Re: [meteorite-list] Space leaders work to replace lunar basewithmanned asteroid missions
Hi Sterling, List, While the international politics of Iraq is out of my league to comment on, I must comment how I was very saddened to read this article. It was 2012, then 2015, then 2020 or 2025 ... there is a trend here and it is crap for most all of us. Let me tell you IMO what's broke and really needs fixing - and has little to nothing to do with whover has free rent in the White House at the moment. (Yes, I think the rent should be declared as income for the portion that is used as living quarters per IRS statues whenever anyone receives free rent. Just not to be hypocritical about how the tax code treats the rest of your hard working residents). I bet even the Queen has to pay something for Buckingham Palace by now. What's broke: Here are the postulates: 1. There is limited money to explore anything where people can't reach to throw their garbage economically. 2. The "Moon Program" sucks resources from the edge of exploration - the sophisticated space probes we love. 3. Bush is already going lame so it becomes in style to relate the concept to establishing a base on the Moon with him. The conclusion: Free for all, special interestes shouting "we can do it better". The result: Benchmarks get pushed even 5 years further into the future and half of the list will be dead by the time anything might ever happen. I remember reading about this bexact same dilemma with the Space Shuttle program. Yes - 1960's technology but the bus that mostly is building the ISS, delivering satellites like cutting cookies, and able to deliver Hubbles etc. The Moon is the safest, closest challenge to practice landing and liftoffs. Things important for Mars, for example. We need ships and program and career security, imagination and challenge - not budgets. What a grand vehicle being developed capable to bring men and women to new worlds. Destiny should be a given - people must colonize the Moon. If we screw up the Earth which is very likely where are we going to find safe haven? On the Asteroids and Mars? In some crater on Mercury? I think it is obvious - the Moon. The "scientists" who we all know are a very unselfish bunch, tell us what is best which happens to time perfectly to get them through retirement. And all of our money today, many who pay the highest taxes will never see anything concrete as far as the next giant step for mankind. To die knowing the fast paced world really never got off the ground like rodents in a ship continually taking on more water... Right about now, I am feeling defrauded. I grew up to believe that space was our generations' frontier, and the result is that a luke warm support of Bush or worse yet a bunch of dueling scientists who will push this way off even more and screw up the funding already in place, which no doubt will be earmarked as financial aid to "friends" during the whole delay and will diusappear without a drop and the Discovery-class program will procede the same as it would have anyways. Why must they cut down challenges instead of go find their own. Sour Grapes, I think play a part in this, but not all. I just hope the next leader of the States does something like JFK would. Because the way things are going, the leadership of NASA and bosses have failed utterly to grab the imagination of a country more schooled than ever in history, and would prefer to spend its time infighting instead of putting on the company shirts and contributing to a national effort of excellence on all fronts. This is the complete failure and it is time o rake them over the coals for their ineptitude. I can just see the message to Junior High School children today. Those dudes have no direction, spend the day arguing, money is difficult and your career isn't safe and the goal changes every time you turn around. Where's the "I Dream of Jeannie" and excitement gone? Inspiration at its best. It is time to kick enough ass there to land them across the solar system. At least when the Air Force controlled Apollo successes and failures mesmerized the country monthly. I'm going to hang on to my meteorites, because suddenly I'm realizing that they are the closest I'll ever get and to trust a bureaucracy is just a pipe dream. Sorry, just a personal opinion. Best wishes, Doug - Original Message - From: "Sterling K. Webb" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2008 1:29 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Space leaders work to replace lunar basewithmanned asteroid missions Hi, All, The U.S. is already spending an estimated 2.7 to 3.5 Trillion Dollars on a Lunar Base, an extensive outpost in a very hostile environment. The only problem is: it's located in Iraq. Sterling K. Webb -- - Original Message - From: "Darren Garrison" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2008 8:35 AM Subject: [meteorite-list] Space le
