively low speeds, which may have reduced lubrication in the bearings, mission engineers say. Running the wheel at higher speeds in tests later may have restored the distribution of the lubricant. “That's our leading theory, but we may never know for sure,” Mitchell said. As a precaution, Cassini's flight team plans to develop operational procedures for the reaction wheels that will avoid low-speed operations for any significant amount of time, he said. Cassini will pass Jupiter at a distance of 9.7 million kilometers (6 million miles) on December 30, gaining a boost from its gravity that will allow the spacecraft to reach Saturn in July 2004. Additional information about Cassini is available online at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini. Cassini is a cooperative mission of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages Cassini for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. Additional articles on this subject are available at: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0012/28jupmovie/ http://www.cosmiverse.com/space122805.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/508485.asp http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/jupiter_colormovie_ 001229.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- GALILEO MILLENNIUM MISSION STATUS JPL release 28 December 2000 NASA's Galileo spacecraft has successfully flown past Jupiter's moon Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system, while Ganymede was eclipsed in Jupiter's shadow. Engineers at JPL said that Galileo dipped within 2,337 kilometers (1,452 miles) of the surface at 12:25 AM PST today. A passage during Ganymede's eclipse was planned in order to observe auroral glows in that moon's thin atmosphere. “It looks like a nice, calm flyby,” said Jim Erickson, Galileo project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. “The team was prepared for problems, but we're happy without any. And we'll be even happier once we've passed this orbit's closest approach to Jupiter.” Intense radiation near Jupiter poses a risk to the spacecraft's electronics. Galileo's closest approach to Jupiter on this orbit will come at 7:26 PM PST tonight. Information about the status of the spacecraft at that point should be received on the ground about 35 minutes later, via radio signals traveling at the speed of light. The last time Galileo passed close to Jupiter was in May 2000. Galileo has already received three times the cumulative radiation exposure it was designed to withstand and has continued making valuable scientific observations more than three years after its original two-year mission in orbit around Jupiter. At 1:00 AM today, mission controllers at JPL received the signals indicating that the Ganymede flyby had taken place. The signals had been relayed from the Goldstone, CA, and Madrid, Spain, stations of NASA's Deep Space Network, which operates large dish antennas around the world for communications with spacecraft. Galileo's camera and other instruments were set to capture the flyby with images and other observations. If all goes as planned, the data will be transmitted to Earth over the next five months for processing and analysis. As of 9:00 AM today, the spacecraft had recorded 31 percent of the scientific data that its instruments had been programmed to collect during this swing through the inner portion of the Jovian system, from December 26 through December 31. Besides studying Ganymede, Galileo is making more distant observations this week of Jupiter and the moons Io, Callisto and Europa. Some of the observations are planned as part of collaborative studies with NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which will pass Jupiter on Saturday, though at a much greater distance than Galileo is from the planet this week. Gases in portions of Ganymede's thin atmosphere give off a shimmering auroral glow as electrons from Jupiter’s radiation belts strike them. The phenomenon is similar to Earth's Northern Lights and to what happens inside a fluorescent light bulb. Sunlight washes out the glow, so Galileo scientists took advantage of the eclipse to study the glow for information about the chemical makeup of the gases and the structure of Ganymede's magnetic field, which affects the location of the glow. Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system, larger than the planets Mercury and Pluto. It is also the only moon known to have its own internally generated magnetic field. Earlier this month, scientists announced evidence that Ganymede may have a thick layer of melted, salty water under its ice-rich surface. “Ganymede is certainly one of the most interesting places in the solar system, and we're looking forward to see what kind of new surprises Galileo may have to tell us about it,” Erickson said. For more information on the Galileo spacecraft and its mission to Jupiter, please visit the Galileo home page at one of the following URL's: http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo Galileo was launched from NASA's Space Shuttle Atlantis on October 18, 1989. It began orbiting Jupiter on December 7, 1995. