As a matter of fact, I see the story is on the home page of Sky & Tel's
website today:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/

Hi, all,

A fellow amateur astronomer in the Boston area, John Boudreau, has been getting some neat images of Mercury, including some that show longitudes not mapped by Mariner 10. He's put together a few of them into a movie that shows Mercury's rotation and changing phase.

Before you go to check out the link, I'd like to remind you that this was all done using a backyard telescope and an inexpensive webcam - equipment readily affordable to hobbyists, using image stacking techniques that were pioneered by amateur astronomers, and that are now being refined by people like John. And perhaps most remarkably, his imaging was done from sites in the densely-populated suburb of Saugus, Mass. - not exactly an area known for dark skies and good seeing!

http://home.comcast.net/~jeboud/mercury.htm

- John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

The European Space Agency has just released a list of candidate missions for the 2015-2025 time frame. Among then is a mission to explore Titan and Enceladus:

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM1IQAMS7F_index_2.html

Is it too ambitious? And how does it jive with the Flagship missions NASA is thinking about?

- John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

Ugordan, I use lunarpages.com for web hosting. They give you 350 GB (!) of storage for hosting for under $100 / yr. Try http://www.lunarpages.com.

- John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

Has anyone seen that this has been picked up by the mainstream media? I don't even see it in the NY Times Science Section, which is surprising; they're usually on top of things like this.

Skillfully handled, this could be further justification for a new Flagship Mission to Saturn!

- John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

For me, two quotes come to mind as I see these Iapetus images coming in, particularly the high-resolution ones. The first is from the Voyager 1 flyby of Jupiter in 1979. Scientists were trying to make sense of the complex forms they were seeing for the first time on high-resolution pictures of Io. All Larry Soderblom could think to say about one image was, "It looks like a bright thing next to a dark thing".


The other is a koan from the late Alan Watts:

Q. Is a zebra a white horse with black stripes painted on it or a black horse with white stripes painted on it?

A. Neither. It's an invisible horse with white AND black stripes painted on it!


- John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

Don't forget that both of them have ring systems - radically different from each other and from those of Saturn. Either one would teach us a lot.

The existence of craters on Mars seemed to come as a total surprise during the Mariner 4 flyby of the planet in 1965, and led to the view that Mars was more Moon-like than Earth-like. But there were some skilled observers using large observatory telescopes that claimed in the 1940's and 1950's to be able to see craters on Mars, among them E.E. Barnard, R.B. Baldwin, C.L. Tombaugh, and E.J. Opik. If my memory serves me well, Steven James O'Meara, whose eyesight is lengendary, claims to be able to see them now; I wouldn't doubt it.

John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

JTN,

I agree with you. Starry Night shows the Titan transit at 17:53:00 UT on Dec. 25, almost exactly 12 hours later than Lord Lindsay states.

John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

And here's the view using Starry Night Pro (I turned on the equatorial grid on Jupiter so you could see it, otherwise, you wouldn't):

Seems to be pretty much in agreement with djellison's.

- John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

S-S-So ... has anybody heard anything?

- John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

Cool. By my count, that still leaves 15 known satellites of Jupiter and 21 of Saturn without names. The IAU certainly has its work cut out for it!

- John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

I'm happy to have it, too.


-John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

I came across one of those; what's more, most of us will be alive when it happens. Unfortunately Cassini will probably be long gone; maybe a Titan Explorer will see it.

On January 12, 2032, Earth will partially occult Venus as seen from Saturn. Here's an image I made in Celestia, depicting the event as seen from Enceladus. There are places near Saturn space where the occultation is total, but I don't think that will be visible from any of the moons. More to follow ...

John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

Please, please, please, can we have an updated map?

- John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

I'm using Starry Night Pro 6, and I get the same answers as James.

Furthermore, can anyone verify the following?

Just as Jupiter is ending its transit, Ganymede appears (2080/05/21 3:43 UT) and it too begins a transit. That transit concludes at 22:20 UT on the 22nd. Meanwhile, Europa begins a transit at 17:12 UT, passes less than 3" from Ganymede (18:33 UT on 2080/05/21) while both are still on the Sun's disk (!), and leaves at 01:24 UT on the 22nd. I hope I'm not pushing the accuracy of this software past its reasonable limits...

