FROM THE PRESIDENT ! Bill Hanagan

~ Two Mini-Talks:Eyepieces Inside & Out by Dave Sewell / Terry Lisanski

and Degenerate Angular Momentum by Billie Westergardat the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observatory

Next Meeting � June 21st, 2011 at 8:00 PM

Vol. 56, No. 6, June, 2011

Each issue of FOCUS is full of useful hyperlinks. Just click onany graphic or telltale blue web address and your browser shouldtake you to additional linked web resources.

First off, please join me in congratulating Rick Davis,who received the DAS Amateur Astronomer of the YearAward at the May dinner meeting. Several people helpedmake the May dinner meeting a success and deserve ourthanks, including Hank Bouchelle, Tom DeMott, RobLancaster, Bill McKibben, Gus Swartout, and Greg Weaver.I�ve already sent a separate �thank you� note to our speaker,Mr. Andrew K. Johnston, who did a great job describing thenavigation of spacecraft as they travel our solar system ontheir various missions of exploration.

For the first time in our club�s history, our annualelections were conducted electronically over the Internet.Sarah Baird deserves a special note of thanks for figuring outhow to put the election on-line, which saved us the cost ofmailing paper ballots back and forth. Congratulations go toTerry Lisansky, Bob Mentzer, and Gus Swartout, who all wonpositions as board members-at-large. Their new terms beginofficially on July 1.

At the June meeting, I�ll be asking the audience forthe titles of the talks and mini-talks to fill our meetingschedule for next year, Terry Lisansky and Dave Sewell willbe speaking about �Eyepieces�, and Billie Westergard willtalk about �Degenerate Angular Momentum�.

The increased use of mini-talks in place of full lengthpresentations has given us a good mix of talks over the lastyear. We even managed to get some DAS members tospeak to us who have never given a presentation to usbefore. However, we still need to expand the number of DASmembers who make presentations at our main meetings. Ifyou haven�t given a talk in the last year or two, please planto give a talk on some aspect of astronomy next year. If youthink our mix of talks is too technical, too cultural, or tooanything else, this is your chance to balance out the program

by giving exactly the kind of talk you think we should have.As most of you know, the FOCUS and our general

meetings will both take a 2 month break over July andAugust, but they will resume again in September. Ourmember star parties (MSPs) as well as the activities of theAstrophotography Special Interest Group (AP-SIG) and theAmateur Telescope Makers Special Interest Group (ATM-SIG) will continue over the summer. Enjoy your summer!

7:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 21, 2011 In the Library at the Mt. Cuba Observatory

The PRESIDENT�S DAS BOARDMEETING AGENDA for JUNE

In addition to routine items of business such as theTreasurer�s report, we�ll be discussing the followingitems.

1) Mini-talk topics to recommend to the members fornext year.

2) Refiguring and recoating the 17.5� Coulter mirror anda 6� Edscorp mirror.

3) Funds to allow maintenance work to proceed on theSawin observatory over the summer.

As always, DAS board meetings are open to all DASmembers.

�PUBLIC NIGHTS� at the Mt. CUBA OBSERVATORY...MCAO PUBLIC NIGHTS ! Greg Weaver

Jun 20 D.Wilson/D. Groski The Planets of Our Solar System.July 11 TBDJuly 25 The Gemini missions

and what we learned.Aug. 8 TBDAug. 22 Volcanos of the Solar Sys.Sept. 12 TBDSept. 26 TBDOct. 10 The Mystery of the missing

Solar neutrinos.Oct. 24 TBDNov. 7 How to choose your

first Telescope.Nov. 21 How Uranus and Neptune

were discovered.

Date Speaker Topic

the latest updated version off the website at: http://MountCuba.org. Programs are presented on Mondaynights at 8pm. Please check the website for programsplanned, full details and updates.

The schedule for 2011 follows:

DAS Main Meeting Topicsand Speakers for June

June 21: Bill Hanagan will hold a discussion on next year�sspeakers, then Two Mini-talks: 1) Eyepieces Inside andOut by Dave Sewell and Terry Lisansky and 2) Degenera-tive Angular Momentum by Billie Westergard.

DAS Member Star Parties (MSP�s) ! Bill Hanagan

A Journey Through the Night Sky-A panoramic image of the entire night sky.Image Credit & Copyright: Nick Risinger (Photopic Sky Survey)\

Observing with the Delaware Astronomical Society...

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The Mt. CubaObservatory PublicNights continue yearround! In addition tolearning about manyaspects of the heavens,you�ll have a chance to

visit and view our all-digital full-dome planetarium. You canpick up a schedule when you next come to a meeting or get

We held an MSP on June 3 at the Elk River darksky site which is recapped elsewhere in this issue of theFOCUS.

There are several possible MSP dates on the calen-dar that will come up before you see the September issueof the FOCUS and I would like to briefly review those here.

The next MSP cycle includes the dates of June 24and 25. I�ve asked Tom Sidowski to act as MSP supervisorfor these dates. The most likely venue for this MSP is theSawin observatory, though Tom has final say on that. July1 and 2, which follow a week later, are good observingopportunities, but they aren�t included as possible MSPdates because many people travel or spend time with familyover the 4th of July holiday weekend.

Another new moon gives us 4 possible MSP dates:July 22, 23, 29, and 30. For the first two of these, July 22and 23, the moon will rise around midnight with about 50%of the surface illuminated. As a result, deep sky observingwill be best done between 9 PM and midnight. If theweather favors an MSP on either of these dates it willprobably be held at the Sawin observatory.

The July 29 and 30 dates are tentatively scheduledfor a road trip to Ricketts Glenn State Park in Pennsylvania,

located about 20 miles west of Wilkes-Barre. Ricketts Glennis a very popular state park with a large number of waterfallsand numerous trails. However, it is located about a 3.5 hourdrive to our north. You don�t need your own campsite atRickett�s Glenn unless you want to park your car immediatelynext to your tent. Several of our core observers already havecampsites reserved that can handle more than one tent.However, park regulations allow only one vehicle per camp-site. Auxiliary parking is a few hundred yards away. Let meknow ahead of time if you are thinking about going along onthis road trip and I�ll fill you in on the details.

The last new moon before September gives us twomore potential MSP dates: August 26 and 27. September 2and 3, which follow a week later, are good observing opportu-nities, but they aren�t included as possible MSP datesbecause they are part of the Labor Day holiday weekend.

NEW

The DAS astrophotography special interest group (DASAP SIG) meets on Friday nights at 7:30pm every other month at Mt.Cuba regardless of weather. The SIG also meets for photo shootsscheduled on 1-2 day notice to synchronize with the weather.

The monthly meetings are informal and typicallyinclude the presentation of astrophotos taken by the membersalong with an extended question and answer period. Objectscommonly photographed include constellations, auroras, lunareclipses, and planetary photos, as well as a wide variety of deep-sky objects such as nebulae, galaxies, star clusters, etc. Thetopics discussed cover the entire gamut of astrophotography,from how to get started with a minimum of equipment, to polaraligning your telescope, all of the way to the fine points of usingauto-guiders and post-processing digital images.

