ATI Space Email Newsletter - December 1998
In this issue of ATI Space News:
__WINNING DISCOVERY TEAMS __NEAR EARTH ASTEROID RENDEZVOUS (NEAR) ARRIVES JAN 10 __SOHO BACK TO NORMAL (ALMOST) __GPS PASSES NASA SPACECRAFT TESTS ***FREE 64 PAGE REPORT "STATE OF THE SPACE INDUSTRY" *** DISCOVERY MISSION PROPOSALS NASA has selected five proposals for detailed study as candidates for the next missions in the Agency's Discovery Program of lower-cost, highly focused scientific spacecraft. Each will now receive $375,000 to conduct a four-month implementation feasibility study focused on cost, management and technical plans, including small business involvement and educational outreach. Total mission cost to NASA, including launch vehicle and operations, range from $195 to $280 million. These are highly competitive proposals that require innovative high-return, but low-cost system concepts. The selected proposals are: *1-Aladdin, a mission to gather samples of the small Martian moons Phobos and Deimos by firing projectiles into the moons' surface and gathering the ejecta during slow flybys. *2-The Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging mission, or Messenger, an orbiter spacecraft carrying seven instruments to globally image and study the closest planet to the Sun. *3-Deep Impact, a flyby mission designed to fire an 1,100-pound (500 kilogram) copper projectile into the comet P/Tempel 1. *4-The Interior Structure and Internal Dynamical Evolution of Jupiter, or INSIDE Jupiter, an orbiter spacecraft to study the giant gas planet's interior, and its relationship to the atmosphere. *5-The Venus Sounder for Planetary Exploration, or Vesper, an orbiter with four instruments to measure the composition and dynamic circulation of the middle atmosphere of Venus. NEAR EARTH ASTEROID RENDEZVOUS (NEAR) ARRIVES JAN 10 The first Discovery mission, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft, is due to arrive at its target asteroid, 433 Eros, on Jan. 10, 1999, for at least a year of close-up observations from an orbit around the Manhattan-sized body. Several of ATI's instructors were part of the NEAR design team. SOHO BACK TO NORMAL All twelve instruments are back to normal and fully functional (except the LASCO C1 coronagraph which is still being tested).Compliments to the scientists and engineers who designed and built these instruments and this spacecraft, and to the team that recovered it. GPS PASSES NASA SPACECRAFT TESTS Space News reports that GPS receivers have passed the initial interference tests done at the Goddard GPS Test Facility. NASA plans to use GPS for low- cost navigation, attitude determination and precise imaging. NASA will use GPS on the space shuttle, the international space station and many future satellites. Possible sources of interference that were tested include two proposed European satellite navigation systems and some US mobile satellite services. Tom Logsdon, ATI instructor and author of "The Navstar GPS" and the recently published "Orbital Mechanics ", stated: "GPS navigation on spacecraft will allow satellites to maintain constellation formations relative to one another. Receivers designed for spacecraft could significantly reduce costs for ground station control. Spacecraft engineers will soon need to understand how GPS plays in future satellites." Space News (Nov 9, 1998) has excellent articles on both the interference tests and GPS for satellite formations. Tom's course is Feb 1-3 in the Washington DC area. ATI SPACE TRAINING SCHEDULE POSTED ON INTERNET The new schedule of ATI space and satellite technical training has been posted on our web site. Call Casey at 410-531-6034 if you would like a printed brochure. See http://catalog.com/hitekweb/sked.htm for current courses. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ cut here and paste your reply into a separate Email. FREE 64 PAGE REPORT "STATE OF THE SPACE INDUSTRY " COMPLETE ATI's SURVEY and RECEIVE THIS REPORT. In order to serve you better ATI is interested in your opinion. Please respond to these questions by forwarding your answers to ATIweb@aol.com. Please do not hit reply as the answers will go to our Email Majordomo program and will not be received for your free report. Mailing Address for report: Name: Company: Mail Stop: Street 1 line: Street 2 line: City: State: Zip: Do you currently receive ATI's space-related training printed catalog: Yes __ No__ Please add my name____. What space-related technical training programs have you attended in the last 5 years and who were the instructors: If you were searching for space-related technical courses on an Internet search engine, what key words would you use: How and where should ATI publicize its schedule of training programs (1=best, 2= next best, 3 = next, .. N = do not like): Email announcements __ Brochure mailed to work__ Brochure mailed to home__ ATI Internet page __ Space News __ Magazine ads __ (list publications) Select one as your recommendation for an ATI ad headline(1=best): Strengthen Your Capabilities With ATI Training __ ATI: The Leader in Space Training Since 1984 __ Boost Your Skills With ATI Training __ What courses would help you do your current job better? (For current ATI course titles see: http://catalog.com/hitekweb/) Suggested Courses: ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ Thank you for your time and effort in completing the survey. You should receive your free report in 3-4 weeks. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ /|\ APPLIED TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE tel.(410) 531-6034 |A| 12960 Linden Church Road fax (410) 531-1013 |T| Clarksville, Maryland 21029 e-mail: atiinfo@aol.com |I| ||| ATI world wide web: http://catalog.com/hitekweb/ ||| Space directory editor: http://www.newhoo.com/Science/Space / | \ James Jenkins, Executive Director '' `` The Leader in Space Technical Training since 1984 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~