Astronomy Picture of the Day 6-23-03

NASA ^ | 6-23-03 | Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell

[petuniasevan]

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2003 June 23

KamLAND Verfies the Sun
Credit: KamLAND Collaboration

Explanation: A large sphere beneath Japan has helped verify humanity's understanding of the inner workings of the Sun. The KamLAND sphere, shown above during construction in 2001, fails to detect fundamental particles called anti-neutrinos that are known to be emitted by nearby nuclear reactors around Japan. This triumphant failure can best be explained by neutrinos oscillating between different types. KamLAND's results bolster previous neutrino oscillation claims including that from the Sudbury detector, a similar large sphere beneath Canada designed to detect all types of neutrinos from the Sun. Thus, leading astrophysicists now consider the long standing solar neutrino deficit problem as finally solved. A new mystery that replaces it is to find a new Standard Model for particle physics that fully explains neutrino oscillations.

[petuniasevan]

Countdown and Launch of the Boeing Delta 2 rocket with NASA's Mars Exploration Rover-B.

SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 2003

DELAY. Officials have delayed the launch of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover "Opportunity" so workers can replace insulation of the Boeing Delta 2 rocket that will propel the spacecraft to the Red Planet.

The launch from pad 17B at Cape Canaveral has been scheduled for early Thursday, June 26. But the unplanned job of removing and replacing a band of protective cork insulation on the rocket's first stage will delay the liftoff until Saturday evening, June 28.

The available launch times are 11:56:16 p.m. EDT and 12:37:59 a.m. EDT (0356:16 and 0437:59 GMT on the 29th)

"The Flight Readiness Review was held today for the MER-B launch of the "Opportunity" Mars Exploration Rover. Afterward, a decision was made to postpone the launch by at least a couple of days," NASA said in a statement.

"Based on routine post-test inspections, the launch team has elected to remove and replace a band of protective cork insulation on the Delta first stage. The location is below the forward attach points of the strap-on solid rocket boosters. Inspections of a second band located higher on the first stage are being performed.

"The time necessary to do this work means a rescheduling of the launch to no earlier than Saturday, June 28 at 11:56:16 p.m. EDT. A firm date will be established on Monday after the engineering team reconvenes."

cork insulation

Cork insulation? TREE BARK??? This cost-cutting is getting out of hand... :-)

[petuniasevan]

[sistergoldenhair]

Thanks for the ping.

[trussell]

Fantastic picture today petuniasevan. Thankyou for all you do to put this thread together every day.