1° Forum di Astronomia Amatoriale Italiano

THE PLANETARY SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER

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IN THIS ISSUE:
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WHAT WE DO - Pioneer Anomaly, NEO Grants,
SETI@ home

EXPLORE - LPSC, Enceladus

PARTICIPATE - Global Volunteer Network

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR -
Defending the Planet

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WHAT WE DO
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* Pioneer Anomaly
A Letter from the Project Director
by Slava G. Turyshev

"The existence of the anomaly is confirmed by seven
independent investigations using different navigational
codes. The most important question now is to identify
the cause of this anomalous frequency drift
discovered in the Pioneer data. However, its
analysis is technically complex, as we will have
to "re-fly" the 30-year Pioneer missions. In
other words, we will have to virtually "launch"
the Pioneers, acquire their signals, perform
the first orientation maneuver, and go arc-by-arc
all the way to Jupiter and Saturn (for Pioneer 11),
then fly by outer planets and leave the solar
system while still transmitting scientific and
engineering information -- and do that until the last data point."

Read more >>
http://planetary.org/programs/projects/ ... 70328.html

* SETI@ home
Spinoff Project Recruits Game Consoles to Decipher Biological Mystery

If you are the proud owner of a Sony PlayStation 3,
or are considering purchasing one, keep in mind
that your acquisition is much more than an expensive
game console. It can aid in the fight against some
of the most debilitating diseases known to humankind.

All PlayStation 3 modules, version 1.6 or higher,
have been designed to run folding@ home, a scientific
distributed computing project based at Stanford
University. Launched in 2000, folding@ home is modeled
on the remarkably successful SETI@ home, a project
launched the previous year thanks to seed funding
by the members of The Planetary Society.

Read more >>
http://planetary.org/news/2007/0328_SET ... ruits.html

* The 2007 Gene Shoemaker NEO Grants
Meet the Winners

The 2007 Gene Shoemaker Near Earth Object (NEO) Grants,
totaling $34,500 (US), were awarded to an international
collection of amateur astronomers and researchers:

- Eric J. Allen, Quebec, Canada;
- Robert E. Holmes, Jr., Illinois, USA;
- Jean-Claude Pelle, Tahiti, French Polynesia;
- Donald P. Pray, Rhode Island, USA;
- Giovanni Sostero, Udine, Italy;
- Brian D. Warner, Colorado, USA; and
- Quanzhi Ye, Guangzhou, China.

The observers and their projects were selected from
a group of 23 proposals that The Planetary Society
received from 11 different countries on five continents.
Congratulations to all the winners and special thanks
to our Members for their continued support of NEO
research and tracking.

Meet the winners >>
http://planetary.org/programs/projects/ ... eo_grants/

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Do you want to...?

• Unravel the mysteries of space?
• Search for life on other worlds?
• Find new planets outside our solar system?
• Make missions of exploration happen?

Membership in The Planetary Society is your ticket
to space exploration.

Not a Member yet?

Join together with our International membership
and help shape the future of space exploration.
https://planetary.org/join/membership/index.html

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EXPLORE
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* Reports from the 2007 Lunar and
Planetary Science Conference
Special Coverage from The Planetary Society Weblog
March 12-16, 2006

Scientists Bethany Ehlmann, Jason Perry, Anne
Verbiscer, Brad Thomson, and Tom Swulius sent these
reports from the 38th Lunar and Planetary Science
Conference to Emily Lakdawalla for posting in
The Planetary Society Weblog. The reports cover
some of the latest news from Saturn and Mars.

Read More >>
http://planetary.org/news/2007/0312_Rep ... r_and.html

Some Recent Planetary Headlines

- Chemistry and Physics Suggest a Soup Under Enceladus'
South Pole
- Private Rocketship Falcon 1 Flies,
But Fails to Reach Orbit
- The Empire Strikes Back:
Europe's First Trip to Mars Brings Home
"The Gold"
- Cassini Reveals "Seas" of Methane
and Ethane on Titan

Read these and more exploration stories and news at:
http://www.planetary.org/news/index.html

or read our daily blog updates at:
http://planetary.org/blog

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PARTICIPATE
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* Global Volunteer Network

Volunteers are a vital part of who we are and what
we do. They coordinate and represent the Society at
public events, including celebrations tied to
missions or planetary activities, panel discussions,
star parties, hands-on demonstrations and lectures;
they assist staff with projects; they promote
membership; and they engage the public in Society
projects, including contests, advocacy campaigns
and educational activities like our Messages
from Earth program, which recently included sending
wishes to the Moon on the Selene mission and sending
names to Mars on the Phoenix lander mission.

Many dedicated volunteers from around the
world have joined the network.

Want to get more involved?

Find out More >>
http://planetary.org/participate/volunteer/index.html

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FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
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* Defending the Planet
by Louis Friedman

"In March, I attended the Planetary Defense Conference
in Washington, D.C. Despite its title, this was not a
military planning exercise to deal with an alien invasion
of Earth. Rather it was a meeting of scientists and
engineers looking for potential dangers from asteroids or
comets that orbit close by Earth -- including what we
might do if one were discovered on a collision
course with our planet."

Read the full report at:
http://planetary.org/about/executive_di ... 70216.html

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SUPPORT SPACE EXPLORATION
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Develop innovative technologies, fund astronomers hunting
for hazardous asteroids and planets orbiting other stars,
support radio and optical searches for extraterrestrial
life, and ensure the future of space exploration by
continuing to influence decision makers around the world.

Donate online at:
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