- John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

And here's the winning cover:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features/feature20061128.cfm

Congratulations, all! Great job!

- John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

This is unusual in that Neptune is the only other planet with true ring 'arcs'. This is the first one found at Saturn. It's also orbiting well inside the E ring; a ring arc inside a complete (though admittedly diffuse) ring - that's also a first. I wonder if its in some kind of resonant orbit with Methone; I guess it would have to be, if it's at the same distance from Saturn as Methone. It's hard to believe that a 3-km-across object could have such a huge influence, but I know that celestial mechanics can do some weird things, sometimes.

- John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

It wouldn't be too surprising if it was dead, would it? It's been one of the most successful Mars missions ever, and has been incredibly productive for 10 years. It probably decided to pass the baton to MRO.


John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

I don't understand why a Saturn impact trajectory would neccessarilly have to go through the rings. Giving it just the slightest inclination at the last Titan encounter would bring the spacecraft - er, "safely" may not be the most appropriate word here given the end result - above or below the rings and into Saturn's atmosphere in that same N or S hemisphere.

Actually, I like the idea of putting into a more distant orbit around Saturn. That would maximize the science until the very end, rather than putting Cassini on a long interplanetary cruise during which it's remote sensing capabilities would be wasted except for a rare flyby (by which time the spacecraft might be inoperable, anyway).

John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

Actually, Rakhir, you had the story right - just the wrong spacecraft:


http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=1226



- John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

Volcanopele,

I'm going to forward your message to the Cassini-Huygens mailing list, which I moderate. I'm sure we'll get a noticeable uptick in that number!




- John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

When I first came across this I thought it was a hoax. It's not. But it might be the door to a parallel universe, in which we actually become an interplanetary civilization. Enjoy!

- John Sheff
Cambridge, MA
jsheff@comcast.net






NASA sets Orion 13 for Moon Return`
By Daniel Handlin / Chris Bergin, 10/11/2006 10:38:00 PM


© NASA
NASA has drawn up its Constellation mission manifest, which sets out the dates and full mission baselines for the test flights, International Space Station (ISS) manned and unmanned missions, plus the first flights to the moon.

The highlight of the manifest is Orion 13 - a 21 day mission, launching in December, 2019 - which will see three members of a four man crew set foot on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972.


NASASpaceflight.com has exclusively obtained the fascinating manifest document and presentation for the Constellation program, including scheduling of flight events from the present through 2020.

NASA currently plans the first manned flight of the Orion CEV in September 2014 and the first human lunar return mission in approximately December 2019, shortly after a manned mission to the moon, with an unmanned descent to the lunar surface.

Below is a round-up of the main elements of what is a wealth of information into NASA's change back to exploration past Low Earth Orbit.

The manifest reflects a precise schedule for all NASA Constellation flights through the end of the next decade. Test flights will continue through 2014, with ISS missions occurring through the middle of the next decade and lunar test flights beginning in 2018.

The first test flight, called Ares 1 in the new document, is the previously known Ares I-1 test flight that will test the first stage of the CLV with four active SRM segments and an inert fifth segment an upper stage. The 2-minute flight will land in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Ares 1 flight is to be followed with a series of ascent abort tests at White Sands from 2009-2011. The AA-1 abort test will occur in May 2009 and go to transonic speeds. AA-2 is set for August 2010 and will test the maximum dynamic pressure region (max Q) on the vehicle; AA-3 in February 2011 will be an ascent abort at a non-nominal altitude, while Ascent Abort flight 4 will be in September 2011 from high altitude.

The first test of an operational Ares CLV is to occur in September 2012 and will include a 5-segement SRB and operational upper stage with 1 J-2X engine. This Ares 2 flight will carry a boilerplate CEV and LAS and be suborbital. This will be followed up by the orbital Orion 3 flight test in September 2013, which will carry the first unmanned CEV and a Launch Abort System to an ISS-inclination orbit. The mission is scheduled to last for about two weeks.

The Orion 4 flight will carry another unmanned CEV in June 2014. This dress rehearsal for the first manned mission will include rendezvous (but not docking) operations at the ISS.

The first manned CEV flight will be Orion 5 in September 2014. Carrying a crew of two, possibly to the ISS, this will also be a flight of about two weeks and will have at least a basic EVA capability. The first Orion cargo flight will occur in 2014 as well: the Orion 6 flight, carrying unpressurized cargo, is scheduled for a 90-day mission launching in December 2014.

