Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/pc/text/daily_2/930608.dfc

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=--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:930608.REL

6/8/93: NASA USES NEW METHOD TO DETECT NEW STARS AND PLANETS

Paula Cleggett-Haleim
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

Mary A. Hardin
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

RELEASE:  93-106


        NASA astronomers investigating how stars are born have used a new
approach to observe the motion of multiple clumps of interstellar gas that are
on the verge of becoming new stars and planetary systems.

        This experiment was performed with the new instruments developed for
NASA's High Resolution Microwave Survey (HRMS), which is searching for radio
signals that may be coming from technological civilizations on planets orbiting
distant stars.

        HRMS is part of NASA's Toward Other Planetary Systems (TOPS) program,
which is designed to find and study planets forming around other stars.

        The Milky Way galaxy contains large, massive interstellar clouds of gas
which are the nurseries for newborn stars.  Astronomers believe gravity causes
these clouds to collapse and fragment and produce smaller, dense clumps of gas.
In time, these clumps collapse to form protostars and ultimately, stars and
planetary systems.

        "We hope that by finding and characterizing these small, dense clumps
of gas we can understand the star formation process and why different types of
stars evolve," said Dr. Thangasamy Velusamy, a member the research team at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif.

        One way to study interstellar clouds is to detect the radio emissions
produced by a variety of molecules found in the gas clouds.

        The JPL scientists observed that radio emissions from a carbon-sulfur
chain molecule, called CCS, stand out much more clearly in some of these gas
clumps.

        "We found that these parcels of gas have very little or no internal
motion, other than random motions of individual molecules at very low
temperatures (20 degrees K). For this reason we believe that we are seeing the
basic cloud fragments from which stars may form," said Dr. William Langer,
leader of JPL's Radio Astronomy Group.

        To detect the radio waves in the star-forming clouds, scientists used
the large 230-foot (70-meter) radio telescope at NASA's Deep Space Network in
Goldstone, Calif., in conjunction with the 2 million channel wide-band spectrum
analyzer that is the heart of the HRMS sky survey system.

        "What made our observations unique was that we were able to take
advantage of the HRMS spectrum analyzer to separate out the motions of
individual clumps of gas, which gave us unprecedented velocity resolution,"
said Langer.

        "Using this instrument with the large radio telescope allows us to
detect small scale structure in a star-forming region and study their motions
with respect to one another.  This is especially important to resolve the
questions of how stars form and why some stars form alone, while others form
companion systems orbiting one another," Langer continued.

        In collaboration with Langer and Velusamy, Drs. Thomas Kuiper, Steven
Levin and Edward Olsen presented their findings before the 182nd national
meeting of the American Astronomical Society at the University of California at
Berkeley.

        Velusamy, Director of the Ooty Radio Observatory in India, is on
sabbatical leave as a U.S. National Research Council senior resident research
associate at JPL.

        The research performed by JPL's Radio Astronomy Group was conducted
under contract with NASA. HRMS is sponsored by the Solar System Exploration
Division, Office of Space Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
     Source:NASA Spacelink    Modem:205-895-0028  Internet:192.149.89.61
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=--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:930608.SHU

KSC SHUTTLE STATUS   6/08/93


        KENNEDY SPACE CENTER SPACE SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT
                        Tuesday, June 8, 1993

KSC Contact: Bruce Buckingham
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Mission: STS-57/Spacehab/EURECA-Retrieval  Orbital Alt. 287 miles
Vehicle: Endeavour/OV-105                 Inclination: 28 degrees
Location: Pad 39-B                        Crew Size: 6
Launch Date/Window: June 20, 9:37 - 10:48 a.m. EDT
Expected KSC Landing Date/Time: June 28, 8:34 a.m.
Expected Mission Duration: 7 days/23 hours (if cryogenics allow)

NOTE: Yesterday NASA set June 20 as the new date for the STS-57 Shuttle
mission.  The countdown is scheduled to begin at 2:30 a.m.  June 17.  The
decision follows the completion of work to remove and replace the liquid oxygen
turbopump from Endeavour's number
two engine.

