[meteorite-list] MESSENGER Settles into Eight-Hour Orbit Around Mercury, Poised for New Discoveries
MESSENGER Mission News April 20, 2012 MESSENGER Settles into Eight-Hour Orbit Around Mercury, Poised for New Discoveries MESSENGER mission controllers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., conducted the second of two maneuvers required to reduce the spacecraft's orbital period about Mercury. The first maneuver, completed on Monday, shortened the orbital period from 11.6 to 9.1 hours and consumed the remaining oxidizer, one of two propellants that fuel the higher-efficiency large thruster. With today's maneuver, accomplished with the spacecraft's four medium-sized thrusters, MESSENGER is now in the 8-hour orbit from which it will operate for the next year. MESSENGER was 133 million kilometers (83 million miles) from Earth when the 4-minute maneuver began at 7:05 p.m. EDT. Mission controllers at APL verified the start of the maneuver 7 minutes and 23 seconds later, after the first signals indicating spacecraft thruster activity reached NASA's Deep Space Network tracking station in Canberra, Australia. The shorter orbit will allow MESSENGER's science team to address new questions about Mercury's composition, geological evolution, and environment that were raised by discoveries made during the first year of orbital operations. "For instance," says APL's Patrick Peplowski, "during the first year of orbital operations, MESSENGER's Gamma-Ray Spectrometer and X-Ray Spectrometer provided the first measurements of the abundances of many elements on Mercury's surface, including magnesium, sulfur, calcium, and potassium. The eight-hour orbit gives us more observing time at low altitudes, which will permit measurements of variations in surface composition on shorter spatial scales. Such information will give us new insight into the chemical and geological processes by which Mercury's crust was formed." An animation of the maneuvers that guided MESSENGER into its new orbit is available online at http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/movies/OCM7and8_transition_to_8hour_orbit.mp4 . MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) is a NASA-sponsored scientific investigation of the planet Mercury and the first space mission designed to orbit the planet closest to the Sun. The MESSENGER spacecraft launched on August 3, 2004, and after flybys of Earth, Venus, and Mercury will start a yearlong study of its target planet in March 2011. Dr. Sean C. Solomon, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, leads the mission as Principal Investigator. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory built and operates the MESSENGER spacecraft and manages this Discovery-class mission for NASA. __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Long Duration Bolide Brazil 20APR2012
Dear List, Long duration event in Brazil 20Apr2012 @ 23:20 http://lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com.br/2012/04/breaking-news-campos-dos-goytacazes.html Dirk Ross...Brazil __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] UV Light
Do meteorites "glow" under a UV light? Chris Spratt (Via my iPhone) __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] AD - Inventory Liquidation = Make an offer!
Good Evening Everybody, I am now accepting reasonable offers on anything and everything listed on my sales page. Very fresh Breja, Bensour, Estherville, a large Chergach complete stone, and a handful of others. Have a look and make an offer! I'll be around the entire evening babysitting my neighbors dogs. http://fallingfusion.com/Sales_Gallery.html Cheers. Ryan -- fallingfusion.com __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] POP QUIZ FRIDAY'S - Win a free meteorite!
Hello Listers Its POP QUIZ FRIDAY'S The name of the game: Be the 7th Listers to email me off the List with the correct answer and you will win a free NWA 1836 meteorite fragment that comes from Steve Arnold from the Meteorite Men. Question: Moissanite was discovered 1st with which meteorite? Good Luck Shawn Alan IMCA 1633 eBay Store http://www.ebay.com/sch/ph0t0phl0w/m.html? http://www.meteoritefalls.com/ __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] AD..... Annual 420 sale in honor of San Rafael High School
Sorry about the 2 ADS in one week but I forgot about my annual "420 Sale". Plus, I average less than one AD per month, so, please forgive. In honor of the visionary students at San Rafael High School in San Rafael, CA, I am starting an annual "420 sale" to be held until midnight on April 20th each year. My first offering will be Tissint at the lower than in the field price of $420- per gram for uncrusted fragments. Minimum lot is one gram and I am making 5 grams available at this price. No crust, but nice pieces as seen in the following photo: http://www.catchafallingstar.com/tissint/tissintfragments.JPG Sikhote-alin - 283 grams for $420- http://www.catchafallingstar.com/sa283.htm NWA 2977 Lunar - a nice .372 gram partslice for $420-. Take 20% off of all other specimens on this page. http://www.catchafallingstar.com/nwa2977.htm NWA 2995 Lunar - .256 gram partslice with fusion crust can be seen on the page below Take 20% off of all other specimens on this page. http://www.catchafallingstar.com/nwa2995/nwa2995sale.htm NWA 2986 Martian - .442 gram fragment with some fusion crust. Take 20% off of all other specimens on this page. http://www.catchafallingstar.com/nwa2986/nwa2986.htm Esquel - 24 gram translucent partslice for $420- http://www.catchafallingstar.com/esquelsales.htm NWA 998 - this is an outstanding bargain in honor of the "WALDOS", .280 grams for $420- Photos on this page and take 20% off of all other specimens. The big one is negotiable even lower. http://www.catchafallingstar.com/nwa998sales.htm Louis Pasteur would be proud to know that I am also offering free world wide shipping. Paypal prefered. Email me and I will send a paypal invoice. Thanks for looking! Jim Strope 421 Fourth Street Glen Dale, WV 26038 http://www.catchafallingstar.com/ __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Re: [meteorite-list] Strewn Field Questions
HI Jim, Unless you have an extremely old surface, I would suspect that the Easter Bunny has been hiding Meteorites on your the strewn field. I have been told of Easter Bunny sightings in southern Europe! Peter -Original Message- From: meteorite-list-boun...@meteoritecentral.com [mailto:meteorite-list-boun...@meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of Jim Wooddell Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 8:48 PM To: Meteorite-List Subject: [meteorite-list] Strewn Field Questions I have a few questions about known strewn fields of the world. I have read a few research papers on some fields, but I am really looking for specific answers to some of my crazy questions. So, first question: Does anyone know of confirmed strewn fields anywhere in the world where the larger stones of each independent field are found less than 1 mile of each other with different classifications? Second question: If you do, what are the names of these fields and the research documents that show the evidence??? Third question: What do you think the odds of 2 or three strewn fields all ending on the large side in an area of less than 1 mile apart and to a greater extent less than ¼ mile apart could be??? Would the odds be better than winning the Mega Millions Lottery? Thanks! Jim Jim Wooddell http://k7wfr.us __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
[meteorite-list] Meteorite Picture of the Day
Today's Meteorite Picture of the Day: New AZ Find Contributed by: Larry Atkins http://www.tucsonmeteorites.com/mpod.asp __ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