The first operational ISS mission is Orion 7 in May 2015. This 180-day flight will be the first to test the full duration of the CEV and will carry both cargo and a crew rotation. Orion 7 will also be the first CEV with a crew of three. Orion 8, also scheduled for May 2015, and Orion 9, in July 2015, are both 30-day unmanned cargo flights to the ISS.

The next manned mission is scheduled to be Orion 10, launching in September 2015. This will be another six-month crew rotation mission with a crew of three. Orion 11 is another of the 30-day unpressurized cargo mission, with a launch date set for December 2015.

All of the Constellation flights through Orion 11 will use LC-39B and the new MLP previously described on this website.

Lunar flight tests are to begin in earnest after Orion 11. The maiden flight of the massive Ares V cargo launch vehicle, Ares V-1, is scheduled to occur in June 2018. This vehicle will use two 5-segment SRBs and an operational core stage with 5 RS-68s, but will hold ballast instead of an EDS (Earth Departure Stage).

The LSAM 2 flight in June 2019 will be the first LSAM flight and the first launch of the full Ares V vehicle with an EDS. LSAM 2 will occur in conjunction with Orion 12, a manned CEV flight with a crew of four. Orion 12 will be the first flight of the Block 2 Lunar CEV.

Orion 12 and LSAM 12 will execute a mission similar to the Apollo 10 lunar dress rehearsal. The CEV will dock with the EDS and LSAM and enter low lunar orbit (LLO). The LSAM will perform an uncrewed lunar descent and landing, and then launch to rendezvous with CEV in LLO.

The CEV crew will remain in lunar orbit during Orion 12; the CEV will be powered down to test a powerup procedure commanded from the LSAM (as will be necessary during future flights when the CEV is left unmanned in a quiescent mode).

Orion 12 will thus be the first human lunar mission since 1972 and will also the first in-space test of the LIDS docking system.

Orion 12-LSAM 2 will be a major milestone for the demonstration of the autonomous capabilities of the Constellation spacecraft, as such a complex series of maneuvers as descent, landing, ascent, and rendezvous with a manned vehicle have never been performed autonomously by one spacecraft. The flight is scheduled to last for approximately 21 days. It will also include a test of EVA transfer between the Orion and LSAM.

The first Constellation lunar landing will be LSAM 3 - Orion 13 in December 2019. It will carry a crew of three to the lunar surface in the LSAM, leaving one astronaut in the lunar orbit in the CEV. It is unclear whether this represents a shift in general policy to leaving one astronaut in the CEV during lunar sortie missions or is simply a precaution for the first lunar surface return.

Another lunar landing, LSAM 4 and Orion 14, are scheduled for June 2020, though no detailed information exists for that flight as yet. All lunar flights are initially launched to 28.5 degree orbits.

Several interesting things can be noted from this flight manifest. No further ISS flights are listed after Orion 11, which could point to the direction change towards COTS becoming the primary transportation in relation to the ISS.

The numbering of the next Orion flight in 2019 as Orion 12 implies that there are no further ISS flights planned subsequently to Orion 11, and probably reflects the US policy to exit the ISS around 2016. This also suggests that the bulk of Constellation activity and funding from 2015-2019 will consist of development of the LSAM and Ares V.

It is interesting to note that the ISS capability is being developed for relatively few operation flights. As previously reported here, NASA�s intention appears to be to build two new MLPs for Ares V. It also seems likely that NASA desires to have Complex 39A ready to support Constellation by 2018, as all flights after Orion 11 are listed as departing from either LC39A or B, in contrast to Ares 1 through Orion 11, which all launch from LC39B.

Finally, the Orion 12 and 13 crews are referred to as 'Altair Orion'. It is possible that the Altair name, originally reported by NASASpaceflight in February, thus refers to the Block 2 CEV.

Sure, and by then all the Titan maps will be gone, and I will have waited all that time for Nothing!


-


John Sheff
Cambridge, MA

It doesn't say, but the Solar System Simulator shows the occultation - of the planet, not the rings - occurring from about 7:00 UTC to 23:00 UTC on the 15th, which is 3:00 AM EDT -7:00 PM EDT on the 15th. And it does say the images will be sent to Earth on the 17th. They should be spectacular!