[X] My Assistant

[ugordan]

Case in point:  Couplings.  Enjoyed the British version, hated the American interpretation, which thankfully was quickly cancelled.

Hehe. "Red Dwarf" comes to mind as a similar example...

[ljk4-1]

Comet dust brought back to Earth

Scientists around the world eagerly await the arrival of sample particles
from Comet Wild 2, which are being brought back to Earth by the US Stardust
spacecraft on 15 January this year.

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Rosetta/SEM7G5MZCIE_0.html

[ElkGroveDan]

Looks like weather is going to be problem for observers in much of Northern California. There is a window opening up Sunday. Crossing my fingers that it will migrate closer to the reentry time. No matter what, I'll still make the 2-hour drive to Redding, if for nothing more than 2 hours alone with a good cigar. I've learned over the years that you never know when the clouds will part. Also the sonic boom will be better up there.

[ljk4-1]

LAUNCH ALERT

Brian Webb
Ventura County, California

E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net

Web Site: http://www.spacearchive.info

2006 January 13 (Friday) 06:04 PST
----------------------------------------------------------------------

STARDUST REENTRY

NASA's Stardust sample return spacecraft returns to Earth early this
Sunday morning. Just before touchdown in Utah, the craft will reenter
the atmosphere at 01:57 PST and briefly become a manmade meteor.
Despite the presence of bright moonlight, the reentry is expected to
be visible over portions of California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho.

For information on reentry viewing and the Stardust mission, consult
the following sources:

http://reentry.arc.nasa.gov/index.html

http://reentry.arc.nasa.gov/viewingforum.html

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/stardust/status.html

http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html

http://www.nasa.gov/stardust

If you see the reentry or obtain any high quality images of the event,
please forward your reports or photos to the editor at
kd6nrp@earthlink.net.

[odave]

FYI:

NPR's Science Friday had a brief segment on Stardust & NH today, featuring interviews with Don Brownlee and Alan Stern respectively. Audio should be available for download later today.

There wasn't much time for either Don or Alan to get down into details, but it's nice to hear them get air time. Don noted that over 17,000 people have registered for Stardust@home to date.

[Phil Stooke]

Just in time for the fireworks, here is a simple cylindrical projection mosaic of two of the Stardust images of the comet nucleus. The map extends from the north pole (top) to the south pole (bottom) and the ends and centre are on the long axis. The reprojection is done using a simple ellipsoidal shape model. The viewing directions for the two images were too different for them to fit together perfectly, so I will look at an intermediate image to fix some problems at the join.

Phil




Note added on Jan 14: north and south should be reversed! - rotate this image 180 degrees. The illuminated hemisphere is the northern one, not the southern. This now matches the current IAU definition of north. My original comment about north used the older IAU definition. Sorry! Phil

[Bob Shaw]

Just in time for the fireworks, here is a simple cylindrical projection mosaic of two of the Stardust images of the comet nucleus.  The map extends from the north pole (top) to the south pole (bottom) and the ends and centre are on the long axis.  The reprojection is done using a simple ellipsoidal shape model.  The viewing directions for the two images were too different for them to fit together perfectly, so I will look at an intermediate image to fix some problems at the join.

Phil

Phil:

The two words which spring unbidden to my mind are 'polygon' and 'grid'. These may, of course, be merely artefacts of Bruce's ablative landforms...

Bob Shaw

[Guest_PhilCo126_*]

Those at the US Westcoast might be able to see the re-entry
Wish I was there !!!

http://reentry.arc.nasa.gov/viewingarea.jpg

[ElkGroveDan]

Those at the US Westcoast might be able to see the re-entry 
Wish I was there !!!     

http://reentry.arc.nasa.gov/viewingarea.jpg

Yes my previous discussion begins here:

The weather has been "iffy". It was supposed to rain like hell today and then clear tomorrow, so my plan is to head up to Redding (2 1/2 hours) from Southern Sacramento County, with hopes of clearing by 2:00 am.

As of this morning the storm appears to be a big fizzle. My fall back plan if it's going to be cloudy in Redding, CA is to drive to Reno, NV (also 2 1/2 hours). In the event of the latter I'll have to deal with fresh snow and more attentive driving going over I-80 through the mountains, in which case I'll leave early and kill time in a casino.

If I capture anything I'll post it here this time Sunday. I'll be taking digital movies, digital stills, film stills, and analog video. Hopefully something will look good.

**EDIT**

It looks like it will be Redding:
Tonight: Rain showers ending this evening with mostly clear conditions overnight. Low 32F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.

[deglr6328]

Even if you are not close enough to the reentry to SEE it, if you are anywhere on the western half of the US you should still be able to HEAR it. The ionized hot plasma created by stardust's friction with the atmosphere should reflect radio waves from stations over the horizon just like meteor trails do. If you turn to a quiet (no signal) station on the low end of the FM dial (not AM 'cause that's too low in frequency and naturally bounces off the ionosphere anyway, giving over the horizon reception normally) you should be able to hear pings that fade over a few seconds (meteoroids) or for the case of stardust I would imagine, a several minute long whistle or loud high pitched hum AT THE RIGHT TIME. Even if you aren't in western US you can still listen via several online streaming audio stations that are specifically set up to do so. Usually the stations are totally dead with no one else listening (not many people are keen on listening to nothing but static and ping noises for hours on end) but I don't want to give links here for fear of making them too popular (I want to listen too!) They are easy to find though if you really want to listen.

[bigdipper]

I visited Aspen Aerogels' Northborough Massachusetts facility on Friday and came away with some sample material. (thanks Elaine) I also got to see and handle some monolithic aerogel like that on Stardust, AMAZING.

Aerogel has a number of industrial applications as insulation and available to consumers as insulating insoles to keep your feet warm (REALLY WARM).

Thinking of this stuff on MER, Stardust, and my feet at the same time while watching the re-entry on UMSF warms my heart.

[Chmee]

So is any TV station going to air the movie "The Andromeda Strain" on Sunday?

Hopefully, Stardust doesn't land off target and the local doctor opens the capsule!

[lyford]

Hopefully, Stardust doesn't land off target and the local doctor opens the capsule! 

ELkGroveDan should pack some Sterno just to be safe.
Good luck, Dan, and be careful driving back in that weather.

[Phil Stooke]

The map of Wild-2 in a recent post should be rotated 180 degrees (I'll add an edit to that effect) - after checking I found that I had flipped my north and south. Note that this is not caused by the mirror in the imaging system - the map is constructed from images which were already flipped to accomodate that.

Sorry!

Phil

[Bob Shaw]

ELkGroveDan should pack some Sterno just to be safe.
Good luck, Dan, and be careful driving back in that weather.

And aspirin!

Oh, and turn OFF that answering machine!

Bob Shaw