August 2004 Space News |
- DISTANT SUNS / SMALL PLANETS VOA 31 Aug 2004 -- U.S. astronomers have made a finding they say increases the chance that distant stars may harbor planetary systems like our own. They have discovered two planets the size of Neptune elsewhere in our galaxy. These are the smallest planets yet found outside our solar system and may herald the discovery of even smaller ones like Earth.
- U.S. Scientists Announce New Class of Planets Washington File 31 Aug 2004 -- U.S. scientists announced the discovery of a new class of planets outside Earth's solar system August 31, the smallest planets ever detected so far from Earth.
- U.S.: Spacecraft Set To Return Solar Particles To Earth RFE/RL 31 Aug 2004 -- Though made of diamonds, sapphires, gold, and silicon, a sampling device on board a U.S. spacecraft is set to bring even more precious cargo back to Earth in a week's time -- bits of the sun caught during the probe's three-year journey. Named "Genesis," the spacecraft should swing by Earth on 8 September, releasing a capsule containing particles of solar wind. The capsule is due to come down in Utah.
- Rumsfeld Says U.S. Expects Limited Missile Defense by End of 2004 Washington File 20 Aug 2004 -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the United States expects to have a limited ability to defend against incoming long-range ballistic missiles by the end of 2004.
- NASA Genesis Spacecraft Returns to Earth with Solar Wind Samples Washington File 20 Aug 2004 -- The Genesis spacecraft will swing by Earth next month and jettison a capsule that is carrying samples of particles of the sun that may help explain the beginnings of the solar system, says a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) press release.
- Water Changed Rocks in Mars Gusev Crater, NASA Rover Finds Washington File 19 Aug 2004 -- NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is examining bedrock in the Columbia Hills of Mars and finding evidence that water thoroughly altered some rocks in Gusev Crater, according to a NASA press release.
- Transcript: Remarks by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at the Seventh Annual Space and Missile Defense Conference 18 Aug 2004 -- Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld
- MARS / WATER VOA 18 Aug 2004 -- Scientists say they might be on the verge of confirming that large amounts of water once flowed in a region of Mars that has looked curiously dry until now. Such a finding could be comparable to their discovery earlier this year of an ancient shallow sea on the other side of the red planet.
- Missile Defense Needed to Thwart Extremists, Rumsfeld Says AFPS 18 Aug 2004 -- With extremists constantly looking for weaknesses to exploit and the means to exploit them, missile defense capabilities are a must, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today.
- TWO MORE SATURN MOONS VOA 17 Aug 2004 -- The planet with the second largest number of moons now has two more. The U.S. Cassini spacecraft discovered them around Saturn, bringing the giant ringed planet's known total to 33.
- NASA Cassini Spacecraft Finds Two New Saturn Moons Washington File 17 Aug 2004 -- The Cassini spacecraft has discovered two new moons at Saturn that may be the smallest bodies seen so far around the ringed planet, according to a NASA press release.
- Mars Rover Sends Pictures to European Space Agency Orbiter Washington File 11 Aug 2004 -- The Mars rover Opportunity sent pictures from the planet's surface to the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express orbiter on August 4, showing for the first time that the orbiter could serve as a communications link.
- Mars Rovers Continue to Explore While Teams Diagnose Problems Washington File 05 Aug 2004 -- NASA's Spirit rover has climbed higher into Mars's rocky hills while its twin craft, Opportunity, descended deeper into a crater, but both are operating with restrictions while team members diagnose unexpected behavior.
- Canada and United States Amend NORAD Agreement Department of National Defence of Canada 05 Aug 2004 -- Minister of National Defence Bill Graham and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pierre Pettigrew today announced that the Government is amending the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) agreement with the United States. The amendment authorizes NORAD to make its missile warning function - a role it has been performing for the last 30 years - available to the U.S. commands conducting ballistic missile defence.
- NASA's Mercury-bound MESSENGER Launches from Cape Canaveral Washington File 03 Aug 2004 -- MESSENGER, the first mission to Mercury in 30 years and the first ever to orbit the closest planet to the Sun, launched August 3 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.
- MERCURY MISSION VOA 03 Aug 2004 -- The United States has launched a spacecraft to explore the mysteries of the planet Mercury. Mercury is the least understood of the nine planets in our solar system.
- NASA Set to Launch Orbiter to Mercury Washington File 02 Aug 2004 -- Bad weather forced NASA to cancel the scheduled August 2 launch of MESSENGER, the first mission to Mercury in 30 years. The space agency's window to begin the mission extends to August 14.
