Hi, Just thought a few of the more serious space nuts might be interested in this. Hopefully, the storm will clear the air for a stream of successful G* launches.
nf
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Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC November 12, 1998
(Phone: 202/358-1727)
Kathleen Burton
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
(Phone: 650/604-1731)
RELEASE: 98-202
NASA ASTROBIOLOGY TO SHOWER ATTENTION ON LEONIDS
On Nov. 17, NASA scientists will conduct unprecedented,
detailed aircraft and ground measurements of the Leonid meteor
storm.
The Leonid meteors originate from a trail of dust and debris
in the wake of the comet Tempel-Tuttle, which orbits the Sun every
33 years. The Earth crosses this trail every November, but every
33 years the debris trail is especially dense, sometimes resulting
in a meteor storm. The "shooting stars" streak through Earth's
upper atmosphere, sometimes at rates of up to thousands per hour.
The storm's peak lasts approximately one hour. This year, Earth is
expected to pass a region just behind the comet and outside of its
orbit, a favorable set of conditions for a larger-than-normal storm
event. The best viewing of this storm will be in eastern Asia and
the western Pacific region.
NASA's mission consists of two research aircraft that will
carry a broad array of scientific instruments to observe and
explore the meteors. Operating simultaneously, the aircraft will
provide three-dimensional views, making high-resolution
stereoscopic images and spectrographic observations of meteor
dynamics and chemistry. A team of interdisciplinary scientists --
astronomers, atmospheric physicists and meteor specialists -- will
use state-of-the-art-sampling techniques to provide a "window on
the sky" over Japan during the storm.
"The central theme of this mission is astrobiology," said
Peter Jenniskens, mission principal investigator and astronomer at
the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute,
Mountain View, CA. "We are especially interested in learning the
composition of Tempel-Tuttle's debris, the molecules that are
created during the meteor's interaction with the Earth's
atmosphere, and the composition and chemistry of the atoms,
molecules and particles detected in the meteor's path. This may
help us understand how extraterrestrial materials helped create the
conditions on Earth necessary for the origin of life."
The Leonid mission is NASA's first operational astrobiology
mission. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution and
destiny of life in the universe. The mission may provide important
clues about what extraterrestrial materials were brought to Earth
by comets, and what part that may have played in the beginnings of
life on Earth, as well as clues on how biogenic compounds formed in
stars are eventually incorporated into planets.
A modified L-188C Electra aircraft from the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Center for
Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO, and sponsored by the National
Science Foundation, will act as the mission "spotter" and recorder.
It will carry a two-beam Lidar, a type of radar with light pulses
that measures the altitude of neutral atom debris in the meteor
trails. Other instruments include airglow, visible wavelength
imagers and high-definition TV cameras.
Scientists aboard the first aircraft are seeking to learn
how a meteor's mass compares to its brightness and to the mass of
the resulting comet. Currently, they can only guess how much
material enters the atmosphere during a meteor bombardment.
Researchers will compare the meteor's image with information from
the dual Lidar, providing an indication of the chemical evolution
of the meteor debris.
The second aircraft, a U.S. Air Force-owned FISTA (Flying
Infrared Signatures Technology Aircraft) from Edwards Air Force
Base, CA, will have 20 upward-looking portholes to observe the
meteors. It will carry imagers and infrared and visible-light
spectrometers to dissect the meteor's light in search of the
fingerprint of atoms and molecules.
The mission will fly out of Kadena AFB in Okinawa, Japan,
over the East China Sea. The FISTA aircraft will fly as high as
39,000 feet to be above the lower atmosphere's water vapor layer,
while the Electra will maintain an altitude of about 22,000 feet,
just above the clouds.
NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, is
collaborating in this international effort with the SETI Institute,
the National Science Foundation and several other science
organizations. Aircraft and other support are being provided by
NOAA and the U.S. Air Force. Instruments are being contributed by
the University of Illinois at Urbana; the Aerospace Corporation; the
Air Force Research Laboratory; the Japanese Broadcasting Company
(NHK); Kobe University, Japan; the Ondrejov Observatory (Czech
Republic); Mt. Allison University (Canada); the SETI Institute; and
the University of East Anglia, England.
Additional information on the Leonid meteor storm and the
mission can be found on the worldwide web at: http://www-
space.arc.nasa.gov/~leonid/. During the mission, video animation
and images will be available at:
leonid.arc.nasa.gov
- end -
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