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. --------------------------------------------------------------------- TODAY ON GALILEO JPL releases 27 December 2000 Today, Galileo begins the 29th encounter of its mission since arriving at Jupiter in December 1995. This flyby is only the fourth, however, of the Galileo Millennium Mission, a second extension of Galileo's exploration of the Jovian system. The first extension, the Galileo Europa Mission, which ended in December 1999, followed the primary mission, which concluded in December 1997. This passage of the spacecraft through the Jupiter system features a close flyby of Ganymede, which will occur just past midnight tonight PST [see Note 1]. Radio signals indicating that the flyby has occurred, however, will travel for 35 minutes before reaching Earth. It takes that long to hear from Galileo, despite the fact that the spacecraft's signals travel at the speed of light, or 300,000 kilometers per second (186,000 miles per second, or 670 million miles per hour). You see, Jupiter is currently at approximately 4.2 astronomical units from Earth (that is, 630 million kilometers, or 390 million miles; one astronomical unit is equal to the average distance between the Earth and the Sun). Galileo's science instruments will observe a host of phenomena in the Jupiter system over the next few days. Their data will be complemented by observations performed since October by the Cassini spacecraft. Cassini is passing closest to Jupiter on 30 December 2000 at just past 2:00 AM PST. Cassini will be passing Jupiter at a distance of nearly 10 million kilometers (6 million miles), whereas Galileo is passing within 550,000 kilometers (342,000 miles). Data from Cassini's instruments will provide contextual information for Galileo's more detailed observations. The science investigations for this dual-spacecraft campaign include studies of: interactions of the solar wind with the Jovian magnetosphere, Jupiter atmospheric dynamics, structure of Jupiter's rings, Io, and Jupiter's aurora as influenced by the solar wind. In addition, Galileo will be taking advantage of its flyby of Ganymede to continue its observations of the surface and magnetosphere of the largest of Jupiter's moons. First on the observation schedule for this encounter is the continuation of the 14-week survey being performed by the Fields and Particles instruments on Galileo. Comparison with data from the Cassini spacecraft will yield information on the interaction between the solar wind and Jupiter's magnetosphere. In addition, data taken near Ganymede closest approach will provide background information for high rate measurements that are planned to be stored on Galileo's onboard tape recorder. Also, data taken near closest approach to Jupiter, which occurs late tomorrow, will provide scientists will information on the interaction between the Io torus and the Jovian magnetosphere. The torus is a ring-shaped region of intense plasma and radiation activity with its inner edge bounded by Io's orbit. The activity in the Io torus is maintained by Jupiter's strong electric and magnetic fields and Io's constant supply of volcanic particles. Late today, Galileo flies behind Jupiter as seen from Earth. It will take the spacecraft just short of four hours to emerge from behind Jupiter. During that time, the spacecraft's radio signal will be weakened and refracted by Jupiter's atmosphere. The changes in radio signal will be measured by radio scientists here on Earth, which will allow them to learn more about the structure of Jupiter's upper atmosphere. This experiment has been repeated during many of Galileo's encounters. Each time, however, the spacecraft flies behind a slightly different part of Jupiter, giving scientists information on another sample of Jupiter's immense atmosphere. Come back tomorrow for more flyby news! 28 December 2000 On Day Two of Galileo's encounter with the Jupiter system, remote sensing observations of Ganymede, Callisto, Jupiter, and Io start in earnest. The spacecraft flies over the surface of Ganymede at 00:25 AM PST [see Note 1] at an altitude of just under 2326 kilometers (1446 miles) and a speed of 10.5 kilometers per second (6.5 miles per second, or 23,500 miles per hour). Galileo also makes its closest approaches to Callisto, Jupiter and Io at 5:42 AM, 7:26 AM, and 7:33 PM PST, at ranges of 2.3 million kilometers (1.5 million miles), 535,000 kilometers (333,000 miles), and 921,000 kilometers (573,000 miles), respectively. First on today's observation schedule is a 60-minute high-resolution recording centered on closest approach to Ganymede and made by the Fields and Particles instruments. The recording will capture measurements