[meteorite-list] NASA's New Horizons Plans July 7 Return to Normal Science Operations
http://www.nasa.gov/nh/new-horizons-plans-july-7-return-to-normal-science-operations NASA's New Horizons Plans July 7 Return to Normal Science Operations July 5, 2015 NASA's New Horizons mission is returning to normal science operations after a July 4 anomaly and remains on track for its July 14 flyby of Pluto. The investigation into the anomaly that caused New Horizons to enter "safe mode" on July 4 has concluded that no hardware or software fault occurred on the spacecraft. The underlying cause of the incident was a hard-to-detect timing flaw in the spacecraft command sequence that occurred during an operation to prepare for the close flyby. No similar operations are planned for the remainder of the Pluto encounter. "I'm pleased that our mission team quickly identified the problem and assured the health of the spacecraft," said Jim Green, NASA's Director of Planetary Science. "Now - with Pluto in our sights - we're on the verge of returning to normal operations and going for the gold." Preparations are ongoing to resume the originally planned science operations on July 7 and to conduct the entire close flyby sequence as planned. The mission science team and principal investigator have concluded that the science observations lost during the anomaly recovery do not affect any primary objectives of the mission, with a minimal effect on lesser objectives. "In terms of science, it won't change an A-plus even into an A," said New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute, Boulder. Adding to the challenge of recovery is the spacecraft's extreme distance from Earth. New Horizons is almost 3 billion miles away, where radio signals, even traveling at light speed, need 4.5 hours to reach home. Two-way communication between the spacecraft and its operators requires a nine-hour round trip. Status updates will be issued as new information is available. __ Visit our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/meteoritecentral and the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com https://pairlist3.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Social media might destroy meteorite collecting and selling!
Hello Listers I have noticed an explosion of people insisting they have found a meteorite popping up everywhere on FB. And now ebay is having an influx of fakes being offered on there. Couple years ago it wasnt that often you would see fakes on there, but now its a common theme. I mean people think that its a common occurrence with finding a meteorite, and now they come infused with gold. What should we do? Today I saw 5 fake meteorites being sold on ebay within a couple minutes when I do my ebay search to see whats been posted recently to ebay, that's kinda scary and some of them have bids. I noticed that the more meteorite groups that keep popping up on FB the more people think they have a meteorite and insist its real. These social media groups are fragmenting the core group of meteorites collectors, sellers, and dealers. Couple years ago MC was buzzing, but now its quite on here. Also on FB people are lazy and just hit like LOL and say nothing cause they have to read the next post and like that. Don't get me wrong I dig FB but I think we need to rethink these social media outlets and start chatting more on MC. :) Shawn Alan IMCA 1633 ebay store http://www.ebay.com/sch/imca1633ny/m.html Website http://meteoritefalls.com __ Visit our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/meteoritecentral and the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com https://pairlist3.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Mars Odyssey THEMIS Images: June 29 - July 3, 2015
MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES June 29 - July 3, 2015 o Windstreaks (29 June 2015) http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20150629a o Channel (30 June 2015) http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20150630a o Channel and Delta (01 July 2015) http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20150701a o Wind Erosion (02 July 2015) http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20150702a o Sirenum Fossae (03 July 2015) http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20150703a All of the THEMIS images are archive here: http://themis.asu.edu/latest.html NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in co.oration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. __ Visit our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/meteoritecentral and the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com https://pairlist3.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Mars Rover Opportunity Update: Jun 25-30, 2015
