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Boom and Bust
by David L Bennett 08 Sep '04

08 Sep '04

This morning Brent Watson, Kim Hyatt, and I flew out to the Wells, Nevada Airport in Brent's Cessna with hopes of catching a glimpse of the Genesis re-entry. At the appointed time we scanned the northwest horizon looking for the approach of Genesis...nothing. We looked overhead, to the west, southwest, and south. Absolutely no visual sign of the re-entry. As we were about to give up hope, we did hear a sonic boom towards the southwest, but no indication of fireball or smoke-train. After a moment, we called Patrick Wiggins and found out that the capsule had crash landed without deploying its chute near Granite Peak. We can only hope there is some data they can retrieve from the samples despite the impact. Dave Bennett

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] Bowling ball drop.
by Dale Hooper 08 Sep '04

08 Sep '04

It looks like the press conference has been moved to 12:30pm our time. Hopefully, some science can still be salvaged. But, it was my understanding they wanted to snag it with the helicopter - because they thought a ground landing with the parasail would be "too hard". The images provided by the helicopter seemed to show that the heat shield had separated and the sample section had opened - upon impact. > -----Original Message----- > From: Jim Gibson [mailto:jimgibson00@yahoo.com] > Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 2004 11:58 AM > To: Utah Astronomy > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Bowling ball drop. > > > I saw the spot on the map. It deffinatley landed on Dugway > just north of Granet Mountain. It was barried about half way > up. I saw a chopper view when they first found it. It made a > pretty good splat. The splash made a pretty uniform pattern. > I heard that the wafer (sp?) may be broken but they can still > analyize the piceces. There is a lot of talk floating around > so I don't know how authoritative that was since I heard it > shortly after landing. > > jg > > James Helsby <cyanics(a)xmission.com> wrote: > Approximate coords: > > 40 deg. 7 min. 40 sec > 113 deg. 30 min 29 sec > > JH > > David Dunn wrote: > > >It looks like we wont have to do the bowling ball drop. > Genisis made a good > >crater sample. > > > >Does anyone on the list know where it landed? > > > >I wonder if they will be able to salvage any science from it. > > > >Thanks, > >David Dunn > >801-961-3253 > > > >_______________________________________________ > >Utah-Astronomy mailing list > >Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > >http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > >Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com > > > --------------------------------- > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish. > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com > >

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SETI
by Chuck Hards 08 Sep '04

08 Sep '04

I only caught a portion of the show, but NPR's Talk of the Nation, "Science Friday" show this week was on the subject of SETI. The usual suspects were interviewed, but what grabbed my attention was a new concept, for me anyway, that the most ecconomical way to move information across cosmic distances isn't via electromagnetic radiation. Lasers, radio, microwaves, they all lose to....the mail. I didn't get the details but I think the researchers were computer networking specialists who came to the problem through a back door, so to speak. They postulate that it's much more efficient to load up a "mail truck" with data on media and send it on it's way to it's destination star. Yes, timeliness weighs into the equation also, but even so the slow boat wins. Based on that idea, they are now trying to figure out where the mail of advanced beings would be, that we may actually start to look for it! Possibilities include the interiors of asteroids, comets, planetessimals, etc. If anyone hears when this show will be rebroadcast, please post, thanks. _______________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now. http://promotions.yahoo.com/goldrush

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California Nebula
by Debbie 08 Sep '04

08 Sep '04

I observed the California Nebula last night for the first time in my 4" TeleVue refractor. I used a 55mm Plossl at 16X and a 2" Hydrogen h-beta filter. When I nudged the diagonal I could see the nebula better. This is not an easy target to view but it was easy to find. I found Xi Perseus and it was right there. The nebula is 145' by 40'. Debbie

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Road Trip/GENESIS!
by Debbie 08 Sep '04

08 Sep '04

I meant to say I saw the capsule in the sand. They said they were worried about the capsule exploding. Waiting for the news conference at 12 for more details. Debbie > [Original Message] > From: Debbie <astrodeb(a)earthlink.net> > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com>; Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Date: 9/8/2004 10:42:56 AM > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Road Trip/GENESIS! > > I saw the impact crater on CNN. Looks like it hit at 100mph. What kind of > crater would form if it hit > 1000mph? At least nobody was hurt this time. > > Debbie > > > > [Original Message] > > From: William Biesele <bill(a)biesele.net> > > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > > Date: 9/8/2004 9:15:16 AM > > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Road Trip/GENESIS! > > > > Looks like NASA did the bowling ball experiment for Patrick. > > > > Bill B. > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > > Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Road Trip/GENESIS!
by Debbie 08 Sep '04