You can get started in astrophotography with justyour current camera mounted on a tripod or a motorizedtelescope by taking wide field photographs of meteor showers,conjunctions, constellations, and star trails. As you move toprogressively fainter and smaller subjects, you�ll need betterequipment. Joining the AP SIG is a great way to learn whatequipment you�ll need and what works well before you spendyour money. If you are interested in joining the AP SIG, justemail your name, address, and phone number to me athanaganw@verizon.net.

.

The DAS Amateur Telescope Making (ATM) SpecialInterest Group (SIG ) meets on evenings and weekendsaccording to the availability of the members and the particu-lar projects that are underway. Currently the ATM SIG has amedium Dob building program under way. The general rangeof activities of the ATM SIG includes all manner of telescopemaking, mirror making, and the making of accessories fortelescopes and observing.

Anyone interested in joining the ATM SIG should

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DAS Special Interest Groups for Photography and Telescope Construction...DAS ASTROPHOTOGRAPHYSPECIAL INTEREST GROUP ! Bill Hanagan

DAS AMATEUR TELESCOPE MAKING SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP ! Bill Hanagan

email their name, address, and phone number to me athanaganw@verizon.net.

Meeting dates are announced primarily by email, soif you are interested in telescope making, be sure to letme know!

The DAS also maintains a club observatory on thegrounds of the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observatory. TheSawin Observatory houses the club�s permanently mounted12.5" reflecting telescope and a 17.5" Coulter Odyssey 2Dobsonian telescope. They are for the use of club membersonce they are trained and checked-out in a simple operatingprocedure. Members who are interested in becoming keyholders of the Sawin Observatory should contact me at 239-1844 to arrange for training in the use of the facility.

One of the best advantages of being a member ofthe Delaware Astronomical Society is that all members havethe privilege of being trained to use and then borrow equip-ment owned by the club for personal use. Currently, wehave two scopes available for loan: a Celestron 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain, and a 6" Orion Sky-Quest XT6 Dobsonianreflector. The loan is for at least a month. If you�re interestedin checking out either of these scopes, contact Tom Sidowskiat 239-1844.

LOANER TELESCOPES and SAWIN OBSERVATORY REMINDER !Tom Sidowski

As always, please consider submitting one or more ofyour favorite astrophotos for publication in the FOCUS. Arecent photo is not required. You can email your photo(s) as.jpg files to our FOCUS editor, Joe Neuberger at his address atjrneuberger@gmail.com. Please include a text file brieflydescribing how you made each photo (in Microsoft Wordformat) along with any by-lines or captions you would like Joeto use. If you would like, you can write a more in-depthdiscussion to go with your photos. Joe can make a masterfullayout, but if you would like to suggest a layout of your ownyou can insert copies of your photos into the Word documentto give him an idea what you would like to see. Either way,don�t forget to attach a high resolution .jpg file to your email foreach photo. Joe has done a great job improving the look of theFOCUS and adding relevant links to take advantage of the factthat the FOCUS is now on-line, but like all newsletter editors,he needs as much material as he can get from club members.

NEW

.FOCUS uses plenty of photos

in banners & elsewhere each issue, andwe want to use YOURS...not Hubble�s!!

Photos need NOT be current.

So how about you?? HAVE ANY OLD or NEW ASTROPHOTOS?? PLEASE email to FOCUS editor (or tell us where they can be found on the web if your photos reside there)

The next AP SIG meeting is scheduled for Friday,July 15 at 7:00 P.M. at MCAO. In August, we�ll begin aseries of on-site meetings at the AP SIG members� variousimaging sites.

We are planning to refigure the club�s 17.5� f/4.5mirror before recoating it. If you�d like to participate in thiseffort, please let me know.

NEW

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A Big Surprise from the Edge of the Solar System

June 9, 2011: NASA�s Voyager probes are truly goingwhere no one has gone before. Gliding silently toward thestars, 9 billion miles from Earth, they are beaming backnews from the most distant, unexplored reaches of the solarsystem.

Mission scientists say the probes have just sentback some very big news indeed.

It�s bubbly out there.�The Voyager probes appear to have entered a

strange realm of frothy magnetic bubbles,� says astronomerMerav Opher of Boston University. �This is very surprising.�

According to computer models, the bubbles arelarge, about 100 million miles wide, so it would take thespeedy probes weeks to cross just one of them. Voyager 1entered the �foam-zone� around 2007, and Voyager 2 fol-lowed about a year later. At first researchers didn�t under-stand what the Voyagers were sensing�but now they have agood idea.

�The sun�s magnetic field extends all the way to theedge of the solar system,� explains Opher. �Because the sunspins, its magnetic field becomes twisted and wrinkled, a bitlike a ballerina�s skirt. Far, far away from the sun, where theVoyagers are now, the folds of the skirt bunch up.�

When a magnetic field gets severely folded like this,interesting things can happen. Lines of magnetic force criss-cross and �reconnect�. (Magnetic reconnection is the sameenergetic process underlying solar flares.) The crowded foldsof the skirt reorganize themselves, sometimes explosively,into foamy magnetic bubbles.

�We never expected to find such a foam at the edgeof the solar system, but there it is!� says Opher�s colleague,University of Maryland physicist Jim Drake.

Theories dating back to the 1950s had predicted avery different scenario: The distant magnetic field of the sunwas supposed to curve around in relatively graceful arcs,eventually folding back to rejoin the sun. The actual bubblesappear to be self-contained and substantially disconnectedfrom the broader solar magnetic field.

Energetic particle sensor readings suggest that theVoyagers are occasionally dipping in and out of the foam�so there might be regions where the old ideas still hold. But

Old and new views of the heliosheath. Red and blue spirals are the gracefullycurving magnetic field lines of orthodox models. New data from Voyager add amagnetic froth (inset) to the mix. Click for larger images: old, new.

there is no question that old models alone cannotexplain what the Voyagers have found.

Says Drake: �We are still trying to wrap ourminds around the implications of these findings.�

The structure of the sun�s distant magneticfield�foam vs. no-foam�is of acute scientificimportance because it defines how we interact withthe rest of the galaxy. Researchers call the regionwhere the Voyagers are now �the heliosheath.� It isessentially the border crossing between the SolarSystem and the rest of the Milky Way. Lots ofthings try to get across�interstellar clouds, knots ofgalactic magnetism, cosmic rays and so on. Willthese intruders encounter a riot of bubbly magnetism(the new view) or graceful lines of magnetic forceleading back to the sun (the old view)?The case of cosmic rays is illustrative. Galacticcosmic rays are subatomic particles accelerated to

near-light speed by distant black holes and supernovaexplosions. When these microscopic cannonballs try toenter the solar system, they have to fight through the sun�smagnetic field to reach the inner planets.

