| Research Uncovers New Kuiper belt Mystery  | | Image credit: SWRI |
Although the Kuiper Belt, a region of icy objects located past the orbit of Neptune, was only discovered in 1992, it's already presented a host of mysteries. One mystery is why an unusually large number of these objects have small satellites orbiting them - 8 out of the 500 objects discovered so far have had satellites. The high number brings into question the traditional theory that they're caused by collisions. [ Visit News Source ] Sep 10, 2002, 8:45pm NASA Awards $825 Million Contract for Hubble Successor  | | Image credit: NASA |
NASA announced today that it has awarded an $825 million contract to aerospace firm TRW to build the replacement for the Hubble Space Telescope: The James Webb Space Telescope. Named for NASA's second administrator, this new observatory will launch in 2010 and operate 1.5 million km away from the Earth (Hubble is in low-Earth orbit). If all goes as planned, the observatory's 6 metre mirror will offer a tremendous leap in resolution over Hubble. [ Visit News Source ] Sep 10, 2002, 8:10pm Japanese H-IIA Launches  | | Image credit: NASDA |
A Japanese H-2A rocket successfully launched from Tanegashima Space Center today, carrying two experimental satellites. It launched the Unmanned Space Experiment Recovery System (USERS) spacecraft and the Data Relay Test satellite (DRTS). This is the third successful launch of the H-2A; an upgrade over the H-2 rocket program which suffered a string of launch failures in the 1990s. [ Visit News Source ] Sep 10, 2002, 7:51pm
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