[meteorite-list] AD: Last Lunar Meteorite Extravaganza & 5 Rare Meteorite Stamps
Hi List. I just put up my Last Lunar Meteorite Extravaganza & 5 Rare Meteorite Stamps. Very Sweet Package to look at! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=160200196216&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=006 Thank for looking and have a great week ahead. Sincerely Don Merchant IMCA #0960 __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Rocks from Space Picture of the Day - January 20, 2008
Great Pics! Jerry Flaherty - Original Message - From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2008 8:49 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Rocks from Space Picture of the Day - January 20, 2008 Hi Jerry, I should of been more clear in my description. That is not a progression, just three different shots in a variety of magnification levels. Paul (Meteorite Times) will be posting a bunch of shots to my Micrograph Gall ery of this Angrite, all sorted by technique and magnification level. Those should be posted by Tuesday or Wednesday. Thanks, Tom In a message dated 1/20/2008 6:22:03 P.M. Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Hi Tom, question? Did you change the orientation of the slide for each pic? I'm having a hard time following the progression. Georgous. Jerry Flaherty - Original Message - From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2008 8:15 AM Subject: [meteorite-list] Rocks from Space Picture of the Day - January 20, 2008 http://www.rocksfromspace.org/January_20_2008.htmlAl **Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp0030002489 __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Al Haggounia 001 question
Hi list, This is Tom Phillips. I don't want to waist your time but I had a question concerning Al Haggounia 001. I have read what has been written about the weathering state of Al Haggounia 001 and it has been said that it is likely not fossil but rather a highly water susceptible material (easily weathered) that resided in water for a long time. I know this is not a universally accepted scenario but one with some significant credentials behind it! If this scenario was correct, would it be possible for paired meteorites that did not spend time in water, collected in roughly the same area, and looking like conventional moderately weathered meteorites to be found? High and dry ones? The strewn field is over 30 kilometers! If you think I am nuts, OK, but if you think it is possible I am curious. What would or should it look like? Would it have a high magnetic attraction? Thanks, Tom **Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp0030002489 __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Rocks from Space Picture of the Day - January 20, 2008
Hi Jerry, I should of been more clear in my description. That is not a progression, just three different shots in a variety of magnification levels. Paul (Meteorite Times) will be posting a bunch of shots to my Micrograph Gall ery of this Angrite, all sorted by technique and magnification level. Those should be posted by Tuesday or Wednesday. Thanks, Tom In a message dated 1/20/2008 6:22:03 P.M. Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Hi Tom, question? Did you change the orientation of the slide for each pic? I'm having a hard time following the progression. Georgous. Jerry Flaherty - Original Message - From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2008 8:15 AM Subject: [meteorite-list] Rocks from Space Picture of the Day - January 20, 2008 > http://www.rocksfromspace.org/January_20_2008.htmlAl **Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp0030002489 __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Bernd Pauli's excellent abstract of Burke, part 6
Dear List, The veneration of meteorites by pre-Columbian Native American cultures, as objects from the sky, even when the meteorites in veneration are finds that came down at times that predate the culture, is no mystery to me. Native Americans must certainly have known of falls, and when they had finds, they recognized the rocks as the same types as they or stories handed to them described as falls. Thus they learned, just as we 21st century people do, to recognize meteorites. Francis Graham --- "E.P. Grondine" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Date: Thu, 08 Apr 1999 18:57:14 +0200 > From: Bernd Pauli HD > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: Meteorite List > > Subject: Native Americans and Meteorites - Part 6 of > 6 > > > Jeanne wrote: > > > I was also wondering if your book mentions > anything > > about Native American usage of Canyon Diablo irons > > > for tools, amulets or other spiritual items. > > BURKE J.G. (1986) Cosmic Debris - Meteorites in > History, pp. 231-232: > > The Hopewell Indians of the Ohio Valley fabricated > knives, chisels, ear