�The magnetic bubbles could be our first line ofdefense against cosmic rays,� points out Opher. �We haven�tfigured out yet if this is a good thing or not.�

On one hand, the bubbles would seem to be a veryporous shield, allowing many cosmic rays through the gaps.On the other hand, cosmic rays could get trapped inside thebubbles, which would make the froth a very good shield indeed.

�We�ll probably discover which is correct as theVoyagers proceed deeper into the froth and learn more aboutits organization1,� says Opher. �This is just the beginning,and I predict more surprises ahead.�

Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

More Information:Footnote: 1So far, much of the evidence for the bubblescomes from the Voyager energetic particle and flow mea-surements. Proof can also be obtained from the Voyagermagnetic field observations and some of this data is alsovery suggestive. However, because the magnetic field is soweak, the data takes much longer to analyze with theappropriate care. Thus, unraveling the magnetic signatures ofbubbles in the Voyager data is ongoing.

Voyager Interstellar Mission� home page

Click above for a NASA video showing how magneticbubbles might be formed at the edge of the solar system.

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Recap of the June 3rd DAS MSPat the Elk River Dark Sky Site ! Bill Hanagan

On the night of June 3, DAS observers met for anMSP at the Elk River Dark Sky Site south of Elkton. Theweekend had tentatively been scheduled for a road trip toCherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania, but the venuewas changed to the much closer Elk River site because onlyFriday night was predicted to have favorable weather. The weather at Elk River on Friday night wasfantastic! The transparency was above average for nearlythe entire night, with only about 10 minutes being spoiled bya few wispy clouds passing by. Gus Swartout, who ownsthe Elk River property along with his brother Charlie, wasunable to attend, but he helped us out by calling several ofhis neighbors and asking them to turn off their outdoor lightsfor the night. Several of Gus�s immediate neighbors at theElk River site have previously attended our star parties at thislocation and are happy to help by turning out their lights.Charlie happened to be at the cabin for the evening andwelcomed us warmly on our arrival.

In the photo atright, DAS member DianaMetzger relaxes shortlyafter sunset in her beachchair with her binocularsand planisphere, readyto tour the night sky. Whatcould be more relaxingthan spending some timewandering through theMilky Way while loungingunder a dark sky in abeach chair!

Below, Greg Lee aims his 15� Discovery split tubeDob at the crescent moon just after sunset.

The crescentmoon is visible in thesubsequent photo,which was takenseveral minutes later asit approached thehorizon.

The next photo shows the overall scene at the starparty shortly after sunset. In the foreground, Bill McKibbenis standing next to his 18� Obsession truss tube Dob. On

the opposite side of the scope from Bill, at waist height is aheated eyepiece case which Bill made himself.

The case keeps his eyepiece collection at theback end of his telescope regardless of where he aims thetelescope. It also keeps his eyepiece collection free of dew.The supporting structure for the eyepiece case attaches tothe side of the rocker box using the same threaded insertsused by the wheel barrow handles for getting the telescopein and out of his truck. One great feature of the Elk River site which youcan see from this photo is that everyone can park on theobserving field and unload their equipment next to their cars.This enables our members to bring large aperture telescopesof their own to our MSPs. It also allows them to carry theirgear a much shorter distance and to leave a lot of supportequipment in the car! Although the photo was framed toeliminate a lot of wide open space, the Elk River site couldeasily accommodate many more people and vehicles. Moreto the point, there�s plenty of room for many more DASmembers to attend future star parties! We took a break for a few minutes around midnightand went inside for an assortment of snacks and beveragesprovided by Diana Metzger, Eric Pitt, Gus and CharlieSwartout, and Bill McKibben. Throughout the night, Bill and Greg�s telescopesboth gave us many spectacular views. The most memorablefor me was the view of M5, a globular cluster with a largenumber of resolvable stars. A high quality, larger aperture telescope shows starclusters as bejeweled spectacles. Even with today�stechnology, no photograph can do justice to such viewsbecause no display medium can duplicate the enormousrange of brightness values present in the scene. Thesituation is reversed for faint, low contrast extended objectslike nebulas and galaxies, where photography can revealstunning color and detail that the human eye can�t even hopeto detect. To an ever increasing degree, digital photographyis now also showing use even more (continued on page 14)

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M17 The Swan Nebula -Credit: DAS AP SIG Member Rob Lancaster,

DAS FORUM / E-MAIL SITE ON YAHOO ! Don Shedrick

This is a restricted e-mail service for use byDAS members for DAS purposes. To use this site,go to http://groups.yahoo.com; search for DelawareAstronomical Society; and click on the link that comesup. To join, you must have a Yahoo ID and password;if you don�t, you can register at this time by followingYahoo�s instructions. You will then be allowed to �Jointhe group� upon clicking in that box. You must thenregister for the DAS group and add your profile byclicking on �add new profile� and completing the form.

When adding or editing your profile, you will needto enter your actual name in the �Real Name� box so youcan be identified as a DAS member so Don Shedrickcan approve your application to join the DAS group, andeveryone will know to whom they are communicating.

Finally, specify your desired email address fordelivery of messages. Note: you may choose to nothave your name and email address displayed to anyoneother than DAS members who are members of theYahoo DAS email group.

For more detailed instructions, go to the DASwebsite under DAS Resource Links.

LIBRARY NEWS ! Glenn Bentley

MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS ! Bill McKibbonSKY & TELESCOPE will be processed by the

club for the first subscription year only. The publishershould then send renewal notices directly to thesubscriber at the club rate of $32.95. The subscribercan then pay the publisher directly.

NOTE: If you receive a renewal notice for anamount other than $32.95, check to see if there areany special offers included in the rate. Also check therenewal date printed on the magazine address label.These �special offers� are likely to occur severalmonths prior to the renewal date. However, if you areapproaching your renewal date and have not receivedthe correct renewal notice, contact me and I willprocess the renewal through the club.

ASTRONOMY will continue to be processedby the club for all subscription years.

Please see the renewal form at the end of theFOCUS for additional renewal information.

MEMBERSHIP EXPIRATION NOTICES! Bill McKibben

If you receive the FOCUS by email, you will benotified of your membership renewal by email. If youreceive the FOCUS in the mail and the mailing labelon the envelope containing your FOCUS is markedwith red marker, your membership is expiring or hasexpired. Please see the renewal form at the end ofthe FOCUS for additional renewal information. Alsosee the �Magazine Subscriptions� section in theFOCUS for information about subscription renewal.

