Space - Tullamore Astronomical Society

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catch the necessary trajectory from Earth to its destination. The probe should reach Venus five months after launch. It will fire the onboard main engine to enter orbit around the planet for the most comprehensive examination of the mysterious Venusian atmosphere and new observations of its surface. Venus Express will fly in a highly elliptical orbit looping from 155 miles at its closest point to 41,000 miles at the most distant. The EADS Astrium-built craft carries seven instruments mostly derived from Europe's Mars Express and the Rosetta comet mission. The mission, Europe's first exploration of Venus, will last two Venusian days or 486 Earth days. Editors post-script… Just before this article was sent to print, the following was issued (taken from space.com): Russian space officials Monday set a Nov. 9 blastoff for a European probe to explore Venus after its earlier launch was postponed because of a booster rocket problem. Engineers will be able to fix the flaws by that date, the Federal Space Agency said in scheduling the launch at the Russian-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Japanese spacecraft ready to land on asteroid Nov 12 Japan’s Hayabusa asteroid samplereturn satellite is scheduled to make the first of two landings on its target asteroid on November 12 th following ground controllers’ conclusion that it has enough fuel to finish its job despite the loss of two of its three reaction wheels, the Japanese space agency, JAXA, announced. Under current planning, a second touchdown would occur November 25 th before Hayabusa, whose name was Muses-C before its May 2003 launch, begins a return flight to Earth. Since September 12 th , the satellite has been stationed several kilometres from the Itokawa asteroid, which is some 300 million kilometres from Earth. Hayabusa lost the use of its first reaction wheel in July. The second failed October 3 rd , forcing increased reliance on the chemicalpropellant thrusters to maintain satellite attitude control. JAXA said the Hayabusa project engineers have made “a strenuous” effort to devise a fuelconservation plan to maintain Hayabusa stably in position and at the same time provide for the two “touch-and-go” manoeuvres during which the satellite will scoop up asteroid samples. JAXA will test Hayabusa touchdown manoeuvres November 4 th with what the agency calls a “rehearsal descent.” Several candidate landing sites are still being evaluated, JAXA said. Mars rover Spirit begins descent from summit Spirit, the robot on wheels that reached the top of a Martian hill this summer after an epic climb, is heading back down toward its next target for exploration. After two months at the summit of Husband Hill, the six-wheeled rover is descending to a basin where the scientific instruments it carries will examine an outcrop dubbed "home plate" because from orbit it looks like home on a baseball field. Spirit's yearlong climb to the peak was a major feat for the Mars rover, which along with its twin, Opportunity, landed on opposite sides of the Red Planet in January 2004. Last month, scientists released the first fullcolour panoramic photo of the landscape taken by Spirit from the 270-foot-high summit. It shows the rover's distinct tracks in the dust, the flat plains of the surrounding Gusev Crater region and distant plateaus on the crater rim. Spirit also has been studying rocks and using its robotic arm to sift the soil to determine how the hill formed. The leading theory is that Husband Hill became uplifted as a result of crater impact. Mission scientists say a comparison of the summit rocks reveal similar geologic features to those found on the side of the hill. In both cases, the rocks' makeup reveals they have been altered by water. It will take about two months for Spirit to make it all the way down Husband Hill, which is named after Rick Husband, the commander of the space shuttle Columbia that broke apart as it was returning from Earth orbit in 2003. Meanwhile, Opportunity is in good health again after recovering from a recent computer glitch while surveying the Meridiani Planum region. 22 Réalta – Volume 7, Issue 2 – November/December 2005 – Tullamore Astronomical Society
Contributions Wanted Do you ever notice that it is the same people that submit something for Réalta? Sometimes, it can be unfair to expect the same people to keep something like this going. That is why I want you to think of a contribution, of any kind, that you would like to share with readers. It can be about something you read in a magazine somewhere, r a recap on a nights observing, ‘Lecturers’ Wanted! In addition to Réalta contributions, TAS is also looking for folks to volunteer a small amount of their time to give a talk to the club. You do not need to be a professor, or have any distinct qualifications. Just the ability to stand in front of members and friends and talk telling us what you saw, or even an article you penned yourself. Variety is good, and while Réalta has had many, MANY interesting articles on its pages, it is the same few people that keep doing the good work! So have a think about it – contact details are at the bottom of this page. -Ed. about some astronomy topic that you choose. We will even help you along! Have a word with any committee member at any meeting if you “want to know more”, or e-mail the Secretary: tullamoreastronomy@yahoo.co.uk. New faces and voices are always welcome! Know someone who could use a 2006 Calendar? Then why not tell them to get one of ours! You already know what it is about, but do you also know that proceeds from this go to help TAS build a public accessible meeting room/clubhouse, and refurbish its observatory? TAS relies on funding like this to get the project finished, which, when complete, will incorporate a comfortable meeting room and kitchen, as well as access to our observatory with telescope for astronomy enthusiasts and research. The Calendar is available from any committee member, or direct from Byrne’s World of Wonder (Tullamore & Mullingar), priced €10.00. Réalta – Volume 7, Issue 2: November/December 2005. Réalta is issued by the Tullamore Astronomical Society as a community-based organisation magazine. Editor: Seanie Morris Contributors this issue: Trudy E. Bell, Darren Dempsey, John Flannery, Deirdre Kelleghan, Girvan McKay, Michael O’Connell, Tony Phillips Editorial & Submissions Address: C/o Seanie Morris, ‘ANSTEE’, Daingean Road, Tullamore, Co. Offaly, Ireland. Email: tasnewsletter@go.com. Submissions are welcome, preferably by email or on disk (MS .txt or .doc format), but submissions on paper are also very welcome. Please acknowledge any reference sources for your submission. Printed By: Aungier Print Ltd., Sackville House, Sackville Place, Dublin 1. Tel: 01-8788406/7 or Email: aungierprint@iolfree.ie All articles contained are © Réalta & Tullamore Astronomical Society, and the source of the articles (if stated). © Réalta 1997-2005. All Rights Reserved. Réalta – Volume 7, Issue 2 – November/December 2005 – Tullamore Astronomical Society 23
Page 1 and 2: REALTA 9+- Reviews, Events And Lect
Page 3 and 4: Key organisers and folks involved i
Page 5 and 6: NEWS UPDATE From Around The Univers
Page 7 and 8: Moon discovered orbiting Solar Syst
Page 9 and 10: Two New Moons for Pluto? New images
Page 11 and 12: viewing for the most part during th
Page 13 and 14: Great Irish Women Astronomers By Gi
Page 15 and 16: One would expect one or some of the
Page 17 and 18: Goldilocks and the (many) more than
Page 19 and 20: cold or just right, while the chair
Page 21: SPACEFLIGHT News Russian Spacecraft

Space - Tullamore Astronomical Society

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