ornaments, and buttons by > hammering or cold-working meteoritic material. > Crushed fragments of olivine or interstices in the > metal from which the olivine had been lost revealed > that at least some of the artifacts had been > fashioned > from a pallasite. George Kunz in 1890 remarked that > the > meteoritic nuggets found there greatly resembled the > Brenham pallasite, and although Brezina agreed with > this opinion, other scientists did not. > > Recently, Wasson and Sedwick concluded from their > analysis of the nickel and trace element composition > that the Ohio material was virtually identical to > the > Brenham pallasite. The Indians at Havana, Illinois, > fabricated the beads found there, which varied in > diameter from three-sixteenths to five-eighths of an > inch, from sheets or strips of meteoritic material > that were fashioned into cylinders with a lapped > seam > on one side. However, Buchwald determined that the > Indians must have intermittently annealed the strips > during the cold-working process. The microstructure > he > observed indicated that the annealing temperature > was > about 650° C, and the slightly distorted appearance > of > the kamacite grains showed that cold-working > followed > the last annealing process. > > Best regards, > > Bernd > > What brought this about was my confusing the Casas > Grandes ruins with the Casa Grande ruins. I still > would not be surprised to find meteorites in Anasazi > observatories. > > Also, a number of museums' meteorite collections are > in violation of NAGPRA. The theft of the Navaho > meteorites is particularly offensive to me. > > > > > > > Be a better friend, newshound, and > know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. > http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ > > > __ > http://www.meteoritecentral.com > Meteorite-list mailing list > Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Rocks from Space Picture of the Day - January 20, 2008
Hi Tom, question? Did you change the orientation of the slide for each pic? I'm having a hard time following the progression. Georgous. Jerry Flaherty - Original Message - From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2008 8:15 AM Subject: [meteorite-list] Rocks from Space Picture of the Day - January 20, 2008 http://www.rocksfromspace.org/January_20_2008.html _ **Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp0030002489 __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] La Mancha eucrite
Hi Mike, yes, we will never understand! Certainly, the 33 pieces and 100g are important for the data. But perhaps it will be corrected again. A few days ago was the TKW still at 300g. Today, there are already around 500g. Let's look at the next few days. Best wishes Mirko --- Michael Farmer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> schrieb: > One thing I don't understand, > I was emailed many times by Josep Trigo, demanding > the > coordinates and data for all of our meteorite finds > in > Spain, I provided this data and informed him of the > 33 > stones we found. Here we are months later, and he > failed to even mention that fact. How does 33 stones > turn into 22 listed? If I provide a scientist with > data that is ignored, why should I continue to > provide > data when asked? > Next time they ask me for data, I will not reply > since > they refuse to include it. I would say 100 grams and > 33 stones is important on a small rare fall like > this. > Michael Farmer > > > > --- Mirko Graul <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Hello list, > > > > for information on all customers and prospects. > > La Mancha is now officially has the name > > Puerto Lápice. > > Here is a link to information about the data in > the > > collection to date. > > > > > http://tin.er.usgs.gov/meteor/metbull.php?sea=Puerto&sfor=names&ants=&falls=&stype=contains&lrec=50&map=ge&browse=&country=All&srt=name&categ=All&mblist=All&phot=&snew=0&pnt=no&code=45984 > > > > Best wishes to all, > > > > Mirko > > > > > > __ Ihr > > erstes Baby? Holen Sie sich Tipps von anderen > > Eltern. www.yahoo.de/clever > > __ > > http://www.meteoritecentral.com > > Meteorite-list mailing list > > Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com > > > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > > > > Heute schon einen Blick in die Zukunft von E-Mails wagen? Versuchen Sie´s mit dem neuen Yahoo! Mail. www.yahoo.de/mail __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] La Mancha eucrite