I invite the membership to drop by the library afterthe June meeting to see what we have to offer for yoursummer reading enujoyment. The summer loan period isthree months, so that allows you to get involved with some ofour 1,000 page treatises. Or, if you are looking for somethinga litlle more contemplative, we have several large-formatphoto-essay books filled with plates from the Hubble or othermajor ground-based observatories. Enjoy your summer!ASTRONOMICAL LEAGUE MEMBERSHIP

DAS members have the opportunity to becomemembers in the Astronomical League at the dis-counted rate of $7.50 per year. Benefits include theReflector (a quarterly newsletter), observing programs,awards, discounts on books and educational materi-als. For questions on joining the Astronomical League,contact Lynn King at meetings, call 302-764-8816 oremail KLynnKing@verizon.net.

MT. CUBA LENDING LIBRARY ! Paul Stratton

May I first extend a hardy thanks to all of thoseusing the Lending Library. Your interest has made this arewarding effort.

BOOK OF THE MONTH--PLANETS FOR MENby Stephen H. Dole and Isaac Asimov

The Kepler Telescope has now found many hundredplanets in the Milk Way system. The data being collected isindicating that some of these may very well be inhabitableby humans.

May I quote. � In the course of millions of years thehuman species has adapted itself to the narrow ranges oftemperature and air pressure, the availability of food andwater, the chemical and physical components of our earthlyenvironment.. Now that means are at hand to transcendthis enviroment, the question arises: Where else in theuniverse can such physical conditions be found.�

Read PLANETS FOR MEN and let the thoughts begin.

NEW

NEW

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SaturnPhoto Credit: Rob Lancaster (with Bill Hanagan & Rick Davis in photo at left)

WEBSITE of the

MONTHhttp://skysurvey.org/#

What do you see? This was the anthropic question of ayear-long photographic project dubbed the Photopic SkySurvey*, meant to reveal the entire night sky as if it rivalledthe brightness of day. In it we see tens of millions of stars,the glowing factories of newborn ones, and a rich tapestry ofdust all floating on a stage of unimaginable proportions. Ihope you enjoy this new view of our place in the universe asmuch as I have enjoyed making it.

-----Nick Risinger

*The Banner photo on page 2 features this Compilation of photos

OPENOPENOPENOPENOPENYOUR EYESYOUR EYESYOUR EYESYOUR EYESYOUR EYES

TTTTTo Theo Theo Theo Theo TheHidden NightHidden NightHidden NightHidden NightHidden Night

The Photopic Sky Survey is a 5,000megapixel photograph of the entire

night sky stitched together from37,440 exposures.

On May 21st 2011, the DASAstrophotography Special Inter-est Group did some imaging atMount Cuba with Bill Hanagan's

TEC140 Apochromatic Refractorand Rob Lancaster�s Losmandy

G11 Mount using a 2x barlowgiving an effective focal length of

2 meters. The images werecaptured from �live view� movies

using Rob�s Canon Digital RebelXSi. The resulting photos were

then stacked and processed using Lynkeos and a Macbook Pro laptop computer.

In planetary imaging, the prevailing seeing conditions often limit the quality of images obtained.Unfortunately, the seeing on the night that the meeting was held was only average at best.

ASTRO-PHOTO of the

MONTH

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Aquarius to Study the Power of Sea SaltJune 7, 2011: A new observatory is about to leave Earth tomap a powerful compound of global importance: Commoneveryday sea salt.

Researchers suspect that the salinity of Earth�s oceans has far-reaching effects on climate, much as the salt levels within our bodies influence our own delicate internal balance. An international team of scientists from NASA and the Space Agency of Argentina, or CONAE,

will investigate this possibility with the aid of a satellitenamed �Aquarius/SAC-D,� scheduled to launch on June 9th.

�Based on decades of historical data gathered fromocean areas by ships and buoys, we know the salinity haschanged over the last 40 years,� says Aquarius principalinvestigator Gary Lagerloef. �This tells us there�s somethingfundamental going on in the water cycle.�

Salinity is increasing in some ocean regions, likethe subtropical Atlantic, which means more fresh water isbeing lost through evaporation at the sea surface. But no oneknows why this is happening; nor can anyone pinpoint whyother areas are experiencing more rainfall and lower salinity.To solve these mysteries, scientists need a comprehensivelook at global salinity.

Within a few months, Aquarius will collect as manysea surface salinity measurements as the entire 125-yearhistorical record from ships and buoys.

a clearer picture of how the sea is tied to the water cycle andhelp us improve the accuracy of models predicting futureclimate.�

Aquarius is one of the most sensitive microwaveradiometers ever built, and the first NASA sensor to trackocean salinity from space.

�It can detect as little as 0.2 parts salt to 1,000 partswater � about the same as a dash of salt in a gallon ofwater. A human couldn�t taste such a low concentration ofsalt, yet Aquarius manages to detect it while orbiting 408miles above the Earth.�

The Aquarius radiometer gets some help from otherinstruments onboard the satellite. One of them helps sort out thedistortions of the choppy sea. CONAE�s Sandra Torrusio, principalinvestigator for the Argentine and other international instrumentsonboard, explains:

�One of our Argen-tine instruments is anothermicrowave radiometer in adifferent frequency band thatwill measure sea surface winds,rainfall, sea ice, and any other�noise� that could distort theAquarius salinity measurement.We�ll subtract all of that outand retrieve the target signal.�

Torrusio is excitedabout the mission.

�I�ve met so many new people, not only from Argen-tina, but from the US and NASA! It�s been a great experienceto work with them and exchange ideas. We may come fromdifferent places, but we all talk the same language. And itisn�t English � it�s science.�

Working together, these international �people ofscience� will tell us more about the ocean�s role in ourplanet�s balance � and in our own � no matter where we live.

For whatever we lose (like a you or a me),It�s always our self we find in the sea.

(e.e. cummings)�

Author: Dauna Coulter | Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

An artist�s concept of Aquarius/ SAC-Din orbit. [Click for more info.]

�Salinity, along with temperature, governs thedensity of seawater,� says Lagerloef. �The saltier the water,the denser it is, and density drives the currents that deter-mine how the ocean moves heat around the planet. Forexample, the Gulf Stream carries heat to higher latitudes andmoderates the climate. When these currents are diverted bydensity variations, weather patterns such as rainfall andtemperature change.�

Scientists have gathered an ensemble of measure-ments over the ocean�e.g., wind speed and direction, seasurface heights and temperatures, and rainfall. But thesedata do not provide a complete picture.

�We�ve been missing a key element � salinity,� saysLagerloef. �A better understanding of ocean salinity will give us

Click pic atright for aNASA videoexplainingthe role ofoceansalinity inEarth�swater cycle.

A pre-launch view of the Aquarius radio-meter. [Click pic above for more photos.]

More Information: Aquarius/SAC-D: This multipurpose observatory continues thelong-standing partnership between NASA and the Argentine ComisiónNacional de Actividades Espaciales, or CONAE. France and Italy arecontributing instruments. SAC stands for Satélite de Aplicaciones Científicas. This is �D� inthis series of four science application satellites Argentina has built incollaboration with NASA.

