A Delta II rocket carrying an Air Force satellite exploded just thirteen seconds afte r launch from Cape Canaveral on January 17, showering the launch pad with tons of debris.
     No one was injured in the accident, but there was considerable damage to some of the facilities in and around Pad 17A.
     Initial speculation into the cause of the accident centered around one of the nine solid-fuel boosters strapped to the first stage of the Delta rocket. Film of the explosion appeared to show the explosion starting at the base of the rocket, and some observers reportedly saw one of the boosters come loose immediately before the explosion.
     In addition, Aviation Week magazine showed pictures of the rocket taken after launch but before the explosion in which a thin stream of black smoke comes out of the side of one of the boosters.
     Temperatures the night before the launch were unusually cold, getting down to the low 40s Fahrenheit (approx. 5 degrees Celsius). This has fueled speculation that a seal on one of the solid-fuel boosters may have failed in a manner similar to what caused the Challenger accident eleven years ago.
     The explosion, likely triggered by the rockets' own self-destruct system, took place only thirteen seconds after launch at approximately 11:30am EST (1630 UT) January 17. The rocket had reached an altitude of less than 450 me ters (1500 feet) when it exploded.
     Although much of the debris fell into the ocean east of the launch pad, some debris did cause damage around the launch site. Twenty of thirty cars parked in a nearly parking lot were damaged, and four of over twenty administr ative trailers in the area were destroyed.
     The launch pad and tower appeared to escape damage, but there was some damage reported to other buildings in the area, including the launch control blockhouse.
     The explosion destroyed the $55 million rocket and its payload, a $40 million Air Force Navstar GPS satellite. The satellite was to be the first in a new generation of GPS satellites in orbit.
     An investigation into the explosion is underway, led by Air Force Col. Ron Haekel, commander of the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The investigation is expected to take "weeks or months", according to an Air Fo rce statement.
     Until the investigation is completed, all Delta launches have been put on hold. This includes the launch of a Delta from Vandenberg Air Force Base scheduled before the January 17 explosion that was delayed due to problems on the ground.
     That launch was to have carried the first three Iridium satellites. Iridium is reportedly negotiating to launch those satellites on a Russian Proton rocket instead.

Clyde Tombaugh, the astronomer who discovered the planet Pluto while working at Lowell Observatory 66 years ago this month, died of congestive heart failure in his New Mexico home January 17. He was 90.
     Tombaugh's claim to fame was his discovery in February 1930 of the ninth planet, later named Pluto. Tombaugh fo und the planet as part of an exhaustive search of heavens, using a 13-inch telescope at the Arizona observatory.
     Tombaugh. who was born in Illinois and later moved with his family to a farm near Burdett, Kansas, won a job at Lowell Observatory in 1928 after sending in sketches of planets he had made with a home-built 9-inch telescope.      Tombaugh went on to earn degrees in astronomy from the University of Kansas. After war-related navigation teaching, he worked at White Sands Missile Range during post-war V-2 flight tests, and later became a professor of astr onomy at New Mexico State University, founding the astronomy department there in the early 1970s before retiring.
     For more information about the life of Clyde Tombaugh, turn to the Tombaugh article in the Articles section of this issue.

The space shuttle Atlantis completed its fifth docking mission with the Russian s pace station Mir last month while Russian and American officials evaluated Russia's role in the International Space Station.
     The shuttle undocked from Mir on the evening of January 19, after spending five days linked to the eleven-year-old space station. The shuttle crew picked up astronaut John Blaha, who had spent the previous four months on the station, and dropped off Jerry Linenger, who will spend the next four months on Mir.
     The shuttle also provided the station with three tons of supplies and equipment for the three-man Mir crew. Linenger and Russian crewmates Alexsandr Kaleri and Valeri Korzun will perform more than 80 experiments over the next four months.
     Linenger will also perform a spacewalk during his tour of duty on Mir, the first spacewalk by an American astronaut from the Russian space station.
     Meanwhile, concern about Russia's ability to remain a partner in the International Space Station grew last month, a s NASA announced its backup plan to replace the delayed Russian-built Service Module on a temporary basis.
     The Interim Control Module, based on a previously-classified Naval Research Labs module for controlling spysats, will be launched on a shuttle mission in mid- to late-1998. The module will provide some of the key station-keeping features the Service Module would have provided on a temporary basis.
     The $100 million cost of the module will be paid out of reserve funds for the project, although what shuffling would be required in the shuttle launch schedule to bring up the module was unclear.
     In an article in the January 27 issue of the New York Times, Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), new chairman of the House Science Committee, expressed concern about the future of the project if Russia cannot co ntinue to maintain its share of the project.
     "If Russia continues to fail to fulfill its obligations, it will shake the political and financial underpinnings of the station," Sensenbrenner said.
     A Russian government spokesman reassured Americans that Russia will continue to participate in the project.
     "Russia will stay in the project, and Russia will fulfill all of its obligations accepted previously," Alexsandr Voznesensky told Reuters. "The only thing is that there will be a small change in the timing given new obstacles ."
     American Vice President Al Gore and Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin will discuss the status of the station during a meeting in Washington in early February.