One thing I don't understand, I was emailed many times by Josep Trigo, demanding the coordinates and data for all of our meteorite finds in Spain, I provided this data and informed him of the 33 stones we found. Here we are months later, and he failed to even mention that fact. How does 33 stones turn into 22 listed? If I provide a scientist with data that is ignored, why should I continue to provide data when asked? Next time they ask me for data, I will not reply since they refuse to include it. I would say 100 grams and 33 stones is important on a small rare fall like this. Michael Farmer --- Mirko Graul <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hello list, > > for information on all customers and prospects. > La Mancha is now officially has the name > Puerto Lápice. > Here is a link to information about the data in the > collection to date. > > http://tin.er.usgs.gov/meteor/metbull.php?sea=Puerto&sfor=names&ants=&falls=&stype=contains&lrec=50&map=ge&browse=&country=All&srt=name&categ=All&mblist=All&phot=&snew=0&pnt=no&code=45984 > > Best wishes to all, > > Mirko > > > __ Ihr > erstes Baby? Holen Sie sich Tipps von anderen > Eltern. www.yahoo.de/clever > __ > http://www.meteoritecentral.com > Meteorite-list mailing list > Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Space leaders work to replace lunar base withmanned asteroid missions
Hi, All, The U.S. is already spending an estimated 2.7 to 3.5 Trillion Dollars on a Lunar Base, an extensive outpost in a very hostile environment. The only problem is: it's located in Iraq. Sterling K. Webb -- - Original Message - From: "Darren Garrison" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2008 8:35 AM Subject: [meteorite-list] Space leaders work to replace lunar base withmanned asteroid missions http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0801/18avweek/ Moon Stuck Space leaders work to replace lunar base with manned asteroid missions PUBLISHED IN AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY RE-PRINTED HERE WITH PERMISSION Posted: January 18, 2008 BY CRAIG COVAULT Some of the most influential leaders of the space community are quietly working to offer the next U.S. president an alternative to President Bush's "vision for space exploration"--one that would delete a lunar base and move instead toward manned missions to asteroids along with a renewed emphasis on Earth environmental spacecraft. Top U.S. planetary scientists, several astronauts and former NASA division directors will meet privately at Stanford University on Feb. 12-13 to define these sweeping changes to the NASA/Bush administration Vision for Space Exploration (VSE). Abandoning the Bush lunar base concept in favor of manned asteroid landings could also lead to much earlier manned flights to Mars orbit, where astronauts could land on the moons Phobos or Deimos. Their goals for a new array of missions also include sending astronauts to Lagrangian points, 1 million mi. from Earth, where the Earth's and Sun's gravity cancel each other out and spacecraft such as replacements for the Hubble Space Telescope could be parked and serviced much like Hubble. The "alternate vision" the group plans to offer would urge far greater private-sector incentives to make ambitious human spaceflight plans a reality. There would also be some different "winners and losers" compared with the Bush vision. If the lunar base is deleted, the Kennedy Space Center could lose additional personnel because there would be fewer Ares V launches and no lunar base infrastructure work that had been assigned to KSC. On the other hand, the Goddard Space Flight Center and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration near Washington, along with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California, would gain with the increased space environmental-monitoring goal. Numerous planetary managers told Aviation Week & Space Technology they now fear a manned Moon base and even shorter sorties to the Moon will bog down the space program for decades and inhibit, rather than facilitate, manned Mars operations--the ultimate goal of both the Bush and alternative visions. The first lunar sortie would be flown by about 2020 under the Bush plan. If alternative-vision planners have their way, the mission could instead be flown to an asteroid in about 2025. Participants in the upcoming meeting contend there's little public enthusiasm for a return to the Moon, especially among youth, and that the Bush administration has laid out grandiose plans but has done little to provide the funding to realize them on a reasonable timescale. Planners say the Bush plan is beginning to crumble, with only companies that have won major funding still enthusiastic about the existing plan. "It's becoming painfully obvious that the Moon is not a stepping-stone for manned Mars operations but is instead a stumbling block," says Robert Farquhar, a veteran of planning and operating planetary and deep-space missions. The prospect of challenging new manned missions to asteroids is drawing far more excitement among young people than a "return" (as in going backward) to the Moon, says Lou Friedman, who heads The Planetary Society, the country's largest space interest group. The society is co-hosting the