A radiometer is essentially a sensitive radio receiver, which, inthis case, detects natural microwave emissions given off by the ocean�ssurface. The Aquarius radiometer scans the sea surface to measure theemitted power in a certain frequency band (1400-1430 MHz) that isproportional to the water�s salt content. There are an average of 35 parts per thousand of salt in theocean (this ratio varies from 32-37 in open ocean areas). That is, theocean is 3 1/2 percent salt, and in 1 kilogram seawater there�s about35 grams of salt. Since salinity levels in the open ocean vary by onlyabout five parts per thousand, the instrument must be very sensitive.

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Jupiter, long settled in its position as the fifth planet from our sun, was a rolling stone in its youth. Over the eons, the giant planet roamed toward the center of the solar system and back out again, at one point moving in about as close as Mars is now. The planet�s travels pro- foundly influenced the solar system, changing the nature of the asteroid belt and making Mars smaller than it should have been. These details

are based on a new model of the early solar system developed by aninternational team that includes NASA�s Goddard Space Flight Center inGreenbelt, Md. The work is being reported in a Nature paper posted onJune 5, 2011.

�We refer to Jupiter�s path as the Grand Tack, because the big themein this work is Jupiter migrating toward the sun and then stopping, turningaround, and migrating back outward,� says the paper�s first author, Kevin Walshof the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. �This change in direction islike the course that a sailboat takes when it tacks around a buoy.�

According to the new model, Jupiter formed in a region of spaceabout three-and-a-half times as far from the sun as Earth is (3.5 astronomi-cal units). Because a huge amount of gas still swirled around the sun backthen, the giant planet got caught in the currents of flowing gas and started toget pulled toward the sun. Jupiter spiraled slowly inward until it settled at adistance of about 1.5 astronomical units�about where Mars is now. (Marswas not there yet.)

�We theorize that Jupiter stopped migrating toward the sunbecause of Saturn,� says Avi Mandell, a planetary scientist at NASAGoddard and a co-author on the paper. The other co-authors areAlessandro Morbidelli at the Observatoire de la Cote d�Azur in Nice,France; Sean Raymond at the Observatoire de Bordeaux in France; andDavid O�Brien at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz.

Like Jupiter, Saturn got drawn toward the sun shortly after itformed, and the model holds that once the two massive planets came closeenough to each other, their fates became permanently linked. Gradually, allthe gas in between the two planets got expelled, bringing their sun-bounddeath spiral to a halt and eventually reversing the direction of their motion.The two planets journeyed outward together until Jupiter reached its currentposition at 5.2 astronomical units and Saturn came to rest at about 7astronomical units. (Later, other forces pushed Saturn out to 9.5 astronomi-cal units, where it is today.)

The effects of these movements, which took hundreds ofthousands to millions of years, were extraordinary.effects of these move-ments, which took hundreds of thousands to millions of years, wereextraordinary.Jupiter�s Do-Si-Do

�Jupiter migrating in and then all the way back out again cansolve the long-standing mystery of why the asteroid belt is made up of bothdry, rocky objects and icy objects,� Mandell says.

Astronomers think that the asteroid belt exists because Jupiter�sgravity prevented the rocky material there from coming together to form aplanet; instead, the zone remained a loose collection of objects. Somescientists previously considered the possibility that Jupiter could havemoved close to the sun at some point, but this presented a major problem:Jupiter was expected to scatter the material in the asteroid belt so much thatthe belt would no longer exist..

�For a long time, that idea limited what we imagined Jupiter couldhave done,� Walsh notes.

Rather than having Jupiter destroy the asteroid belt as it movedtoward the sun, the Grand Tack model has Jupiter perturbing the objectsand pushing the whole zone farther out. �Jupiter�s migration process wasslow,� explains Mandell, �so when it neared the asteroid belt, it was not aviolent collision but more of a do-si-do, with Jupiter deflecting the objects andessentially switching places with the asteroid belt.�

In the same way, as Jupiter moved away from the sun, the planetnudged the asteroid belt back inward and into its familiar location betweenthe modern orbits of Mars and Jupiter. And because Jupiter traveled muchfarther out than it had been before, it reached the region of space where icyobjects are found. The massive planet deflected some of these icy objectstoward the sun and into the asteroid belt.

�The end result is that the asteroid belt has rocky objects from theinner solar system and icy objects from the outer solar system,� says Walsh.�Our model puts the right material in the right places, for what we see in theasteroid belt today.�Poor Little Mars

The time that Jupiter spent in the inner solar system had anothermajor effect: its presence made Mars smaller than it otherwise would havebeen. �Why Mars is so small has been the unsolvable problem in theformation of our solar system,� says Mandell. �It was the team�s initialmotivation for developing a new model of the formation of the solar system.�

Because Mars formed farther out than Venus and Earth, it hadmore raw materials to draw on and should be larger than Venus and Earth.Instead, it�s smaller. �For planetary scientists, this never made sense,�Mandell adds.

But if, as the Grand Tack model suggests, Jupiter spent some timeparked in the inner solar system, it would have scattered some materialavailable for making planets. Much of the material past about 1 astronomicalunit would have been dispersed, leaving poor Mars out at 1.5 astronomicalunits with slim pickings. Earth and Venus, however, would have formed inthe region richest in planet-making material.

�With the Grand Tack model, we actually set out to explain theformation of a small Mars, and in doing so, we had to account for theasteroid belt,� says Walsh. �To our surprise, the model�s explanation of theasteroid belt became one of the nicest results and helps us understand thatregion better than we did before.�

Another bonus is that the new model puts Jupiter, Saturn, and theother giant planets in positions that fit very well with the �Nice model,� arelatively new theory that explains the movements of these large planetslater in the solar system�s history.

The Grand Tack also makes our solar system very much like theother planetary systems that have been found so far. In many of thosecases, enormous gas-giant planets called �hot Jupiters� sit extremely closeto their host stars, much closer than Mercury is to the sun. For planetaryscientists, this newfound likeness is comforting.

�Knowing that our own planets moved around a lot in the pastmakes our solar system much more like our neighbors than we previouslythought,� says Walsh. �We�re not an outlier anymore.�

Jupiter�s Youthful Travels Redefined Solar System Elizabeth Zubritsky, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, June 6, 2011

Not long after Jupiter formed, it got pulledslowly toward the sun, carried on currents ofswirling gas. Saturn also got pulled in, andwhen the two giant planets came closeenough to each other, their fates becamelinked. Their sun-bound death spiral came toa halt when Jupiter was about where Mars isnow; then the pair turned and moved awayfrom the sun. The researchers who devel-oped this model of the early solar system callit the �Grand Tack,� a reference to the sailingmaneuver. Credit: NASA/GSFC

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D A S A n n u a l A w a r d s Tuesday, May 17th

Andrew K. Johnson, left and abovewith Bill Hanagan, was the speakerfor the evening. He joined us fromthe Smithsonian Air and SpaceMuseum and presented on �TheHistory & Technology of SolarSystem Exploration.�

Bill Hanagan, onthe right in thepics above left

and right,presents RickDavis with the

2011 DASAmateur As-

tronomer of theYear award and

prize. It is theClub�s highest honor.