of the plasma, dust, and electric and magnetic fields surrounding Ganymede, which will allow scientists to obtain a better understanding of how the magnetic fields and magnetospheres of both Ganymede and Jupiter interact. Ganymede is the only planetary moon known to have its own internally-generated magnetic field. The Fields and Particles instruments are comprised of the Dust Detector, Energetic Particle Detector, Heavy Ion Counter, Magnetometer, Plasma Detector, and Plasma Wave instrument. Two Fields and Particles instruments go solo during the encounter. First, the Plasma Wave (PWS) instrument performs an observation dedicated to the detection of chorus emissions. A chorus signal is seen in the electromagnetic fields measured by PWS when plasma is being accelerated by certain kinds of wave-particle interactions. By detecting and analyzing chorus emissions, PWS scientists hope to understand more about how magnetospheres operate in the Jupiter system. Second, Galileo's Dust Detector obtains measurements as it moves through the paths of Jovian dust streams. Scientists will use measurements to establish the velocity of the particles and deduce information on the processes responsible for the dust streams, which originate at Io and fling dust particles outward from Jupiter at more than 100 kilometers per second (62 miles per second, or 224,000 miles per hour). Throughout the day, the Photopolarimeter Radiometer instrument (PPR) makes eight observations of Ganymede. The first is a scan of temperatures from south to north across the night side of Ganymede. The data captured by the observation will allow scientists to determine how quickly different types of terrain on Ganymede cool off at night. PPR then follows with a temperature scan of Ganymede's north pole, which is likely to be one of the coldest places on Ganymede and therefore may harbor some exotic materials. PPR's next four observations are focused on mapping surface temperatures while Jupiter eclipses Ganymede from the Sun. Similar to the previous south-north scan, PPR looks at various heavily-cratered regions in order to determine how different types of surface cool off while in darkness. These scans will also provide scientists with data on the fine structure and composition of these regions. The regions captured in these scans are named Tros, Barnard, Perrine, and Nicholson. Once Ganymede emerges into sunlight, PPR performs two more observations. The first is comprised of three east-west scans, and the second is a complete map of Ganymede's disk. These observations are designed to study how quickly the surface warms up with the return of the sun. In addition, the temperatures from the global map will be compared to a map of temperatures of the same regions taken on Galileo's previous encounter, when the sun had been shining on the surface for many hours. Galileo's Solid State Imaging camera (SSI) makes three observations of Ganymede today. The first is taken while Ganymede is eclipsed from the Sun by Jupiter and is designed to capture auroral activity. Scientists hope to measure the brightness of the aurora at visible wavelengths, and the vertical structure and latitudinal and longitudinal distribution of the emissions. SSI's next observation captures color views of Ganymede's polar cap boundary, including the regions of the Tros crater and Perrine. These images will allow scientists to examine the distribution of craters in the region and fill a gap in data taken by the Voyager spacecraft during their flybys in the late 1970s. Finally, SSI makes an observation of Ganymede's Dardanus Sulcus region. This observation bridges a gap in data from the Voyager encounters, and an earlier flyby by Galileo made during its primary mission. The observation will provide better resolution coverage than either of those opportunities in addition to capturing an interesting strike-slip feature that cuts across the Dardanus region. The Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) makes five observations of Ganymede. The first represents the final NIMS data set of Ganymede taken at moderate spatial resolution. The information captured by this observation will be used in conjunction with data acquired in previous orbits by NIMS and SSI to investigate the detailed composition of Ganymede's surface. The next four observations capture high-resolution maps of Ganymede's entire disk. These data will be used to perform global studies of material types and their distribution. PPR is also the first to take a look at Jupiter today. In a series of observations, PPR looks at Jupiter's North Equatorial Belt, Great Red Spot, and a north-south strip. PPR's North Equatorial Belt observation will also serve to determine if there are temperature differences between Jupiter's hot spots and surrounding belt regions. NIMS also looks at Jupiter in today's proceedings. In five different observations, NIMS captures two scans of the