NASA Probe To Map Solar System's Edge

Two-Year Mission To Chart Chaotic Region In Space; Also, Efforts To Repair Ailing Hubble Telescope Hit Snag

(CBS/AP)  A small NASA spacecraft embarks on a two-year mission this weekend to give scientists their first view of the happenings at the edge of the solar system.

The Ibex probe, short for Interstellar Boundary Explorer, will study a chaotic region in space where the solar wind from the sun clashes with cold gases from interstellar space.

The solar wind, a stream of charged particles spewing from the sun at 1 million miles per hour, carves out a protective bubble around the solar system. This bubble known as the heliosphere shields against most dangerous cosmic radiation that would otherwise interfere with human spaceflight.

Scientists recently discovered that the solar wind pressure is at its weakest level in 50 years, although the exact reason remains a mystery. Ibex could help confirm whether the heliosphere is shrinking.

Observations from Ibex should help researchers in "unlocking the secrets of this important interaction between the sun and the galaxy," said David McComas of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. He is chief scientist for the $165 million mission.

Ibex, the size of a bus tire, will be launched aboard a Pegasus rocket that will be dropped from an aircraft over a Pacific atoll on Sunday.

The rocket will lift Ibex 130 miles above Earth and put it into orbit. The spacecraft will then fire its solid rocket motor to loft itself even higher, eventually to 200,000 miles above Earth.

Ibex will build on the discoveries of the long-running twin Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets. The deep-space, manmade probes have since sailed past the outer planets and are headed out of the solar system.

Unlike the Voyager craft, Ibex will not barrel through space, but instead will do its job from high-Earth orbit. The probe carries two sensors that will collect information about the solar wind's mass and energy from all directions.

NASA sees no quick fix for broken Hubble telescope

NASA's efforts to get the ailing Hubble Space Telescope working again have hit a snag, and engineers are trying to figure out their next step.

Officials had hoped to have the 18-year-old observatory back in business Friday, after it stopped sending pictures three weeks ago. But a pair of problems cropped up Thursday, and now recovery operations are on hold.

It's unclear how long the telescope will be prevented from transmitting its stunning photos of the cosmos.

The soonest it could be operating fully again is late next week, said Art Whipple, a Hubble manager. At worst, the observatory might remain inactive until astronauts arrive with a replacement part next year.

"We're still optimistic," he told reporters Friday.

Flight controllers at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., began the lengthy process of restoring data transmission on Wednesday. Everything was going well, until late Thursday afternoon.

First, a low-voltage power supply problem prevented one of Hubble's cameras from being rebooted properly, and then computer trouble struck and all efforts ceased.

It's too soon to know whether the two problems are related, said Whipple.

"We're in the early stage of going through a mountain of data that has been downloaded over the last 24 hours," he said at a news conference.

Hubble's command and data-handling system for science instruments failed late last month and prevented the telescope from capturing and beaming down data used to create the pictures for which Hubble is known.

Because of the breakdown, NASA delayed its final Hubble repair mission by shuttle astronauts that was set for October. The mission won't happen until at least February, possibly later.

The latest setback is not expected to further delay the shuttle mission, Whipple said.

The recovery efforts involved switching to a backup channel for the command and data-handling system that had been dormant since the telescope was launched in 1990. That part, at least, seemed to go well, Whipple said.

So far, this isn't the longest that Hubble has been inactive since NASA's 1993 mission to correct its blurred vision. In 1999, science operations were halted about six weeks because of gyroscope failures that were remedied by astronauts whose flight quickly followed the breakdown.

[nojoy01]

Hey fool, if the solar wind is down, that means the sun output is DOWN also. Which means if it was at normal levels, the greenhouse effect would be GREATER. You did not do well in math and science in school did you?

Posted by frankie2fing

Thank you for stating my point so clearly. If the Sun''s output is down then, w/o greenhouse gases, the temperature here on Earth would be down rusulting in glaciation & another ice age. Granted, if the Sun''s output was not down, it would be even hotter than it is as a result of the greenhouse gas effect. But for the sake of this post, the Sun''s cooler, not hotter. Actually, I did extremely well in math & Science in school. Actually, I did pretty well in all of the subjects except philosophy. It''s not the fault of the instructor, it''s just that I''m extremely logical & philosophy is sorta like ''once upon a time'' & thus is the stuff of fairy tales.