invitation-only VSE replanning session with Stanford. A lot of people going to the meeting believe "the Moon is so yesterday," says Friedman. "It just does not feel right. And there's growing belief that, at high cost, it offers minimal engineering benefit for later manned Mars operations." Under the alternative VSE, even smaller, individual lunar sorties would be reduced, or perhaps deleted entirely, says Noel W. Hinners, who had extensive Apollo lunar science and system responsibility at Bell Laboratories before heading all of NASA's science program development. He also led Lockheed Martin Spaceflight System. Hinners believes the group should examine dropping all the lunar sorties to accelerate the human push to Mars in the revised VSE proposal to the new administration. The James Webb Space Telescope, with a 21.3-ft.-dia. mirror, will be launched in 2013 to one of these "L" points. With little fanfare, it was recently approved to carry a lightweight Crew Exploration Vehicle docking system just in case a manned CEV
[meteorite-list] La Mancha ... oops, Puert o Lápice Eucrite
Mirko kindly informed the List: "La Mancha now officially has the name Puerto Lápice" This is one of those typical examples of a name officially assigned to a meteorite but whose unofficial name of "La Mancha" will probably be used much more frequently by most collectors ... just my two cents! Bernd __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] La Mancha eucrite
Hello list, for information on all customers and prospects. La Mancha is now officially has the name Puerto Lápice. Here is a link to information about the data in the collection to date. http://tin.er.usgs.gov/meteor/metbull.php?sea=Puerto&sfor=names&ants=&falls=&stype=contains&lrec=50&map=ge&browse=&country=All&srt=name&categ=All&mblist=All&phot=&snew=0&pnt=no&code=45984 Best wishes to all, Mirko __ Ihr erstes Baby? Holen Sie sich Tipps von anderen Eltern. www.yahoo.de/clever __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Visitor from Space?
> Was that Gary K. Foote that was close to one of these reports last > winter? > Did that one have perceived indications of splashes, too? Hi Pete, It was indeed my wife and I who explored this phenomonon last winter. I have a page online with pictures - yes there were splash marks. Also, the day before we arrived the hole was open. It had refrozen by the time we arrived. There are many comments from listoids I've included in the page, but the telling information I got was from a hydrologist who explained that, in shallow ponds, an upflow can occur in specific areas due to inflowing water hitting the proper underwater contours. These upflows can melt holes and cause outflows that look like splashe marks. These outflows run outward from the hold along natural cracks in the ice and can appear as long splash marks and even distant, separate splash marks. The one we investigated showed both types of 'splash' features. If anyone wants to read the page I put together at that time and look at the pictures we took it is here; http://www.webbers.com/meteorites/nhmet.html The hydrologist's comments are not on that page. I suppose I should paraphrase them and add them to close out that hunt. Gary __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Visitor from Space?
Greetings, all, Here's another one of those mysterious-hole-in-the-pond-ice stories. Aside from the astronomer teacher discounting a meteorite because a "bright, burning ball" would have been observed, particularly profound is the last quote in the article. (Reading so many of these, I've come to the conclusion that astronomers and geologists can't grasp the big picture of their fields until they seriously study meteoritics.) Was that Gary K. Foote that was close to one of these reports last winter? Did that one have perceived indications of splashes, too? Cheers, Pete http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2008/01/20/4783340-sun.html Visitor from space? Mysterious hole in pond sparks speculation of a meteorite By RENATO GANDIA, SUN MEDIA Aaron Soos measures yesterday the depth of a mysterious hole that appeared in ice half a metre thick on a pond at The Links golf course in Spruce Grove. (Renato Gandia, Sun Media) Spruce Grove residents woke up yesterday to a mysterious octopus-shaped hole in a frozen golf-course pond. A hole about 1.5 metres in diameter was visible yesterday on the pond at The Links at Spruce Grove, along with at least 20 splash marks - the longest about six metres. "It wasn't there (Friday)," said neighbour Tina Danyluk, whose house backs onto the pond. She suspects it might have been a meteorite. Whatever it was, it had to have followed a high trajectory based on "how the splash spread," Danyluk said. Astronomer Martin Beech said he wouldn't rule out the possibility of a falling meteorite, but the marks perplexed him. To punch through ice