http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/mission/status.html#opportunity OPPORTUNITY UPDATE: Opportunity Gets Back to Work - sols 4059-4064, June 25, 2015-June 30, 2015: Opportunity is on the west rim of Endeavour Crater at the 'Spirit of St. Louis' crater near the entrance of 'Marathon Valley.' The Earth-Mars Solar Conjunction command moratorium and communication blackout is over and the rover has resumed normal operations and science planning. On Sol 4059 (June 25, 2015), the rover conducted targeted remote sensing including capturing a spectacular Phobos transit of the Sun. The next sol had the rover collecting change-detecting imagery to compare to imagery collected before solar conjunction. On Sol 4061 (June 27, 2015), Opportunity bumped just over a meter to reach some new surface targets just the other side of the 'Red Zone' unit that had been previously investigated. Post-dump targeted Panoramic Camera (Pancam) images and a 360-degree Navigation Camera (Navcam) panorama were collected. With the new position, the rover on Sol 4064 (June 30, 2015), used the Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) to brush the surface target, named 'Ryan NYP.' This was followed with a Microscopic Imager (MI) mosaic and a placement of the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) for an evening integration. The rover continues to operate in RAM-only mode while the on-board Flash storage system is being investigated. The rover is otherwise in good health. As of Sol 4064 (June 30, 2015), the solar array energy production was 465 watt-hours with an atmospheric opacity (Tau) of 0.725 and a solar array dust factor of 0.628. Total odometry is 26.33 miles (42.37 kilometers), more than a marathon. __ Visit our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/meteoritecentral and the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com https://pairlist3.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Dawn Journal - June 29, 2015
http://dawnblog.jpl.nasa.gov/2015/06/29/dawn-journal-june-29/ Dawn Journal by Marc Rayman June 29, 2015 Dear Evidawnce-Based Readers, Dawn is continuing to unveil a Ceres of mysteries at the first dwarf planet discovered. The spacecraft has been extremely productive, returning a wealth of photographs and other scientific measurements to reveal the nature of this exotic alien world of rock and ice. First glimpsed more than 200 years ago as a dot of light among the stars, Ceres is the only dwarf planet between the sun and Neptune. Dawn has been orbiting Ceres every 3.1 days at an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). As described last month, the probe aimed its powerful sensors at the strange landscape throughout each long, slow passage over the side of Ceres facing the sun. Meanwhile, Ceres turned on its axis every nine hours, presenting itself to the ambassador from Earth. On the half of each revolution when Dawn was above ground that was cloaked in the darkness of night, it pointed its main antenna to that planet far, far away and radioed its precious findings to eager Earthlings (although the results will be available for others throughout the cosmos as well). Dawn began this second mapping campaign (also known as "survey orbit") on June 5, and tomorrow it will complete its eighth and final revolution. The spacecraft made most of its observations by looking straight down at the terrain directly beneath it. During portions of its first, second and fourth orbits, however, Dawn peered at the limb of Ceres against the endless black of space, seeing the sights from a different perspective to gain a better sense of the lay of the land. [Image] The brightest spots on Ceres. The largest is about four miles (seven kilometers) across. While a picture is worth a thousand words, "wow" might summarize this picture pretty well. The same spots can be seen on the limb in a picture below. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA. And what marvels Dawn has beheld! How can you not be mesmerized by the luminous allure of the famous bright spots? They are not, in fact, a source of light, but for a reason that remains elusive, the ground there reflects much more sunlight than elsewhere. Still, it is easy to imagine them as radiating a light all their own, summoning space travelers from afar, beckoning the curious and the bold to venture closer in return for an attractive reward. And that is exactly what we will do, as we seek the rewards of new knowledge and new insights into the cosmos. Although scientists have not yet determined what minerals are there, Dawn will gather much more data. As summarized in this table, our explorer will map Ceres again from much closer during the course of its orbital mission. New bright areas have shown up in other locations too, in some places as relatively small spots, in others as larger areas (as in the photo below), and all of them will come into sharper focus when Dawn descends further. [Image] There is bright material easily visible inside and around the crater near the upper right. Did the powerful impact that excavated the crater deposit bright material that it brought from elsewhere in space, excavate bright material from underground or create the conditions that subsequently caused some material to become bright? The reason for the greater reflectivity is not yet known. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA. In the meantime, you can register your opinion for what the bright spots are. Join more than 100 thousand others who have voted for an explanation for this enigma. Of course, Ceres will be the ultimate arbiter, and nature rarely depends upon public opinion, but the Dawn project will consider sending the results of the poll to Ceres, courtesy of our team member on permanent assignment there. In addition to the bright spots, Dawn's views from its present altitude have included a wide range of other intriguing sights, as one would expect on a world of more than one million square miles (nearly 2.8 million square kilometers). There are myriad craters excavated by objects falling from space, inevitable scars from inhabiting the main asteroid belt for more than four billion years, even for the largest and most massive resident there. The craters exhibit a wide range of appearances, not only in size but also in how sharp and fresh or how soft and aged they look. Some display a peak at the center. A crater can form from such a powerful punch that the hard ground practically melts and flows away from the impact site. Then the material rebounds, almost as if it sloshes back, while already cooling and then solidifying again. The central peak is like a snapshot, preserving a violent moment in the formation of the crater. By correlating the presence or absence of central peaks with the sizes of the craters, scientists can infer properties of Ceres' crust, such as how strong it is. Rather than a
[meteorite-list] AD - meteorites for sale
Dear meteorites' lovers, I've not been active on the list for quite a long time, setting up a tourism business in Ghana where I settled in 22007. I'm now back to France as the Ebola outbreak has stopped my activities over there, not because Ebola was there (not even 1 case!), but because tourists have stopped travelling to West Africa for about 18 months now... Anyway, I currently have for sale a few goodies that you can see on my website. Please feel free to contact me should any of these look interesting to you, and I'll let you know about s&h cost in addition to the prices stated. Benguerir (look at the bottom of that page): http://meteoriteshow.free.fr/meteoriteshow%20fra/pages%20navigation/pieces_e n_vente-fra.htm This is my last Benguerir, displaying both primary and secondary fusion crustand weighing almost 80g! Some nice unclassified OCs: http://meteoriteshow.free.fr/meteoriteshow%20fra/pages%20navigation/pieces_e n_vente_OCs-fra.htm Chergach: http://meteoriteshow.free.fr/meteoriteshow%20fra/pages%20navigation/pieces_e n_vente_Chergach-fra.htm You may also see some of my HEDs (NWA 5618 and NWA 5611) if you are browsing through my website. I still have to update what is still available as some of the slices displayed have been sold... But still feel free to ask if you are interested, even before I upload the updates! All the best and kind regards to all of you! Frederic Beroud www.meteoriteshow.com IMCA #2491 __ Visit our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/meteoritecentral and the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com https://pairlist3.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] New Horizons Team Responds to Spacecraft Anomaly
http://www.nasa.gov/nh/new-horizons-responds-spacecraft-anomaly New Horizons Team Responds to Spacecraft Anomaly July 4, 2015 Last Updated: July 5, 2015 Editor: Lillian Gipson The New Horizons spacecraft experienced an anomaly the afternoon of July 4 that led to a loss of communication with Earth. Communication has since been reestablished and the spacecraft is healthy. The mission operations center at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, lost contact with the unmanned spacecraft -- now 10 days from arrival at Pluto -- at 1:54 p.m. EDT, and regained communications with New Horizons at 3:15 p.m. EDT, through NASA's Deep Space Network. During that time the autonomous autopilot on board the spacecraft recognized a problem and - as it's programmed to do in such a situation - switched from the main to the backup computer. The autopilot placed the spacecraft in "safe mode," and commanded the backup computer to reinitiate communication with Earth. New Horizons then began to transmit telemetry to help engineers diagnose the problem. A New Horizons Anomaly Review Board (ARB) was convened at 4 p.m. EDT to gather information on the problem and initiate a recovery plan. The team is now working to return New Horizons to its original flight plan. Due to the 9-hour, round trip communication delay that results from operating a spacecraft almost 3 billion miles (4.9 billion kilometers) from Earth, full recovery is expected to take from one to several days; New Horizons will be temporarily unable to collect science data during that time. Status updates will be issued as new information is available. __ Visit our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/meteoritecentral and the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com https://pairlist3.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Meteorite Picture of the Day
Today's Meteorite Picture of the Day: Wellman (f) Contributed by: Paul Swartz http://www.tucsonmeteorites.com/mpodmain.asp?DD=07/05/2015 __ Visit our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/meteoritecentral and the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com https://pairlist3.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