[usclimey]

I read yesterday where they spent over four million in one year alone, on lavish parties for themselves with my tax bucks. It''''''''s a disgrace.===

Posted by thgdriver1

4 milliom dollars. The govt just spent 800 BILLION dollars on bailing out the banks. NASA''s party fund is just 0.0005% of the banks party fund. And you''d begrudge these people who do actually work for a living that?!!!! Personally I''d rather see money spent on space exploration than bailing out greedy bankers any day.

[hwrd69]

Probably related to El Nino.. No, really....

[frankie2fing]

H-m-m-m, if the charged particles are less then possibly the total amount of solar radiation is down also, which, if true, means that it is possible that without greenhouse gases etc. we''''d all be knee deep in glaciers by now & the oceans levels would have dropped because of glaciation & the attendant cooling that would come as a result of sunlight being reflected from snow, thus, less heat. In which case, thank God for greenhouse gases.
Posted by nojoy01

Hey fool, if the solar wind is down, that means the sun output is DOWN also. Which means if it was at normal levels, the greenhouse effect would be GREATER. You did not do well in math and science in school did you? To be perfectly clear (no pun intended), if we did not put so much junk into the air (soot and moisture particles from airliners and such) reflecting the sunlight we do receive, we would probably would have overheated the planet already beyond the point of recovery (if we have not already reached it). Maybe we should allow the human race to die off, with idiots like you as the best reason for doing so.

[displeased]

In which case, thank God for greenhouse gases.
Posted by nojoy01

Yup, we wouldn''t exist without greenhouse gases. However, we don''t want to end up like Venus...

[nojoy01]

H-m-m-m, if the charged particles are less then possibly the total amount of solar radiation is down also, which, if true, means that it is possible that without greenhouse gases etc. we''d all be knee deep in glaciers by now & the oceans levels would have dropped because of glaciation & the attendant cooling that would come as a result of sunlight being reflected from snow, thus, less heat. In which case, thank God for greenhouse gases.

[nojoy01]

''Scientists recently discovered that the solar wind pressure is at its weakest level in 50 years, although the exact reason remains a mystery.''

It is obvious that this is the result of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere & the U.S. not signing on to the Kyoto protocols for their reduction. Don''t believe me? Just wait a few weeks and somebody will tie the Two together. OK, so maybe I''m being just a little sarcastic (smart a*s?) but maybe a little research might be in order to find out what effect this event is having on our upper atmosphere, if anybody wants to spend the money to find out.

[rafterman1]

===NASA should be dismantled. I am sick and tired of the wast of my tax dollars. I read yesterday where they spent over four million in one year alone, on lavish parties for themselves with my tax bucks. It''''s a disgrace.===
Posted by thgdriver1

That''s right. Send your tax dollars to bail out mismanaged banks!

Maybe its Congress that should be dismantled.

[gatofeo]

NASA''s Genesis satellite crash-landed in the Utah desert on its 2004 return. Why? Lockheed Martin assembled the automatic parachute release system backwards in the satellite!
Within a year of its crash, NASA sent about a dozen scientists and public relations folks to the same spot in the Utah desert to bury a plaque commemorating the event.
They spent a few hours at the site, then returned to their plush rooms in Salt Lake City and had a wonderful dinner at an Italian restaurant at $50 a plate.
Then they saw the sights around Salt Lake City for another day or two and flew back to NASA.
All at taxpayer expense!
Now, I don''t mind gathering knowledge. And no one can say what knowledge acquired today may become invaluable in the future.
But to spend thousands of dollars on such a worthless venture as the burying of a plaque in the remote desert is criminal waste!
NASA needs an overhaul.
Incidentally, aren''t you proud of the big, American space station circling our planet?
You know, the one we''ve seen in drawings and paintings since the 1950s?
Oh, that''s right! IT STILL is not built! Yet, generations of NASA government and contract engineers have been hired and retired while working on this project.
For sickening waste, read about the X-33 reusable space vehicle. Lockheed Martin and NASA wasted billions of dollars of taxpayer money with this boondoggle.

[grabandgo]

Yes, its a shame to spend money trying to learn things and improve our knowledge of the universe when there are wars to be fought and mismanaged banks for taxpayers to bail out.

Posted by rafterman1
Then they don''t need to spend money on their parties either.