Projects: Space Information
The Planetary Report
Volume XXII, Number 4, July/August 2002
On the Cover
As the Sun dramatically drops from sight in California's
Mojave Desert, Goldstone's 70-meter antenna stands poised and ready for
work. Part of NASA's Deep Space Network -- used to communicate with
planetary spacecraft -- Goldstone is one of the world's two primary
facilities set up for planetary radar astronomy. Scientists are using
radar to peer into the dark regions of our solar system, discovering
and tracking potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroids.
From The Editor
The news services have given considerable time lately to space science discoveries:
an asteroid passes close by Earth; vast quantities of water lie just beneath
the Martian surface; a planetary system similar to ours orbits a nearby star.
In this issue, you’ll read about how such discoveries advance our understanding
of the worlds around us.
The press realizes that space exploration can still excite the public. The
public still marvels at amazing discoveries. But other concerns on the rapidly
changing radar of this planet can drive such enthusiasms to the bottom of priority
lists, as we've seen reflected in opinion polls. The world has changed from
the supercharged days of the early space age, when we were ready to undertake
any challenge any time, especially, to paraphrase President John F. Kennedy,
if it was hard.
All space exploration is hard.
For us in The Planetary Society, this
change in society as a whole presents a
formidable challenge. It's up to us to make
sure that the exploration of the solar
system and search for extraterrestrial
life receives the priority it deserves.
In the coming months, we will call
upon you to join again in supporting
planetary exploration, through political
action and other means. As always,
together we can make it happen.
— Charlene M. Anderson
Features
The Mars Odyssey Continues
In May, the Mars Odyssey mission team announced
that the spacecraft's
Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS) had detected large amounts of hydrogen --
inferred as water-ice -- around Mars' south pole. The Society's director of projects,
Bruce Betts, has been following Mars Odyssey since it entered Mars
orbit last fall. Here, Bruce continues his coverage, examining the GRS
results and updating us on the mission's progress.
Extra! Extra! Read All
About It: Extrasolar Planets on the Rise!
Back in 1982, The Planetary Society
began supporting searches for extrasolar planets --
we were among the first to grasp the potential significance of finding
worlds like ours circling other stars. Projects we initiated -- one led
by George Gatewood at the Allegheny Observatory in Pittsburgh and another
by Bruce Campbell at the University of Victoria in British Columbia -- advanced
the field but made no confirmed discoveries. Since then, more than 60 Jupiter-size
extrasolar worlds have been discovered. Now, we are sponsoring a new program
at the Kitt Peak National Observatory. Project leader Steve
Howell reports
on its progress.
Taking the Measure of Microworlds
Asteroids are small,
dark, distant, and, in general, hard to see. Even using the most powerful
optical telescopes, we observe them only as points of light or streaks
against a star field. Scientists have, however, developed the means to
render exact orbits and give shape to points of light: radar astronomy.
Science writer Robert Burnham reports on the discoveries of this little-known
but highly productive technology.
DEPARTMENTS
Members’ Dialogue
World Watch
Society News
Questions and Answers
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