European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 10, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday july 10, 19ai the stars and stripes a Page 3 a workers at Todos Springs Mexico set up tents for those expected to View the eclipse from Baja california.., Mexico to launch rocket to study total solar eclipse Mexico City apr . And mexican scientists plan to Send a 12-foot rocket 50 Miles above the Earth in the midst of thursdays total eclipse of the Sun in order to better study that fiery Star. Instruments aboard the rocket Are designed to record information about the suns size and intensity and the mysterious particles that surround it regardless of weather conditions on Earth. The eclipse gives scientists a Chance to study activity on the suns edges that is normally difficult to see because of the suns overpowering rays. Guillermo Falcon director of the Nayarit eclipse commission said that when the rocket blasts off at 12 04 . Thursday the Sun will be at a 90 degree Angle above the town of Santiago inc Uinta the spot on Earth where the eclipse will last longest. A for six minutes and 58 seconds we will be at the geographical Center of the eclipse a he said. A a it san extraordinary Opportunity to View this magnificent the launch site is about 3 Miles outside Santiago inc Uinta some 450 Miles Northwest of Mexico City. Aboard the rocket an imaging Radiometer will transmit data on what scientists Call the a a dust surrounding the Sun. Falcon said scientists Are not sure Why these particles appear to be neither attracted nor repelled by the Sun. The rocket initially propelled at More than 3,600 Mph will drop its spent engine after the first mile and the instrument payload will continue unassisted to an Elevation More than 50 Miles above sea level. The payload will then float to the sea by Parachute and be picked up by one of two frigates that will await its return. The rocket is named Maxc Altiman after a nearby Village and Lagoon. Falcon said the word Means a House of the mexican people a or the a place of the ceremonial Center of the the launch is being conducted jointly by the National autonomous University of Mexico and the Florida Institute of technology. It is being funded by the Florida technological research and development authority. Loss of Contact with solar probe Pasadena Calif. Apr the troubled Ulysses solar explorer fired its thrusters and set course for a 1992 swing past Jupiter on monday As officials investigated Why they briefly lost Contact with the spacecraft last month. Two of Ulysses eight thrusters tired 42 times each during the 8v-minute Man Euver said Mats Rosengren a european space Agency flight dynamics Engineer working at nasal a Jet propulsion Laboratory. A it was mainly a directional change sideways a he said. A it was very the trajectory change was designed to. Bring Ulysses within about 235,000 Miles of Jupiter a Cloud tops on feb. 8, 1992 a a key step in its $750 million Mission to explore the suns poles. Jupiter a Gravity will act like a Slingshot and hurl the 810-Pound Ulysses out of the plane in which the planets orbit the Sun. That will let Ulysses Loop around the suns South Polar regions during May september 1994 and Over North Polar latitudes during May sept Nibur 1995. Ulysses is a joint Mission of the european space Agency the spacecraft and half its science instruments and the National aeronautics and space administration. Nasa built the remaining instruments launched Ulysses from space shuttle discovery on oct. 6 and now is tracking it. The agencies have convened an investigation-6oard to study Why they lost Contact with the spacecraft for two hours june 14, said Peter Beech Mission operations manager for the european Agency. During the outage engineers were Able to Send commands to Ulysses but a they just weren to he Turing Back from it a said Diane Ainsworth a Jet propulsion Laboratory spokeswoman. Neither Nasa nor Esa announced the blackout at the time. A it Wasny to considered any sort of major problem a Ainsworth said. A the spacecraft was in no Beech said Ulysses a solar Mission Isnit threatened by either the recent loss of Contact or by an earlier problem that made the spinning spacecraft wobble like an off balance washing machine. The wobbling which started nov. 4, also Wasny to announced. A a the wobble was blamed on sunlight that heated and warped a 24 a foot Long Antenna Boom on the spinning spacecraft. The wobble stopped dec. 17 As Ulysses got farther from the Sun. Engineers expect the wobble will resume during the key parts of Ulysses Mission. If such wobbling would leave the spacecrafts main Antenna unable to Point at Earth continuously sharply limiting the amount of solar data it could transmit. But engineers think they can reduce the wobble by repeatedly firing Ulysses thrusters. Ulysses was 410.6 million Miles from Earth and 165.8 million Miles from Jupiter on monday travelling at roughly 44,000 Mph Ainsworth said. Ulysses will enter Jupiter a magnetic Field on feb. 3, 1992. Pinatubo expected to counter global warming by William Booth the Washington Post Washington the eruption of mount Pinatubo in the Philippines which was probably the largest volcanic explosion of the Century is expected to temporarily reverse global warming ignite the sky with polychrome sunrises and sunsets Speed Ozone depletion crack airline windows and Blanket the Earth in Haze that will muddle satellites. Indeed scientists say All these effects Are already happening. Pinatubo experienced a massive eruption on june 15 and 16. In a single episode the Volcano spewed 20 million tons of super hot Gas and Ash into the stratosphere reaching an Altitude of 12 to 18 Miles More than twice As High As commercial jets typically Fly. Within hours the first . Satellites were tracking the Cloud of Fulfur compounds and dust. A by the time our satellite passed Over there was no connection Between the Cloud and the Mouth of the Volcano. Everything that was lofted into the strato sphere was injected in a single abrupt explosion a said Arlin Krueger an atmospheric physicist at the National aeronautics and space administrations Goddard space flight Center. During an eruption the Force of the explosion May fire material Many thousands of feet but the larger particles such As dust and Stone quickly rain out of the plume. The Fulfur dioxide and other gases go even higher. Because the gases were heated to hundreds of degrees they Rose like a hot air balloon through the lower troposphere and eventually made it to the stratosphere a High Altitude realm with Little water vapor subzero temperatures and roaring winds. Once aloft Pinatubo a plume began its race around the world. It was swept into a High current of air that roars around the Equator from East to West. The leading Edge of the plume was carried from the Philippines Over the South China sea across the Bay of Bengal to India and then Over Africa. As the Cloud spread Westward it also widened to the North and South. By the end of june a band of Gas and Fine particles had crossed the Atlantic to reach the Caribbean and Southern Florida. As of monday the plumes Edge now much dispersed should have reached the Philippines again going around the world in 22 Days. Patrick Mccormick an atmospheric scientist at nasal a Langley research Center said the plume now covers about one Quarter of the Earth a surface. In the fall As the stratospheric winds begin to reverse themselves and Send off eddies toward the poles the Cloud that now girdles the Globe will spread farther and eventually cover the entire planet in a thin volcanic veil. When Pinatubo first erupted it emitted Fulfur dioxide and other gases. Quickly the Fulfur dioxide combined with water to form droplets of us Lurous acid which linger in the stratosphere for months and years where4hay-scatter the incoming sunlight. Climate experts predict that thanks to Pinatubo there May be a temperature decrease of several tenths of a degree. Such a drop will not be very noticeable bit it May decrease the average global temperatures enough to counter the global warming Many scientists say is occurring. Alas Pinatubo a Shade will last Only a few years. If the Earth is really heating up because of an accumulation of greenhouse gases such As Carbon dioxide the warming could suddenly surge through the mid-1990s As the plume disappears. The us Lurous acid drops cause other problems. After Al Chi non in Mexico erupted in 1982, airlines began noticing that the acrylic passenger windows on their jets were fogging with countless tiny fractures. This resulted from us fur compounds clinging to the windows on Polar routes. But the volcanic Cloud does have a Silver lining. A there Are going to be Brilliant sunsets and sunrises for months said Michael Matson of the National oceanic and atmospheric administration. A a they la be multicoloured a wonderful with reds yellows and