08 Sep '04

I saw the impact crater on CNN. Looks like it hit at 100mph. What kind of crater would form if it hit 1000mph? At least nobody was hurt this time. Debbie > [Original Message] > From: William Biesele <bill(a)biesele.net> > To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com> > Date: 9/8/2004 9:15:16 AM > Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Re: Road Trip/GENESIS! > > Looks like NASA did the bowling ball experiment for Patrick. > > Bill B. > > > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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Genesis Landing
by Jim Gibson 08 Sep '04

08 Sep '04

I am here at Dugway and was able to see the video of the infrared and other tracking vedios as the Genesis came in. As the video was tracking and I saw the mountains come into view in the background I knew instantly that something was wrong. Evidently the parachute didnt deploy so there was nothing for the helicopters to catch. The Genesis cratered into West Desert mud just North of here over shooting its original landing spot by about 20 30 miles; coming closer to where I work. I could see that the Genesis is cracked and broken but pretty much together; that is, its NOT in a million pieces but pretty seriously damaged. I gota get back. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now.

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Frontiers of Science Lecture Wednesday 15 Sept. 7:30 p.m.
by Richard Tenney 08 Sep '04

08 Sep '04

"Red Rock to Red Planet: From Utah Marbles to Mars' Blueberries" The U's Marjorie Chan, Chair and Prof. of Geology and Geophysics will present. The lecture is free and open to the public, and is held in the Aline Wilmot Skaggs Biology Auditorium (just West of the bookstore). Her research on Utah sandstone has yielded clues about the origin of the recently discovered marble-shaped rocks on Mars that are known as hematite concretions and nicknamed "blueberries". Hematite is one of the few minerals found on Mars that forms almost always in water. Hematite concretions require groundwater flow through permeable rock to produce the layered spheres. Moreover, the potential role of bacteria in the formations of some Utah hematitie concretions could hold important clues in the search for life on Mars. Prof. Chan will also give a live radio interview on KCPW 88.3 FM on Tuesday, September 14 from 9:10-9:30 a.m. _______________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now. http://promotions.yahoo.com/goldrush

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Genesis Fireball (fwd)
by Joe Bauman 07 Sep '04

07 Sep '04

Latest announcement from NASA. Best wishes, Joe ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2004 16:34:51 -0500 From: SpaceWeather.com <swlist(a)spaceweather.com> To: SpaceWeather.com <swlist(a)spaceweather.com> Subject: Genesis Fireball Space Weather News for Sept. 7, 2004 http://spaceweather.com On Wednesday morning, Sept. 8th, NASA's Genesis space capsule will streak over Oregon, Idaho, Nevada and Utah, returning samples of the solar wind to Earth. Sky watchers within 100 miles of the reentry path might be able to see the fireball in broad daylight. The best place to be is northern Nevada, where the fireball is expected to be brightest. New maps and data files just posted on Spaceweather.com may help observers locate and track the capsule. Visual observations of the event will be limited to a narrow corridor around the reentry path, but ham radio operators across a much broader area can detect the fireball--by listening. The capsule will blaze a radio-reflecting plasma trail from Oregon to Utah. The reentry offers an opportunity for meteor-burst communications. Follow the links at Spaceweather.com for more information. --- You are currently subscribed to spaceweather as: bau(a)desnews.com To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-spaceweather-171915W(a)snglist.msfc.nasa.gov

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More on seeing Genesis
by Patrick Wiggins 07 Sep '04

07 Sep '04

Looking more closely at the map on http://spaceweather.com/swpod2004/07sep04/genesis_reentry_brightness2.gif it shows the track crosses just north of a small town named Deeth, just west of Wells. If the map is accurate, that would put it just 2 seconds after maximum brightness and 3 seconds up track from the spot labeled "Rapid fading". The Nevada state road map indicates a rural road heading north from Deeth. Perhaps that would be the place to try to view from, especially if Genesis dims as fast as an Iridium flare. Here's a weather forecast for the Wells area: http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=89835&hou… Of course now that I'm starting to think about going, it looks like I'm going to have to fly tomorrow... Patrick

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