Last Minute
Change to Crew Roster for U.S.S. Discovery Mission to Jupiter
 Dr.
Heywood Floyd announced on Tuesday, January 3, 2001 that there would be
a crew change for the upcoming U.S.S. Discovery mission to Jupiter.
The
original crew roster had included Dr. Peter
Whitehead as Co-Pilot and Deputy Flight Commander. Dr. Whitehead was
previously the commander of the first manned expedition to Mercury and
the first man to land at the Sea of Fire on the planet's dark side.
NCA
Director Floyd cited a combination of technical reasons for the change.
Dr. Whitehead will now assume Mission Director duties for the Jupiter
mission at Antarctic Mission Control which will be the principle control
station for the mission.
Promoted
to Co-Pilot and Deputy Flight Commander for the mission will be Dr. Frank
Poole. This reduces the total crew of the Discovery mission from 6 to
5 members. This is not expected to present a problem as the onboard HAL9000
computer would be capable of completing the survey mission. (Full
Story)
Related stories:
Is there 'sound' in
space? NASA's Cassini spacecraft
detected low radio frequencies near Jupiter, which University of Iowa
scientists have converted to sound
waves to make the patterns audible. Described as sounding "like a
troop of howler monkeys battling underwater," the waves, detected when
the craft was 6.2 million miles from Jupiter, were in the thin solar wind
of charged particles that fills the space between the Sun and its planets.
Cassini, a cooperative mission of NASA, the European Space Agency and
the Italian Space Agency, passed Jupiter Dec. 30 for a gravity boost to
reach its ultimate destination, Saturn. (Full
Story)
(1/5/01)
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