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The tiny spacecraft, launched by the U.S. on March 2, 1972, was at the time the fastest man-made object launched: it reached 52,150 kph (32,400 mph) on its 21-month mission to take close-up photos and magnetic field measurements of Jupiter. After that successful encounter, NASA kept in contact with the spacecraft, using it for a variety of scientific research efforts such as studying solar wind from our sun and cosmic rays from outside our solar system. On January 22, the Deep Space Network, run by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, received a telemetry signal that showed the spacecraft's power system is nearly depleted; without power to run its transmitter, they don't expect to hear from it again and declared its mission completed on February 7. Now over 12 billion km (7.5 billion miles, 82 AU, or 11.3 light hours) away, the next thing in its path is the star Aldebaran. At its present speed, it will get there in just over 2 million years. From This is True for 23 February 2003 Suggestions for further reading:
 By: Michel van Pelt List Price: $27.50 Amazon Price: $20.08 Editorial Review: Manned space programs attract the most media attention, and it is not hard to understand why -- the danger, the heroism, the sheer adventure we as earthbound observers can imagine when humans are involved. But robotic missions deserve a respectful and detailed history and analysis of their own, and this book provides it. Focusing on future modern spacecraft, Michel van Pelt explains the exciting life of unmanned space explorers, making the technology, design, development, operation and results of modern space probe missions understandable by lay readers. Instead of describing one specific spacecraft or mission, Michel van Pelt offers a "behind the scenes" look at the life of a space probe: from its first conceptual design to the analysis of the scientific data returned by the spacecraft. While most popular books on space concentrate on manned spaceflight, this book shows that unmanned space exploration is just as exciting. It demonstrates to the reader just what it takes to send a robotic spacecraft to another planet and what fascinating insight and knowledge we have gained from these probes. **Offers an insight into the life of a space probe from concept through design to return and analysis of scientific data. **Explains what it takes to send a robotic space probe to another planet. **Demonstrates that unmanned space exploration can be as exciting as manned exploration. **Provides the reader with a view of how the fascinating images and knowledge are obtained from these probes. **Focuses on modern spacecraft and the future, rather than the history of past projects  By: David M. HarlandRalph D. Lorenz List Price: $39.95 Amazon Price: $33.96 Editorial Review: In the 1960s and 1970s deep space missions were dispatched in pairs in case one was lost in launch or failed during its journey. Following the triumphs of the Viking landings on Mars in 1976 and both Voyagers spacecraft successfully surveying the outer giant planets of the Solar System, it was decided by NASA to cut costs and send out just a single probe. Although Magellan successfully mapped Venus by radar, it suffered from problems during the flight. Then came the loss of Mars Observer, whose engine exploded as it was preparing to enter Mars’ orbit because it was using technology designed for Earth’s satellites and the engine was not suited to spending several months in space. Later came the high-profile losses of Mars Climate Observer and Mars Polar Lander - a consequence of the faster, better, cheaper philosophy introduced by Dan Goldin in 1993. Even the highly successful Galileo mission suffered a major setback when its high-gain antenna (also based on satellite mission suffered a major setback when its high-gain antenna (also based on satellite communication technology) failed to deploy fully, greatly diminishing the craft’s radio transmission capabilities, forcing the ground crew to re-programme the on-board computer to enable it to fulfil its mission and provide stunning images of Jupiter and its moons. In Space Systems Failures, David Harland (here working with co-author Ralph Lorenz) describes the many quite fascinating tales of woe involving failures of rockets, satellites and deep space missions in his inimitable style, providing a unique insight into the trials and tribulations of exploration at the high frontier.  By: Paolo UliviDavid M. Harland List Price: $39.95 Amazon Price: $26.37 Editorial Review: Paolo Ulivi and David Harland provide in Robotic Exploration of the Solar System a detailed history of unmanned missions of exploration of our Solar System. As in their previous book Lunar Exploration, the subject will be treated wherever possible from an engineering and scientific standpoint. Technical descriptions of the spacecraft, of their mission designs and of instrumentations will be provided. Scientific results will be discussed in considerable depth, together with details of mission management. The book will be comprehensive, covering missions and results from the 1950s until the present day, and some of the latest missions and their results will appear in a popular science book for the first time. The authors will also cover many unflown missions, providing an indication of the ideas that proved to be unfulfilled at the time but which may still be proven and useful in the future. Just like Lunar Exploration, this book will use sources only recently made available on the Soviet space program, in addition to some obscure and rarely used references on the European space program. Unflown European projects of the 1960s and 1970s, a subject never before treated, will also be covered.  By: David M. Harland List Price: $39.95 Amazon Price: $33.96 Editorial Review: Cassini At Saturn – Huygens Results brings the story of the Cassini-Huygens mission and their joint exploration of the Saturnian system right up to date. Cassini entered orbit around Saturn June 2004 so this update includes 8 months of scientific data available for review, including the most spectacular images of Saturn, its rings and satellites ever obtained by a space mission. As the Cassini spacecraft approached its destination in spring 2004, the quality of the images already being returned by the spacecraft clearly demonstrated the spectacular nature of the close-range views that will be obtained. The book contains a 16-page colour section, comprising a carefully chosen selection of the most stunning images to be released during the spacecraft’s initial period of operation. The Huygens craft, released by Cassini, parachuted through the clouds of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, in January 2005. David Harland tells the exciting story of the this craft’s journey to the surface of one of the most enigmatic bodies on the Solar System, the only moon to have a dense atmosphere and possibly lakes of liquid gas at -190ºC on its surface. Titan is considered to be an early Earth in deep freeze, possibly with the building blocks of life in its atmosphere. There will undoubtedly be enormous interest in the first results and images of Titan’s surface, and this book is the first incisive summary of this groundbreaking material.  By: Richard Corfield List Price: $27.50 Amazon Price: $20.90 Editorial Review: Lives of the Planets describes a scientific field in the midst of a revolution. Planetary science has mainly been a descriptive science, but it is becoming increasingly experimental. The space probes that went up between the 1960s and 1990s were primarily generalists-they collected massive amounts of information so that scientists could learn what questions to pursue. But recent missions have become more focused: Scientists know better what information they want and how to collect it. Even now probes are on their way to Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Pluto, with Europa-one of Jupiter’s moons-on the agenda. In a sweeping look into the manifold objects inhabiting the depths of space, Lives of the Planets delves into the mythology and the knowledge humanity has built over the ages. Placing our current understanding in historical context, Richard Corfield explores the seismic shifts in planetary astronomy and probes why we must change our perspective of our place in the universe. In our era of extraordinary discovery, this is the first comprehensive survey of this new understanding and the history of how we got here. |
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