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D i n n e r f o r 2 0 1 1 Wilmington/Christiana

at the Hilton

Notes on the Member Star Parties (MSPs) ! Bill HanaganFor each MSP cycle there are usually four potential dates designated in advance, but which of these is used for the

event is �flex-scheduled� according to the weather using the DAS Yahoo Group email system.Please be sure to mark your calendars with the potential MSP dates that appear in the table! Obviously, you need to keepas many of these dates open as possible so when a GO announcement is made you�re in a position to attend the DASMember Star Party regardless of which date the weather favors!

The DAS has a core group of visual observers and astro-imagers who travel to Tuckahoe, Cherry Springs, WestVirginia, and other dark sky sites as opportunities and the weather allow. If you�re interested in going along or meeting up onany of the road trips mentioned in the MSP schedule, let me know and I�ll fill you in on the details and keep you apprised asplans develop.

Several potential road trips are listed on the schedule. Road trips require that several DAS members commit togoing in advance should the weather prove favorable for both nights. When the weather forecast only looks good for onenight, the MSP will often be redirected to a closer site such as the Elk River site or the Sawin observatory.

While DAS members who go on road trips are often involved in both observing and imaging, these road trips areparticularly valuable for visual observers because they offer the best opportunity to see deep sky objects through largeaperture telescopes under dark skies. If you are truly interested in visual observing, you owe it to yourself to see first-handwhat dark skies and a large aperture will allow you to see.

Finally, I�d like to remind you that you need to be signed up for the DAS Yahoo Group to receive the schedulingannouncements for the MSPs. A full description of the MSP program appears on the DAS website at http://delastro.org/ andin the December 2009 issue of the FOCUS.

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1. 2. 3.

.

A Salute to SpiritJune 3, 2011: At NASA, missions are expected to go theextra mile.

The Voyagers are, perhaps, the best knownexample. Launched in the 1970s to explore the outerplanets, the iconic spacecraft have zoomed far beyond theiroriginal targets to the edge of interstellar space itself, 9billion miles from Earth and still making discoveries.Pioneer 10 and 11, Ulysses, Stardust-NEXT, Deep Impact,and others have similar track records. It has become almostroutine for superbly-engineered probes to wrap up theirprime missions, then travel a few million (or billion) bonusmiles for extra science.

Click thephoto atleft toview aNASAYouTubevideotribute toSpirit.

Against this backdrop of sweeping overachieve-ment, we pause to salute a robot that might never moveanother inch.

Well done, Spirit.�For the past 7 years, Spirit has been on a journey

as extraordinary as any mission in NASA history,� saysMars Exploration Rover project manager John Callas of JPL.�But now it may be time to say thanks and farewell.�

NASA hasn�t heard from Spirit in more than a year,and on May 25th, 2011, the agency sent a final transmis-sion in its series of attempts to regain contact.

The trouble began in April 2009 when the rovertrundled into a sandtrap in a place called �Troy,� breakingthrough an apparently safe crust into soft sand below. Stuckin place, Spirit couldn�t turn its solar panels squarely towardthe sun; at the same time, dust accumulated on the panels,reducing sunlight even more. These impediments curtailedpower just when Spirit needed power most, during the deepfreeze of an approaching Martian winter.

�Where Spirit is, winter temperatures drop as lowas -130 C, far colder than any place on Earth,� says Callas.�Without sufficient electricity to power internal heaters andwarm critical systems, Spirit went into hibernation.�

NASA has used Deep Space Network antennasand two of the agency�s Mars orbiters to try to reestablishcontact�but no luck. Whether the rover is damaged ormerely �sleeping,� no one can say, but most engineersbelieve the possibility of contact is now extremely remote.

A Martian sunset photographed by Spirit in 2005. [Click photofor more info.]

Spirit landed on Mars on Jan. 4, 2004, for a missiondesigned to last merely three months. After quickly accom-plishing its primary science goals, the rover went on to workfor almost six more years. In all, Spirit has traveled almost 8km, explored several large craters, scrutinized thousands ofrocks, scraped off topsoil to reveal hidden minerals, photo-graphed Martian dust devils and sunsets, observed themoons of Mars, and took the first picture of Earth in the nightsky of another planet. Bonus-time, indeed.

Asked to name Spirit�s top scientific discoveries,Callas lists three:

(1) Evidence of ancient hot springs. �This cameabout because of the failure of one of Spirit�s wheels,� herecalls. �Two years into the mission, the right front wheelstopped working�we�re still not sure why. Spirit had to drag italong, cutting a furrow in the ground. This revealed deposits ofamorphous silica widely thought to have formed in hydro-thermal systems. Apparently, Mars once had water and theenergy to warm it. We might never have found this if not forthe serendipity of the broken wheel.�

(2) Evidence of a thick atmosphere and �sweet�water. Today the atmos-phere of Mars is so thin,most life as we know itcouldn�t survive there.Spirit�s discovery of car-bonates at the ComancheOutcrop is compelling evi-dence that it wasn�t always so.

Callas explains:�The carbonates Spirit foundformed in surface water thatcould only exist with a thickatmosphere sitting on topof it to prevent rapid evap-oration. Moreover, the chemistry of the carbonates tells usthat the water wasn�t acidic like other ancient water on Mars.�Life would have liked this place, billions of years ago.

The Comanche Outcrop on Marssuggests a hospitable environmentfor life in the distant past. [Clickphoto for more info.]

(continued on page 15)

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S u p e r S t o r m o n S a t u r n

This false-color infrared image showsclouds of large ammonia ice particlesdredged up by the powerful storm.Credit: Cassini. [Click photo for more.]

May 19, 2011: NASA�sCassini spacecraft anda European SouthernObservatory ground-based telescope aretracking the growth ofa giant early-springstorm in Saturn�snorthern hemisphereso powerful that itstretches around theentire planet. The rarestorm has beenwreaking havoc formonths and shooting

plumes of gas high into the planet�s atmosphere.�Nothing on Earth comes close to this powerful

storm,� says Leigh Fletcher, a Cassini team scientist at theUniversity of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and lead authorof a study that appeared in this week�s edition of ScienceMagazine. �A storm like this is rare. This is only the sixthone to be recorded since 1876, and the last was way backin 1990.�

Cassini�s radio and plasma wave science instrumentfirst detected the large disturbance in December 2010, andamateur astronomers have been watching it ever sincethrough backyard telescopes. As it rapidly expanded, thestorm�s core developed into a giant, powerful thunderstorm,producing a 3,000-mile-wide (5,000-kilometer-wide) darkvortex possibly similar to Jupiter�s Great Red Spot.

