The probe CONTOUR perhaps broken into two
Friday August 16, 2002 - 23h16 GMT
WASHINGTON, August 16 (AFP) - images taken by astronomers of the University of Arizona seem to suggest that the probe Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR), whose NASA is without news after the firing of its engines Thursday, perhaps broke into two, indicated to Friday a person in charge for the mission.
"We could not come into radio operator contact with the probe. The news is very décourageantes ", recognized the director of the mission CONTOUR, Robert Farquhar, of the Laboratory of physics applied (APL) of the University Johns Hopkins University, in Laurel (Maryland).
The "news décourageantes" to which Pr Farquhar refers is images, catches Friday by Jim Scotti thanks to the téléscope Spacewatch of the Peak Kitt, and which show two slipping by features quasi parallel.
"the presence of these two features indicates that the probe must have separated in two pieces which continue to advance in almost parallel directions", advanced the astronomer Jeff Larsen has, of the Spacewatch project, at the lunar and planetary Laboratory (University of Arizona).
These features represent the two pieces of the probe - if it is well it - which are located at 400.000 km of the Earth and are moved away approximately 250 km one of the other and moving away from our planet at high speed.
The scientists did not lose any hope to establish a telemetric radio connection with the probe. "We did not completely throw sponge but it is not a good news", recognized Robert Farquhar.
The probe remains obstinately quiet. But, the scientist indicated, it carries a data-processing program of help which activates automatically and successively the two radio operator transmitters and all the antennas on board after 96 hours of absence of orders received from the Earth.
"That will arrive Monday morning or Monday evening", specified Pr Farquhar, by saying however "not very optimistic at this stage".
The engineers of the APL, which manages the program in partnership with NASA, are without news of CONTOUR since the firing of its solid propellant motor Thursday with 04H49 (Washington time, 08H49 GMT) whereas it was to 225 km (well: 225) of altitude above the Indian Ocean.
This firing was to enable him to accelerate at the speed of 6.912 km/h in order to escape the terrestrial attraction. The operation had proceeded "as a blind man" because the altitude of the probe was too low so that it can be followed by the radiotéléscopes of Deep Space Network of NASA.
The probe had been launched on July 3 of Florida.
With this mission of 159 million dollars, NASA hoped to bore the secrecies of comets, of the celestial bodies rich in hydrogen, which could in particular explain the origin of water on the Earth.
Equipped with sophisticated instruments, the probe CONTOUR, of a weight of 970 kg, was to return visit to two comets: Encke, November 12, 2003 and Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 on June 19, 2006, both located at less than 50 million kilometers of the Earth.
Again, it is common knowledge that it is GW's fault for not signing the Kyoto treaty...
This digital image, a composite of two images of the predicted location of the Contour spacecraft taken 22 minutes apart on Aug. 16, 2002, shows a pair of moving objects represented as streaks, one dark and one light (with all four encircled in green). The positive images (white) are the earlier time. Experts believe the images may show NASA's missing Contour spacecraft broken in two pieces, about 155 miles (250 km) apart, as it hurtles away from Earth, the mission director said Friday. The fate of the $159 million comet-chasing mission had yet to be confirmed. The image was taken by Jim Scotti with the Spacewatch 1.8-meter telescope on Kitt Peak in Arizona. White spots are stars; brightest stars appear as crosses. (AP Photo/(c) 2002 The Spacewatch Project, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, The University of Arizona)
This is a very neat "photo". Thanks!
French people are okay. Sure they adopted anarchy as their governmental system, and they have a bidet in every room even where there is no water, but they consider Greenpeace to be an enemy. It evens out.