Scientists studying data returned by the Galileo spacecraft found evidence of ice volcanoes which ha ve helped resurface the icy moon of Jupiter and added fuel to speculation that a liquid water, possibly life-supporting region, may exist below the surface.
     In a press conference January 17, planetary scientists released images taken by the Galileo spacecraft when it passed within 690 km (430 mi.) of Europa on December 19. The images showed evidence of ice flows and ridges recently formed on the sur face.
     "This is the first time we've seen actual ice flows on any of the moons of Jupiter," Ronald Greeley, an Arizona State University planetary scientist and member of the Galileo imaging team, said. "These flows, as well as dark scarring on some of Europa's cracks and ridges, appear to be the remnants of ice volcanoes or geysers."
     The heat required for volcanoes or geysers to form and provided additional evidence that the interior of the moon may be suitable for life.
     "There are three main criteria to consider when you are looking for the possibility of life outside the Earth: the presence of water, organic compounds, and adequate heat," Greeley said.
     While ice and organic compounds had been known to exist on Europa for some time, the presence of adequate hear was a question mark until the Galileo data was returned. "These new images demonstrate that there was enough heat to drive the flows on the surface," Greeley said. "Europa thus has a high potential to meet the criteria for exobiology."
     Another Galileo flyby of Europa is scheduled for February 20th. Another flyby, which will permit data on the gravity field of Europa to be collected, will take place in November.

An automated telescope based in Hawaii has discovered two rare objects in January: an asteroid that passes near the Earth and a faint, distant comet on a parabolic orbit that will take it out of the solar system fore ver.
     In early January, a team of JPL astronomers led by famed asteroid hunter Eleanor "Glo" Helin found asteroid 1997 AC11, a small near-Earth asteroid.
     "This asteroid is a member of a rare class of asteroids, called Atens, which stay within the Earth's orbit most of their lifetimes," Helin said. The asteroid, only the 24th Aten to be discovered since the first was found in 1 976, is about 180 meters (600 feet) in diameter.
     According to Helin, the asteroid will be watched over the next several months to refine its orbit and evaluate its potential to collide with the Earth in the future, although no collision is currently foreseen.
     At the same time, Helin's team found the first comet of 1997, 1997 A1, a distant comet no brighter than magnitude 17. The small comet will pass within 370 million kilometers (230 million miles) of the Earth in early February, but will not be bright enough to be seen without a "moderate-sized telescope with CCD chips" , according to Helin,
     The comet is unusual because its parabolic orbit will take it out of the solar system for good. "Parabolic comets do not present their calling cards before arriving in the inner solar system," Helin said. "They appear without warning."
     Helin and astronomers Steve Pravdo, David Rabinowitz, and Ken Lawrence use the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracki ng (NEAT) telescope located at the summit of Haleakala, a mountain on the Hawaiian island of Maui. The system consists of a very large, sensitive CCD camera mounted on an Air Force 1-meter (39-inch) telescope.

An Ariane 4 rocket launched communications satellites from the United States and Argentina into orbit on January 30.
     The Ariane 44L lifted off from the Ariane launch facility on Kourou, French Guiana, at 5:04pm EST (2204 UT) on January 30. The laun ch took place without problems, and the rocket delivered the two satellites into the proper orbits.
     The booster carried two commuications satellites into orbit. One was the GE-2 satellite for GE American Communications. The 2,650-kg (5,830-lb.) satellite will be used for direct television broadcasts by Primestar.
     The Ariane also carried Nahuel 1A, Argentina's first communications satellite. The satellite will be used to provide communications services throughout Latin America.
     The combined mass of the payload, 4,900 kg (10,900 lbs.) makes this the heaviest playload launched by an Ariane rocket. The launch, the first of the year for Arianespace, will be followed by a launch in late February.< /P>

Nearly thirty years after Air Force Major Robert Lawrence was killed in a jet crash during astronaut training, the Air Force recognized him as an astronaut, paving the way for the late African-American pilot to be in cluded on a Florida memorial to fallen astronauts.
     "After carefully reviewing all the correspondence and doing further research, the Air Force can sate without reservation that Maj or Lawrence was an astronaut assigned to the Manned Orbiting Laboratory Program," General Thomas Moorman, the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff, wrote in a letter on January 29.
     Lawrence's widow, Barbara Lawrence, and space historian James Oberg had been fighting for several years to have Lawrence included on a Space Mirror, a memorial at the Kennedy Space Center that lists the names of those astrona uts who have died while on duty.
     The Astronauts Memorial Foundation, the non-profit organization that operates the Space Mirror, has resisted previous efforts, pointing to Air Force documentation which showed that Lawrence was not considered an astronaut by the service.
     Supporters of Lawrence's inclusion on the memorial claimed racism may have been behind the AMF's decision to exclude him, a claim vigorously denied by AMF officials.
     Lawrence has been assigned to the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) project in the late 1960s. The MOL was to be an Air Force program, separate from NASA, to launch a small space station to be used for military operations. MOL was canceled in 1969.
     Moorman's letter came one day after Congressman Bobby Rush (D-IL) threatened to introduce legislation that would evict the AMF from federal property. Rush also reportedly talked with black members of the Florida Legislature t o work to cut state funding for the AMF.
     AMF officials said Rush's efforts had no effect on the final decision, which was the product of weeks of "intense" negotiations between the foundation and the Air Force.
     If approved by the AMF in a meeting this month, Lawrence's name would be added to the memorial by December, the 30th anniversary of his fatal accident.