nearly half a metre thick, the meteor would have to be huge and would look like a bright burning ball with an associated sonic boom, said Beech, who teaches astronomy at Campion College at the University of Regina. "Usually, it's quite a distinctive rumbling sound and people tend to notice that sound," Beech told Sun Media from Regina. But no one reported seeing or hearing anything unusual. "The whole pond was covered in snow (on Friday) until this morning when we saw the strange marks in the pond," said Danyluk. Beech said he wasn't aware of any reports of fireballs in the area. He also noted that such an object wouldn't normally melt thick ice. "If it wasn't a meteorite, what the heck was it?" asked the baffled astronomer. Danyluk's neighbour, Aaron Soos, said the marks were puzzling and the phenomenon had residents talking all day. "If the pond was not frozen, we wouldn't even see those marks." _ __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Space leaders work to replace lunar base with manned asteroid missions
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0801/18avweek/ Moon Stuck Space leaders work to replace lunar base with manned asteroid missions PUBLISHED IN AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY RE-PRINTED HERE WITH PERMISSION Posted: January 18, 2008 BY CRAIG COVAULT Some of the most influential leaders of the space community are quietly working to offer the next U.S. president an alternative to President Bush's "vision for space exploration"--one that would delete a lunar base and move instead toward manned missions to asteroids along with a renewed emphasis on Earth environmental spacecraft. Top U.S. planetary scientists, several astronauts and former NASA division directors will meet privately at Stanford University on Feb. 12-13 to define these sweeping changes to the NASA/Bush administration Vision for Space Exploration (VSE). Abandoning the Bush lunar base concept in favor of manned asteroid landings could also lead to much earlier manned flights to Mars orbit, where astronauts could land on the moons Phobos or Deimos. Their goals for a new array of missions also include sending astronauts to Lagrangian points, 1 million mi. from Earth, where the Earth's and Sun's gravity cancel each other out and spacecraft such as replacements for the Hubble Space Telescope could be parked and serviced much like Hubble. The "alternate vision" the group plans to offer would urge far greater private-sector incentives to make ambitious human spaceflight plans a reality. There would also be some different "winners and losers" compared with the Bush vision. If the lunar base is deleted, the Kennedy Space Center could lose additional personnel because there would be fewer Ares V launches and no lunar base infrastructure work that had been assigned to KSC. On the other hand, the Goddard Space Flight Center and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration near Washington, along with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California, would gain with the increased space environmental-monitoring goal. Numerous planetary managers told Aviation Week & Space Technology they now fear a manned Moon base and even shorter sorties to the Moon will bog down the space program for decades and inhibit, rather than facilitate, manned Mars operations--the ultimate goal of both the Bush and alternative visions. The first lunar sortie would be flown by about 2020 under the Bush plan. If alternative-vision planners have their way, the mission could instead be flown to an asteroid in about 2025. Participants in the upcoming meeting contend there's little public enthusiasm for a return to the Moon, especially among youth, and that the Bush administration has laid out grandiose plans but has done little to provide the funding to realize them on a reasonable timescale. Planners say the Bush plan is beginning to crumble, with only companies that have won major funding still enthusiastic about the existing plan. "It's becoming painfully obvious that the Moon is not a stepping-stone for manned Mars operations but is instead a stumbling block," says Robert Farquhar, a veteran of planning and operating planetary and deep-space missions. The prospect of challenging new manned missions to asteroids is drawing far more excitement among young people than a "return" (as in going backward) to the Moon, says Lou Friedman, who heads The Planetary Society, the country's largest space interest group. The society is co-hosting the invitation-only VSE replanning session with Stanford. A lot of people going to the meeting believe "the Moon is so yesterday," says Friedman. "It just does not feel right. And there's growing belief that, at high cost, it offers minimal engineering benefit for later manned Mars operations." Under the alternative VSE, even smaller, individual lunar sorties would be reduced, or perhaps deleted entirely, says Noel W. Hinners, who had extensive Apollo lunar science and system responsibility at Bell Laboratories before heading all of NASA's science program development. He also led Lockheed Martin Spaceflight System. Hinners believes the group should examine dropping all the lunar sorties to accelerate the human push to Mars in the revised VSE proposal to the new administration. The James Webb Space Telescope, with a 21.3-ft.