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News briefs: July 2
Posted: Wed, Jul 3, 2002, 7:56 AM ET (1156 GMT)
- NASA has selected two missions for its Small Explorer space science program, the agency announced Tuesday. The Spectroscopy and Photometry of the Intergalactic Medium's Diffuse Radiation (SPIDR), scheduled for launch in 2005, will study filaments of hot gas that extend throughout the universe. Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM), to launch in 2006, will study the formation of clouds in the upper atmosphere. Each mission will cost approximately $90 million.
- Loral Space and Communications announced Tuesday that it will not each profitability in late 2003, as previously planned. The company cited poor economic conditions, particularly in telecommunications, for extending losses. Company officials said the company is not in danger of bankruptcy nor of delisting from the New York Stock Exchange despite a share price that recently fell below $1 a share.
- Canada's first science satellite in 30 years was unveiled at a ceremony in Winnipeg Tuesday. SCISAT-1 is scheduled for launch in January 2003 on a mission to study the distribution of ozone in the upper atmosphere.
- Astronomers are considering creating an official, definitive catalog of extrasolar planets, SPACE.com reported Tuesday. The report comes as the discovery of the 100th extrasolar planet was announced earlier this week, according to one source, but tallies by other astronomers give different numbers depending on the status of several borderline discoveries.
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