First Light Newsletter
November 2002
Welcome to the premier issue of the new monthly e-newsletter from NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory.
Cassini:  Bring Your Tray Table to an Upright Position
 NASA's Cassini mission to Saturn is getting to an exciting phase.  After looping around the
inner solar system for several years to build up enough momentum to fly outward from the
Sun, Cassini is now within range to take pictures of Saturn as it makes its final approach to
the planet over the coming year and a half.
The Cassini team released an image taken in late October when the craft was 285 million
kilometers (177 million miles) from the planet.  The picture shows the shadow of the planet
falling across its famous rings and includes Saturn's largest moon, Titan.  More details are
on the <http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=t3OowHUUmnlO-3BCLCXxIg..> Cassini home page.
It's Flyby Time
Not one but two NASA robotic spacecraft are executing flybys this month, making scientific
observations of bodies in the solar system as they zoom past.  On Saturday, November 2,
the Stardust spacecraft will pass within about 3,000 kilometers (about 1,900 miles) of
asteroid Annefrank (the event occurs Friday evening in North American time zones).  An
advance look at the flyby is available in our
<http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=6Yxw34_IsJhO-3BCLCXxIg..>news release, or from the
<http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=Vn4KdfUoN9RO-3BCLCXxIg..>Stardust home page.
The venerable Galileo spacecraft, meanwhile, will add to the record book for its long-lived
mission at Jupiter with another first, a flyby of the giant planet's small moon Amalthea on
Tuesday, November 5.  The orbiter will pass about 160 kilometers (99 miles) above
Amalthea's cratered surface -- barely more than half the length of this egg-shaped moon.
More details are in our <http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=SC0ZrtjfoYZO-3BCLCXxIg..>news
release or the <http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=JPe5ByT-701O-3BCLCXxIg..>Galileo home
page.
Webcast:  Robots in Space
 "Rise of the Machines:  Intelligent Robots and Space Exploration" will be the topic of the
November talk in JPL's von Karman Lecture Series, offered locally in Pasadena, California,
and broadcast live via the web on Thursday, November 21, at 7 p.m. Pacific.  The speaker
will be Dr. Richard Terrile, program scientist for JPL's Mars Scout program.  You can
<http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=4ean9Jx9Rc5O-3BCLCXxIg..>view the webcast live or access
the archive later if you miss it.
Cool Links
<http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=euWkTFF58-NO-3BCLCXxIg..> Keeping an Eye on Space
Rocks (requires Flash 6)
<http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=YZCiSdH-PhNO-3BCLCXxIg..>Amateur Night in Space
                   <http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=J5AipJUM_cxO-3BCLCXxIg..>New Mars Fun
Zone (Including 3-D Rover Game)
This Month in Space History
Surveyor 6 lands on the Moon (11/11/67)
Mariner 9 becomes first spacecraft to orbit another planet (11/14/71)
Voyager 1 flies by Saturn (11/12/80)
October Highlights
What's it like to work at NASA?  Our web video series <http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=oYTGka77pw1O-3BCLCXxIg..>First Person finds out.
Spore detectors:  check out the <http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=nryGPwy7SrJO-3BCLCXxIg..>news release, <http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=DMhL_VRN-E9O-3BCLCXxIg..>profileand <http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=n8SQIqcQeSpO-3BCLCXxIg..>video.
<http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=LG90RrbSY61O-3BCLCXxIg..>Global Surveyortakes one of the highest-resolution images of Mars.
Technical note:  Users reading this message in Eudora may need to adjust their viewing
preferences in order to view images correctly.  If pictures appear garbled, in Eudora try
going to Tools > Options, select Viewing Mail and click to select "Use Microsoft's viewer."