NASA�s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.�Our new observations show that the storm had a

major effect on the atmosphere, transporting energy andmaterial over great distances � creating meandering jetstreams and forming giant vortices � and disrupting Saturn�sseasonal [weather patterns],� said Glenn Orton, a paper co-author, based at NASA�s Jet Propulsion Laboratory inPasadena, Calif.

The violence of the storm � the strongest distur-bances ever detected in Saturn�s stratosphere � tookresearchers by surprise. What started as an ordinarydisturbance deep in Saturn�s atmosphere punched throughthe planet�s serene cloud cover to roil the high layer knownas the stratosphere.

�On Earth, the lower stratosphere is where commer-cial airplanes generally fly to avoid storms which can causeturbulence,� says Brigette Hesman, a scientist at theUniversity of Maryland in College Park who works on theCIRS team at Goddard and is the second author on thepaper. �If you were flying in an airplane on Saturn, this stormwould reach so high up, it would probably be impossible toavoid it.�

A separate analysis using Cassini�s visual andinfrared mapping spectrometer, led by Kevin Baines of JPL,confirmed the storm is very violent, dredging up deep mate-rial in volumes several times larger than previous storms.Other Cassini scientists are studying the evolving storm and,they say, a more extensive picture will emerge soon.

Stay tuned to Science@NASA for updates.

Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

More InformationThe Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project ofNASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian SpaceAgency. The mission is managed by JPL for NASA�s Sci-ence Mission Directorate in Washington. The EuropeanSouthern Observatory in Garching, Germany operates theVLT in Chile. JPL is a division of the California Institute ofTechnology in Pasadena.

This is the first major storm on Saturn observed byan orbiting spacecraft and studied at thermal infrared wave-lengths. Infrared observations are key because heat tellsresearchers a great deal about conditions inside the storm,including temperatures, winds, and atmospheric composi-tion. Temperature data were provided by the Very LargeTelescope (VLT) on Cerro Paranal in Chile and Cassini�scomposite infrared spectrometer (CIRS), operated by

detail on planets than we can see by direct observation. Ofcourse, that doesn�t mean you should stop observing thesesorts of objects visually, just that you should be aware thatmore detail and color can often be revealed through digitalimaging. So, if the view of a galaxy through your 8� tele-scope isn�t very exciting, you might want to see what a goodimaging system can reveal. The photo at right, which was made in red light andconverted to monochrome, shows Rob Lancaster setting upa 10� f/6 Newtonian telescope that he built himself. Robbegan work on this telescope about 3 years ago by makingthe primary mirror at the Mid-Atlantic Mirror Making Seminar,with help from several people including yours truly. Althoughhe recently had his optical tube assembled for the springStargaze, this star party was the first night that he had histelescope collimated, mounted, and able to point at anyobject in the sky, so in many ways this was �first light� forhis telescope. Congratulations Rob!

Recap of June 3rd MSP(continued from page 5) After observingone or two objectsvisually, Rob quicklyset to work takingphotographs using hisCanon Rebel DSLR.One of the photos heobtained appear in thebanner on page 6 in thisissue of the FOCUS. The MSPwrapped up around 3AM, though Rob�stayed late� and keptimaging until about3:45 AM.

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(3) Evidence of an active water cycle. The firstthing Spirit did when it got stuck at Troy was to try to breakfree. Spirit�s spinning wheels churned up the soil, uncoveringsulfates. �These minerals appear to have come in contactwith water perhaps as recently as a million years ago,� saysCallas. In geological terms, that�s very recent, suggesting anactive water cycle on the Red Planet.

Alone, any one of these discoveries would have beenconsidered a resounding success by the mission�s originalplanners in the 1990s. All three, plus others not listed, placeSpirit squarely atop the pantheon of NASA�s great overachievers.

Meanwhile, Spirit�s twin rover Opportunity is halfwayacross the red planet, still going strong.

�Opportunity is in good health,� says Callas. �Therover is about to log 30 km of distance since landing in 2004.We never dreamed of such a trek when the mission began.And years of additional service appear possible.�

He cautions that Mars is a dangerous place, and therover itself is in its senior years. At any moment, Opportunitycould be engulfed in a storm, fall in a sandtrap, or simplybreak down due to old age.

When one of these things inevitably happens,Opportunity will join Spirit as a silent monument to grit, luck,intelligence � and oh so many extra miles.

A Salute to Spirit (continued from page 13)

This may be the last thing that Spirit ever saw�a panoramaat Gusev crater before the rover�s 4th Martian winter. [Clickphoto for more info.]

Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

For More Information

Mars Exploration Rovers � home page

A Salute to Spirit � ScienceCast video

A Heartfelt Goodbye to a Spirited Mars Rover � by John Callas

NASA Spirit Rover Completes Mission on Mars � press release

Astronomical League Dues Payable in June ! K. Lynn King, Astronomical League Observing Chair

What is the Astronomical League? Whyshould I join? How does it benefit me as a DAS clubmember? The Astronomical League is the largestamateur astronomy organization in the world. Haveyou ever said: My skies are crappy. Where can Iobserve? Is there anything I can see? Where do Istart? My child is interested. Is there anything forhim/her? I need to be challenged. What�s in it forme? The League has something for everyone from aquarterly newsletter �The Reflector,� books, charts,observing programs for the very new to help youlearn the sky to the very experienced who arelooking for a challenge. The League has over 50observing programs. Some of the popular programsare the Messier, Binocular Messier, Deep Sky Binocu-lar, Double Star and Constellation Hunter. There areobserving clubs for urban skies, suburban skies and

dark sky sites. There is something for everyone nomatter what level. When you complete a program,you are recognized nationally and receive anaward!!!!! All who participate in the mini MessierMarathons have already started on your way to theMessier Club award! Many of you have alreadycompleted the requirements without knowing it.What an accomplishment! You deserve the recogni-tion of your fellow observers.

Be a part of the Astronomical League andshare in all its benefits. Dues are $7.50 per year.Please send dues to Bill McKibben, 27 Mary JaneLane, Elkton, MD 21921 by June 30 or bring it to theJune meeting.

For questions regarding benefits and pro-grams, please contact Lynn King at (302) 764-8816or klynnking@verizon.net.

The Science@NASA team is pleased to announce a new product: the ScienceCast. Every week, theyproduce a short video highlighting a topic in NASA science news. This week�s episode is about the Spirit rover. Check out�Salute to Spirit� on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/user/ScienceAtNASA#p/a/u/0/jhDjU0yRkY4.

A complete list of ScienceCast episodes may be found on Science@NASA�s Youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/ScienceAtNASA . Enjoy!

NASA Science NewsIntroduces New Feature...

Opportunity Passes Small Crater and Big Milestone

NASA�s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the exposures combined into this view of a wee crater,informally named �Skylab,� along the rover�s route. The component images were taken during the 2,594th Martian day, or sol, of the rover�s work onMars (May 12, 2011), after Opportunity had driven 239 feet (72.7 meters) that sol.

