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Hot Topic
Solar System
Meteorites, Comets and Asteroids
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Fault Tree for Genesis
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| Topic: Meteorites, Comets and Asteroids |
10/15/04 |
| By November, the Genesis Mishap Board will issue its report on the impact of the solar wind collecting probe. The investigation so far has focused on the parachute deployment and whether the probe detected the re-entry using gravity sensors. |
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Debating the Dinosaur Extinction
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| Topic: Meteorites, Comets and Asteroids |
10/13/04 |
| At least 50 percent of the world's species, including the dinosaurs, went extinct 65 million years ago. While most scientists now blame this catastrophe on a large meteorite impact, others wonder if there is more to the story. |
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The Forensics of Genesis
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| Topic: Meteorites, Comets and Asteroids |
10/06/04 |
| Within the next few months, the scientific community will get a first look at the recovered samples from the Genesis probe. In the best cases 85-100 percent of some samples will be recovered intact and in other cases, forensics will be needed to understand the sample history. |
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Neo-Tugboats
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| Topic: Meteorites, Comets and Asteroids |
09/30/04 |
| In an open letter, Apollo 9 astronaut Russell Schweickart questions whether a non-nuclear option for asteroid deflection isn't the more prudent path. |
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Precise Distance to Doomsday
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| Topic: Meteorites, Comets and Asteroids |
09/29/04 |
| Today's close passage of the relatively large asteroid, Toutatis, has presented astronomers with a new ruler to measure solar system distances. By using two telescopes separated by hundreds of miles, the classic parallax method validates the asteroid's orbital path. |
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Toutatis: Almost Too Close for Comfort
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| Topic: Meteorites, Comets and Asteroids |
09/27/04 |
| The asteroid Toutatis last flew close by Earth in 1992 and 1996, but it has not come as close to us as it will this year since 1353. On Wednesday morning, scientists and skywatchers alike will be able to witness its passage within only four Earth-moon distances. |
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Positive Charge for Rosetta
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| Topic: Meteorites, Comets and Asteroids |
09/24/04 |
| Detecting ions, or charged particles from either solar wind or comet tails, is one goal for the comet-chasing space probe, Rosetta. The instrument to register these charges has passed its in-flight test and seems ready for the next decade of landing on a comet. |
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Genesis of an Artificial Meteor
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| Topic: Meteorites, Comets and Asteroids |
09/07/04 |
| This week's planned hyperspeed reentry of the Genesis capsule--a multiyear collector of solar wind--also presents astrobiologists with a chance to simulate the physics of how meteorites enter the upper atmosphere. |
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Whipple's Flying Sandbank
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| Topic: Meteorites, Comets and Asteroids |
08/31/04 |
| The most cited astronomy papers date back to the early fifties, when astronomer Fred Whipple proposed that comets were dirty snowballs. His legacy will live long beyond the passing of America's oldest astronomer. |
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Meteorites Donated Life's Phosphorus
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| Topic: Meteorites, Comets and Asteroids |
08/24/04 |
| Phosphorus is much rarer in nature than are hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen, but just as critical to life. Where the phosphorus came from has been a mystery, but one recent hypothesis maintains that meteorites might be a source of Earth's early phosphorus. |
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