IN WORK TODAY:
*  Secure new high pressure oxidizer turbopump (HPOTP) to main
   engine 2
*  Reaction control system helium tank pressurization
*  Pressurization checks and trickle purge of Reaction Control
   System and Orbital Maneuvering System

WORK SCHEDULED:
*  HPOTP leak checks (Wednesday)
*  Engine 2 heatshield installation
*  Helium Signature test
*  Flight readiness test
*  Launch countdown preparations
*  Final helium service of SHOOT payload

WORK COMPLETED:
*  Preliminary HPOTP leak checks
*  HPOTP torque checks on main engine 2

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Mission: STS-51/ACTS-TOS/ORFEUS-SPAS      Orbital Alt.: 184 miles
Vehicle: Discovery/OV-103                 Inclination: 28 degrees
Location: OPF bay 3                       Crew Size: 5
Mission Duration: 9 days/22 hours     Target Launch Date: July 17

IN WORK TODAY:
*  Orbiter mid-body, forward and aft closeouts
*  Remove Ku-Band deploy assembly
*  Holddown post closeouts in mobile launcher platform in VAB
*  Aerosurface checks and operations
*  Main landing gear functional tests

WORK SCHEDULED:
*  OMS pod leak structural leak checks
*  Install Ku-Band deploy assembly from Columbia (Wednesday)
*  Close payload bay doors for rollover

WORK COMPLETED:
*  Installed hot water tank
*  Nose landing gear functional checks

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Mission: STS-58/SLS-2              Orbital Altitude: 176 miles
Vehicle: Columbia/OV-102           Inclination: 39 degrees
Location: OPF bay 2                Crew Size: 7
Mission Duration: 14 days
Target launch period: Early/Mid September

IN WORK TODAY:
*  Operations to remove fifth cryogenic tank set
*  Remove main engines
*  Configure payload bay for SLS-2
*  Drag chute installation
*  Remove Ku-Band deploy assembly
*  Preparations to install extended duration orbiter (EDO) pallet

WORK SCHEDULED:
*  Waste containment system checks and tests

WORK COMPLETED:
*  Preparations for engine removal
*  Auxiliary power unit catch bottle drain
*  Orbital maneuvering system hypergolic deservice preparations
*  Remove and replace thruster from left OMS pod

     Source:NASA Spacelink    Modem:205-895-0028  Internet:192.149.89.61
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=--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:930608.SKD

DAILY NEWS/TV SKED 6-8-93

Daily News
Tuesday, June 8, 1993
Two Independence Square, Washington, D.C.
Audio Service: 202/358-3014


 % Preparation continue for STS-51 mission;
 % EUV explorer makes new discoveries;


Technicians at the Kennedy Space Center continue to prepare the Space Shuttle
Discovery for its upcoming mission.  Workers plan to conduct aft compartment
and mid-body closeouts today as well as prepare to replace the Ku-band deploy
assembly.

Other worked scheduled will be to conduct main landing gear functional tests,
perform areosurface checks and operations and close the payload bay doors.

Targeted launch date for the STS-51 mission is mid July. The Space Shuttle
Discovery will carry the ACTS payload with mission duration expected to last 9
days and 22 hours.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

NASA's Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) discoveries were recently presented
at the 182nd National Meeting of the American Astronomical Society which began
yesterday and will continue through today.

EUV explorer's discoveries include finding elements that cover the light from
white dwarf stars, the detection of ionized helium in the local interstellar
gas, the detection of an extreme ultraviolet shadow in the local interstellar
medium and new findings on the mysteries of rare extragalactic objects.

Launched on June 7, 1992, the EUV explorer mission was to make the first survey
of the universe at all wavelengths contained in the EUV band of the spectrum.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


         Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA TV.
Note that all events and times may change without notice and that all times
listed are Eastern.

Tuesday, June 8, 1993

        NOON    NASA Today news program featuring stories on the Space Station
                Re-design Briefing, STS-51 update, a camera for HST and SAMPEX.

Following our noon programing, NASA TV will replay excerpts from yesterday's
Space Station Re-design Briefing.