Great Red Spot, one of Jupiter's North Equatorial Belt, one of Jupiter's North Temperate Zone, and one of a hotspot. These observations are designed to allow scientists to study the composition and dynamics of the clouds in these different regions. NIMS is the only instrument that takes a look at Callisto during this encounter. The observation is intended to capture data on the composition of Callisto's surface. PPR and NIMS also look at volcanic Io during the latter half of the day. In three observations, PPR captures polarimetry measurements of Io's surface. These measurements will allow scientists to learn about surface texture and small-scale surface properties. NIMS, on the other hand, performs two observations. Both are designed to monitor volcanic activity on Io. These observations will provide science planners with information needed to plan observations for future Galileo flybys of Io. Whew, that was a long day! Come back tomorrow to learn what else is on Galileo's To Do List. 29 December 2000 The spacecraft makes its closest approach to Europa today, the third day of the 29th encounter of Galileo's mission at Jupiter. Closest approach occurs at 1:37 AM PST [see Note 1] at a distance of 794,000 kilometers (493,000 miles). Throughout the day, Galileo's instruments make observations of Europa, Io, and Jupiter. Galileo also takes a break from its science endeavors to perform two engineering activities. In the early morning, the spacecraft executes the first part of a standard gyroscope test. In the early evening, the spacecraft performs part two of the test, which involves moving the spacecraft's scan platform to examine how the gyroscopes react to the movement. The scan platform houses all of Galileo's remote sensing instruments and is used to point those instruments at targets of interest (like Jupiter and its moons). The Photopolarimeter Radiometer (PPR) and Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) are again major players in today's observation suite, performing 27 of the day's 29 observations. The Solid-State Imaging camera (SSI) performs the remaining two observations. The first SSI observation is a global color mapping observation of Io at low phase angle. SSI's second observation is also global in nature, and is timed so as to capture the Prometheus volcanic plume in profile on the edge of Io's disk. The shape and structure of the plume will be compared with that seen in previous Voyager and Galileo images. PPR's six observations consist of four observations of Europa and two of Io. All of these observations measure the polarization of light reflected off of the surface of these Jovian moons. Like the polarimetery observations made yesterday, these data will allow scientists to learn about the surface texture and small-scale surface properties. NIMS performs the remaining 21 observations scheduled for today. One is of Europa, while the other 20 are dedicated to studying Jupiter's atmosphere. NIMS' observations of Jupiter's atmosphere cover the North Temperate Zone (1), the South Tropical Zone (3), Jupiter's aurora (10), Jupiter's limb (5), and a white oval (1). North Temperate and South Tropical Zone observations will provide scientists with information on cloud activity, and thermal and compositional characteristics. When compared to similar measurements from previous orbits, they can give insight into the change in these characteristics over long time scales. The auroral observations are designed to study the auroral emissions at Jupiter's south polar region. Auroral emissions are much like Earth's northern lights. NIMS' limb observations are designed to look right at the edge of Jupiter's disk and will measure how thermal emissions vary with altitude in the upper cloud levels in Jupiter's atmosphere. Finally, the white oval observation is designed to look at the last white oval. The three long-lived white oval features have merged over the course of the last two years into a single storm. White ovals are storms that occur between two adjacent zonal jet streams, and have lasted for decades. The data obtained in this observation will provide scientists with more information on the composition and cloud dynamics of the region. Galileo still has a few days of exciting observations ahead of it. Come back tomorrow and learn what is in store for the weekend! Note 1. Pacific Standard Time (PST) is 8 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The time when an event occurs at the spacecraft is known as Spacecraft Event Time (SCET). The time at which radio signals reach Earth indicating that an event has occurred is known as Earth Received Time (ERT). Currently, it takes Galileo's radio signals 35 minutes to travel between the spacecraft and Earth. For more information on the Galileo spacecraft and its mission to Jupiter, please visit the Galileo home page at one of the following URL's: http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo --------------------------------------------------------------------- ISS STATUS REPORT NASA/JSC release 26 December 2000 More than three weeks after it was undocked and placed in a parking orbit, an unmanned Russian Progress resupply vehicle was manually redocked to the International Space Station (ISS) this morning to be used as a trash receptacle and a fuel farm by the Expedition One crew. Operating from a control panel in the ISS' Zvezda command center, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko guided the 7˝ ton Progress in for a smooth linkup to the Zarya module's nadir, or downward facing docking port at 5:03 AM Central time (1103 GMT) as the two craft flew over northwest Mongolia, just south of the Russian-Mongolian border. The Progress, which was first launched on November 16 and manually docked by Gidzenko on November 18 after a failure of the ship's automatic Kurs guidance system, was undocked on December 1 and placed in a parking orbit to enable Russian flight controllers to correct a software glitch which prevented its automatic docking. With Commander Bill Shepherd and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev looking on, Gidzenko deftly maneuvered the Progress in for its redocking from a distance of just under 200 meters, offering the crew a place in which to stow trash and have residual fuel available for any maneuvers which may be required prior to its final undocking the day after the launch of the Shuttle Atlantis next month on the STS-98 mission to bring the U.S. Laboratory Destiny to the ISS. Within two hours after the redocking, Krikalev equalized pressure between the Progress and the Zarya and opened hatches between the two vehicles to enable the crewmembers to deactivate the Progress' systems. All ISS systems are functioning in good shape. The crew will spend the rest of the week unloading ballast from the Progress, removing its Kurs automated docking system for analysis by engineers back on Earth, performing biomedical experiments and reviewing flight plans for the January Shuttle flight to install Destiny to the ISS' Unity module. Over the weekend, the crew spent a quiet Christmas, talking to their families, opening presents on board and receiving a holiday greeting on Christmas Day from NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin. The three crewmembers, who are in their 56th day in space and their 54th day aboard the Station, will spend a quiet New Year's weekend, with a light work schedule on tap and additional conferences with their families planned to usher in 2001. The next written Expedition One status report will be issued on Wednesday, January 3, or sooner, if developments warrant. --------------------------------------------------------------------- MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR STATUS REPORT JPL release 20 December 2000 Launch / Days since Launch = November 7, 1996 / 1505 days Start of Mapping / Days since Start of Mapping = April 1, 1999 / 629 days Total Mapping Orbits = 7,988 Total Orbits = 9,591 Recent events The spacecraft continues to operate nominally in performing the beta- supplement daily recording and transmission of science data. The mm096 sequence executed successfully from 00-349 (12/14/00) through 00-351 (12/16/00). The mm097 sequence has performed well since it started on 00-352 (12/17/00). It terminates on 00-355 (12/20/00). The mm098 sequence, successfully uplinked on 00-354 (12/19/00), begins executing on 00-356 (12/21/00). Science Campaign F, which started on 00-345 (12/10/00), finishes tomorrow 00-356 (12/21/00). MGS received 24-hour/day coverage during the campaign, greatly increasing the amount of high-resolution real-time science data that it transmitted to Earth. The first of two back-to-back Radio Science Occultation Egress Scan experiments was successfully completed yesterday 00-354 (12/19/00). The second experiment started today and terminates tomorrow 00-356 (12/21/00). Spacecraft health All subsystems report nominal health. Uplinks There have been 19 uplinks to the spacecraft during the last week, including new star catalogs and ephemeris files, instrument command loads, and the sequences cited above. There have been 5,026 command files radiated to the spacecraft since launch. Upcoming events The mm099, mm100, mm101, and mm102 background sequences will be uplinked on 00-357 (12/22/00), 00-361 (12/26/00), 00-364 (12/29/00), and 01-002 (01/02/01) respectively. Two Delta Differential One-Way Range (DDOR) experiments will be conducted on 01-009 (1/9/01). Data from these DDOR experiments will assist the Mars Odyssey Program in calibrating the interplanetary navigation system. Radio Science Occultation Egress Scans, scheduled for 01-010 (1/10/01) through 01- 011 (01/11/01), will be commanded by the mz068, & mz069 mini- sequences. --------------------------------------------------------------------- End Marsbugs, Volume 7, Number 50.