-dia. mirror, will be launched in 2013 to one of these "L" points. With little fanfare, it was recently approved to carry a lightweight Crew Exploration Vehicle docking system just in case a manned CEV has to make a house call a million miles from Earth for emergency servicing. A growing corps of scientists, engineers and astronauts are emerging to argue for this chance to accelerate manned spaceflight operations outward well beyond the Moon--faster toward Mars than can be done by using the Moon as a stepping-stone only 240,000 mi. away. "The notion that the Moon could serve as a proving ground for Mars missions strains credulity," says Farquhar, who holds the Charles A. Lindbergh Chair for Ae
[meteorite-list] Tamassint (NWA 4590): Rocks from Space Picture of the Day - January 20, 2008
http://www.rocksfromspace.org/January_20_2008.html Beautiful thin section pictures and those subparallel streaks are probably exsolution* lamellae of kirschsteinite [CaFe(SiO4)]. * H. McSween (1999) Meteorites and Their Parent Planets, Second Edition, Glossary, p. 290: Exsolution = rearrangement of atoms in a homogeneous crystal on cooling so that an intergrowth of two separate minerals results Bernd (happy owner of a 1.024-gram individual of NWA 4590) __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] NGSA Dispels Rumour (Sokoto-Nigeria)
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=100942 Meteorite Fall: NGSA Dispels Rumour >From Mohammed Aminu in Sokoto, 01.19.2008 In reaction to the recent explosions of a heavy metal object that rocked Sokoto metropolis, the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) has dispelled speculations making rounds in the state that the meteorite fall could be an act of sabotage by terrorists or as a result of a misguided millitary action, pointing out that it is a natural act. The agency also alerted the public on the activities of some selfish individuals who may go about selling the powdered meteorite or any such materials claiming that they can bring goodluck and are potent against evil spirits. Addressing newsmen in Sokoto yesterday,its Zonal Co-ordinator, Mr Victor Ozuabide disclosed that the fall of meteorites do not connote any foreboding or ill luck, explaining that many meteorites have fallen at desolate places where farmers later mix them together with other country rocks. In his words, "the fall of a meteorite in Sokoto last week, was a natural act and were common all over the earth as meteorites can fall any time of the day. Infact, the explosion does not connote ill luck or a result of misguided military action as happened at Ikeja millitary cantonment in 2000", "Thus, we want to let people understand that there is no cause for alarm whatsover. Meteorites are not aphrodisiacs and neither bring goodluck because these types of deception happened at Maigateri in Jigawa three years ago where there was a similar meteorite fall", Ozuabide explained. According to him, meteorites are rock bodies that fall under gravity to the earth from other planets and often been indicated passing by during the night as very bright and dazzling light that moves terribly fast. He added that they can vary in size from a few grams to many tonnes, noting that the largest eye witnessed meteorite particles fell in siberia in 1947 and weighed 23 tonnes. It would be recalled that there was pandemonium in Sokoto last week as a result of the explosion of a strange object which fell in one Malam Bello Mohammed's House and destroyed the roof in Mana village outskirts of Sokoto. Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Rocks from Space Picture of the Day - January 20, 2008
http://www.rocksfromspace.org/January_20_2008.html _ **Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp0030002489 __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Tucson Auctions Catalog update (AD)
Hi All, You can now see all but 2 of the items so far registered (60 so far) at: http://michaelbloodmeteorites.com/TucsonAuction08.html There is also a "Printer Friendly" link at the bottom of the list, but I suggest waiting until just before you leave, as I am hoping to Get several dozen more items up before the end of January. Remember, Lists in by Sunday get the 10% listing fee - and LOTS of exposure. Also, people interested in absentee bidding should begin placing Bids NOW. RSVP off list. Best wishes, Michael __ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