The launch of the shuttle Discovery on a mission to exchange instruments and reboost the Hubble Space Telescope is scheduled for February 11, despite problems with the shuttle's ground transporter found last month.
     The mission features four spacewalks to replace instruments and other equipment on the telescope. During the first spacewalk, on the fourth day of the mission, astronauts Mark Lee and Steve Smith will replace two of Hubble's instruments, the Faint O bject Spectrograph and the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph.
     Taking their places in Hubble will be two new instruments, the Near-Infrared Came ra and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS).
     Three other spacewalks will attend to the telescope's guidance sensors, tape recorders, solar array drive electronics, and other technical details not directly related to the telescope's instruments.
     The rollout of Discovery to the launch pad on January 17 was halted for several hours when a crack was spotted on the giant transporter used to move the shuttle assembly.
     The rollout was stopped when a large bang was heard. Technicians later found a Y-shaped crack more than 7 meter (24 feet) long. The rollout continued a few hours later when the crack was judged not to serious affect the struc tural integrity of the launch transporter.

A solar particle event is the likely cause of the failure of a communications satellite, which suddenly went silent January 11, NASA scientists said.
     NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) monitored a huge gaseous emission from the Sun on January 6. The coronal mas s ejection, as it's called, reached the Earth on January 10 and 11.
     The Earth's magnetic field shields the surface from these effects, but spacecraft in high orbits, such as communications satellites, are not as well protected and may be subject to effects such as electrical discharges that c ould disable them.
     Ground controllers lost contact with the AT&T Telstar 401 satellite on January 11, at the same time the solar storm reached the Earth. Officials declined to draw a direct connection between the storm and the satellite failure , but noted such storms in the past have disrupted satellites.

New KSC Director: As expected, former astronaut and retired Air Force Major General Roy Bridges was selected as new director of the Kennedy Space Center on January 24. Bridges will succeed Jay Honeycutt, who announced his retirement plans last October, on March 2. Bridges, who piloted the shuttle Challenger on missi on STS-51F in the summer of 1995, had been rumored to take over the post for several weeks before the announcement became official. "Roy has a unique and very accomplished background that will be a tremendous asset in his new job as KSC director," NASA ad ministrator Dan Goldin said. "He is the right person to take KSC into the next century."

Big Kuiper Belt Object: Astronomers have found yet another member of the Kuiper Belt, designated 1996 TL66. This object differs from others in its size: astronomers believe that this object may be up to 400 km (250 mi.) in diameter, the largest Kuiper Belt body discovered to date, but still only one-sixth the diameter of the planet Pluto. The object is a highly eccentric orbit, with an average distance from the Sun of 85 AU (12.8 billion km, 7.9 billion miles) , although the object was discovered near its perihelion, only 35 AU (5.3 billion km, 3.3 billion miles) from the Sun.

Launch News: Space Systems Loral has signed a contract to purchase ten launches from startup Kistler Aerospace. The launches, which will use Kistler's reusable launcher under development, will start in 1999... Japan will launc h a radio astronomy satellite on February 6 from its Kagoshima launch facility. The one-ton MUSES-B satellite will work with a gr oundbased antenna to produce high-resolution radio images of selected astronomical radio sources... The launch of the first Titan-4B rocket, scheduled for February 8 from Cape Canaveral, has been delayed until after the February 11 launch of the shuttle. Air Force officials cited "unexpected vehicle processing delays" for the rocket, which has a 25 percent greater payload capacity than existing Titan-4 rockets.

Other News: A Tucson-based company is marketing replicas of miniature biospheres that were used in experiments on the Russian Mir space station. Paragon Space Development Corporation, founded by two members of the original Biosphere 2 team, said that the systems that flew on Mir for four months survived the trip and actually worked better than ground c ontrol units. You can purchase a living replica of the "aquatic miniworlds" for a mere $500... It seems that "John in Houston" was having a problem with a government vehicle, so he naturally turned to "Click and Clack", aka Tom and Ray Magliozzi, of publi c radio's "Car Talk." But the car repair brothers were stumped by John's problem, where the vehicle runs well but shakes terribly for two minutes, then runs smoothly for six, then quits altogether. The solution? "John in Houston" was none other than Atlantis astronaut John Grunsfeld, and his "government vehicle" was the space shuttle. Grunsfeld played the joke on the Magliozzis, who he knew f rom his days at MIT in the 1970s, while in orbit last month...