This is a young crater about 30 feet (9 meters) in diameter. How young? The blocks of material ejected from the crater-digging impact sit ontop of the sand ripples near the crater. This suggests, from the estimated age of the area�s sand ripples, that the crater was formed within the past100,000 years. The dark sand inside the crater attests to the mobility of fine sand in the recent era in this Meridiani Planum region of Mars.

The view spans 216 degrees of the compass, from northwest on the right to south on the right. It is presented as a cylindrical projection.Opportunity successfully completed its three-month prime mission on Mars in April 2004 and has continued in bonus extended missions

since then. NASA�s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration RoverProject for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Opportunity Beside a Small, Young Crater [Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech]

The line drawn on thisorbital image shows theNASA Mars RoverOpportunity�s driving pathon May 12, 2011, when therover approached �Skylab�crater. The base imagewas taken by the HighResolution ImagingScience Experimentcamera on NASA�s MarsReconnaissance Orbiter.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona[Click photo for larger, Web-based view]

June 2, 2011 A drive of 482 feet (146.8 meters) on June 1,2011, took NASA�s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity past30 kilometers (18.64 miles) in total odometry during 88months of driving on Mars. That�s 50 times the distanceoriginally planned for the mission and more than 12 times thedistance racehorses run at the Belmont Stakes.

Opportunity has passed many craters on its crater-hopping tour. One of the youngest of them is �Skylab� crater,which the rover passed last month. Rocks scattered by theimpact of a meteorite surround the resulting crater in a viewrecorded by Opportunity on May 12. The view is at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA14132, and in 3-Dstereo at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA14133.

This crater, informally named after America�s first space

station, is only about 9 meters (30 feet) in diameter. Opportu-nity passed it as the rover made progress toward its long-term destination, Endeavour crater, (continued on following page)

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Materials for Mars [Source: AstroBiology Magazine, North Carolina State Univ.]

Earth since March 2010.NASA�s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the

California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages theMars Exploration Rover Project for the NASA ScienceMission Directorate, Washington. More information aboutthe rovers is online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/index.html

For More Information Contact the Author:Guy Webster 818-354-6278Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

Opportunity Passes Small Crater (continued from preceeding page)

which is about 22 kilometers (14 miles) in diameter.The positions of the scattered rocks relative to sand

ripples suggest that Skylab is young for a Martian crater.Researchers estimate it was excavated by an impact withinthe past 100,000 years.

Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, completed theirthree-month prime missions on Mars in April 2004. Bothrovers continued for years of bonus, extended missions.Both have made important discoveries about wet environ-ments on ancient Mars that may have been favorable forsupporting microbial life. Spirit has not communicated with

June 1, 2011 What would it take to make a manned mission to Mars a reality? A team of aerospace and textile engineering students from NorthCarolina State University believe part of the solution may lie in advanced textile materials. The students joined forces to tackle life-support challenges thatthe aerospace industry has been grappling with for decades.

�One of the big issues, in terms of a manned mission to Mars, is creating living quarters thatwould protect astronauts from the elements � from radiation to meteorites,� says textile engineeringstudent Brent Carter. �Currently, NASA uses solid materials like aluminum, fiberglass and carbon fibers,which while effective, are large, bulky and difficult to pack within a spacecraft.�

Using advanced textile materials, which are flexible and can be treated with various coatings,students designed a 1,900-square-foot inflatable living space that could comfortably house four to sixastronauts. This living space is made by layering radiation-shielding materials like Demron� (used inthe safety suits for nuclear workers cleaning up Japan�s Fukushima plant) with a gas-tight material madefrom a polyurethane substrate to hold in air, as well as gold-metalicized film that reflects UV rays �among others. The space is dome-shaped, which will allow those pesky meteors, prone to showeringdown on the red planet, to bounce off the astronauts� home away from home without causing significant damage.

�We�re using novel applications of high-tech textile technology and applying them toaerospace problems,� explains Alex Ray, a textile engineering student and team member. �Being ableto work with classmates in aeronautical engineering allowed us to combine our knowledge from bothdisciplines to really think through some original solutions.�

Students also tackled another major issue preventing a manned mission to Mars � watersupply. Currently, astronauts utilize something called a Sabatier reactor to produce water while in space. The Sabatier process involves the reaction ofcarbon dioxide and hydrogen, with the presence of nickel, at extremely high temperatures and pressure to produce water and methane.

�We wanted to find a way to improve the current Sabatier reactor so we could still take advantage of the large quantities of carbon dioxideavailable on Mars, and the fact that it is relatively easy to bring large quantities of hydrogen on the spacecraft, since it is such a lightweight element,� saysrecent aerospace engineering graduate Mark Kaufman, who was also on the design team.

Current Sabatier reactors, Kaufman explains, are long, heavy tubes filled with nickel pellets � not ideal for bringing on a spacecraft. The studentgroups worked to develop a fiber material to which they applied nickel nanoparticles to create the same reaction without all the weight and volume. Theybelieve their redesigned Sabatier reactor would be more feasible to carry along on a future space shuttle.

In addition to Carter, Ray and Kaufman, the team also included Kris Tesh, Grant Gilliam, KaseyOrrell, Daniel Page and Zack Hester. Textile engineering professor and former aerospace engineer, Dr.Warren Jasper, served as the faculty sponsor. The team also received valuable feedback from Fred Smith, an advanced life support systems engineer with NASA.

Jasper and the student team will present their project at the NASA-sponsored RevolutionaryAerospace Systems Concepts Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition, held June 6-8 in Cocoa Beach,Fla. The project will be judged by NASA and industry experts against other undergraduate groups fromacross the country. RASC-AL was formed to provide university-level engineering students the opportun-ity to design projects based on NASA engineering challenges, as well as offer NASA access to new re-search and design projects by students.

Human explorers on Mars will play a role in the future of astrobiology science. Not only willthey themselves help scientists understand how living organisms adapt to life beyond the Earth, but theywill also perform key scientific experiments that will answer questions about the potential for past orpresent life on the red planet.

Many scientists hope that humans will one day joinrobots in exploring Mars and solving the questionssurrounding the potential for life on the red planet.Before human missions become a reality, manychallenges must first be overcome. Image Credit: ESA

One of the major challenges that space agencies facein developing human missions to Mars is buildinghabitats that can effectively protect astronauts. Image Credit: ESA

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FOCUS takes it�s traditional Summer hiatus in the months ofJuly and August. So we wish everyone a great Summer with plentyof fabulous Astro-Viewing and Photography. Be sure to let us know of yourAstronomy-related exploits over the next few months for inclusion in theSeptember issue of FOCUS!

And Clear Skies to you all!!

The Last Word. . .

! FOCUS editor Joe Neuberger

Have a Great Summer, and We�ll See You in September...