Wednesday, June 9, 1993

        NOON    NASA Today news program.
        12:15 pm       Aeronautics & Space Report.
        12:30 pm       Aero Oddities.
         1:00 pm       Legacy of Gemini.
         1:30 pm       Mercury: Exploration of a Planet.
         2:00 pm       Launch Box #3
         2:30 pm       NASA Biosatellite Program.
         3:00 pm       Transition Years.
         3:30 pm       Regaining the Edge.


NASA TV is carried on GE Satcom F2R, transponder 13, C-Band, 72 degrees West
Longitude, transponder frequency is 3960 MHz, audio subcarrier is 6.8 MHz,
polarization is vertical.
     Source:NASA Spacelink    Modem:205-895-0028  Internet:192.149.89.61
=--=--=-END-=--=--=

=--=--=START=--=--= NASA Spacelink File Name:930608A.REL

6/8/93: EVIDENCE FOR SOLID WATER FOUND ON JUPITER'S MOON IO

Paula Cleggett-Haleim
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

Diane Farrar
Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif.

RELEASE:  93-107


        Scientists have found water molecules frozen in the surface ices of
Jupiter's moon Io.

        "This is the first strong evidence of solid water on the surface of
this satellite," said Dr. Farid Salama, University of California, Berkeley, who
led the project at NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif.

        The absorption lines for water were found in the infrared spectrum of
Io by scientists onboard NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO).  The KAO has
a unique ability to conduct infrared astronomy while flying above 99 percent of
Earth's atmospheric water vapor.

        "We have finally seen the spectral signature of something for which
we've been looking for years -- water on Io," said Dr. Jesse Bregman of Ames
Research Center, who developed the spectrograph used with the KAO telescope.

        Io is the only body in the solar system, except Earth, known to have
intense volcanic activity.  The Voyager spacecraft discovered active volcanoes
on Io more than a decade ago.  Patches of sulfur and sulfur dioxide frosts
cover the satellite.  The water ice is combined with the more abundant sulfur
dioxide ice on Io's surface.

        Scientists know that Io's thin atmosphere consists mainly of gaseous
sulfur dioxide, but they have been uncertain about the main components of its
surface.  Their most fundamental question concerned the basic element,
hydrogen, Salama said.

        "Although most of Jupiter's satellites are covered with water ice, we
assumed that the 'hot', volcanically active moon Io had lost all of its
original water through vaporization and escape of the gas molecules from the
surface," Sandford said.

        Working with Salama and Bregman in detecting the solid water were Drs.
Louis Allamandola, Scott Sandford, Fred Witteborn and Dale Cruikshank of Ames
Research Center.

        Laboratory work on planetary ices done by Salama, Allamandola and
Sandford in 1988 first suggested the presence of water on Io. Their studies
were initially performed to explain weak bands in the spectra of Io obtained at
ground-based observatories by Witteborn, Cruikshank and Bregman.

        "Our lab work indicated that the weak bands were due to small amounts
of solid water mixed with the dominant frozen sulfur dioxide.

        We predicted that a stronger band could be found by telescope
observations above Earth's atmospheric water vapor," Salama said. "The presence
of water on Io raises important questions about the source of the hydrogen,"
said Cruikshank, an expert in solar system objects and among the first to
identify frozen sulfur dioxide on Io.

        "We want to know whether volcanic vents release the hydrogen or if
proton bombardment produces it within the frozen sulfur dioxide layer," he
said.

        "Our favored picture is that the water results from volcanic activity
on Io and that some water vapor venting occurs, leading to a mixing with sulfur
dioxide in the vent.  When the hot gas mixture expands out of the vent it
condenses into ices that fall back onto Io's cold surface," said Allamandola.

        "Studying the variation of water ice on Io with time and longitude
would tell us if the water correlates with volcanic activity.  We also need to
look at the finer structural details of the new band in Io's spectrum to
understand its thermal history and water concentrations," Salama said.

        NASA's planned next generation airborne observatory -- the
Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy -- would give us the higher
resolution spectra we need," Witteborn said.

        The results are being presented today to the American Astronomical
Society meeting in Berkeley, Calif., and have been submitted to the journal
Icarus. This research was supported by the Space Sciences Division at Ames and
the Office of Space Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

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