Star Points for October, 1997; by Curtis Roelle Sputnik Turns Forty Forty years ago on an Autumn day in the former USSR space exploration history was being made on Friday October 4, 1957 with the launch of the first Earth satellite. The 184 pound Sputnik 1 that started the race for the Moon was a shot that went unanswered by the U.S. until the 31 pound Explorer 1 satellite was launched in 1958. In the meantime America witnessed the spectacular failure of the minuscule 3 pound Vanguard TV 3 satellite in December, 1957. So what do you give a satellite on its 40th birthday? Is Sputnik fretting over thinning and graying hair or developing "love handles" (more on those later)? Definitely not for Sputnik 1 transmitted its ominous beeping signal for only 21 days and was then incinerated in the atmosphere when its orbit decayed on January 4, 1958 (source: "TRW Space Log"). News reports of the time gave accounts of the Soviet's new superiority in space. What a contrast that is to today's news of problems with the orbiting Mir space station. One would think that the Russian space program is rapidly deteriorating based on the news accounts whereas Sputnik journalists bemoaned that America had all but forfeited any notion of being a major space power. So in retrospect we feared the Sputnik bauble that fell out of the sky within weeks but are compelled to ridicule a true space station that has been the home to space travelers from various nations for some 12 years. Not to minimize Mir's problems but the Russians are still years ahead of the U.S. in terms of long duration manned space missions. The only U.S. space station was Skylab in the 1970's. Remember when it scattered its entrails across Australia? The world laughed and cackled over that one. It was during a time when America was experiencing a loss of interest in space following the manned lunar landings, while becoming more concerned with long gas lines and energy shortages. I think that Russia is experiencing the same kind of temporary dwindling interest in space due to hard economic times in Moscow. At the height of America's honeymoon with space flight the future of space travel seemed assured. Man would probably walk on Mars by the end of the century and colonies would be established on the moon. Science Fiction became main stream with television programs such as Star Trek and the 1969 box office smash hit "2001: A Space Odyssey" directed by Stanley Kubrick. Unlike most movies which are developed from books, the book version of "2001" written by Aurther C. Clarke was based on the screenplay. This made for some significant differences between them the most amazing of which is the final destination. In the movie the space craft "Discovery" ended its mission orbiting the planet Jupiter whereas in the book the vessel made it all the way to Saturn before the climactic finish. However when the sequel "2010: Odyssey Two" was published in 1982 "Discovery" was somehow magically transported back to Jupiter without any explanation in the story. Only in the "author's note" does Clarke attempt to gloss over this major discontinuity saying that doing so "avoided confusion". Apparently Clarke was willing to insult the reader by sacrificing the books' integrity in order to maintain harmony in the movie versions. By coincidence this month's two best situated planets for observing happen to be Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter is the very steady bright object appearing in the southern sky during evening twilight in the constellation of Capricornus the sea goat. Jupiter and its four "Galilean" satellites (moons), which are visible in binoculars, was mentioned in this column last month. Saturn reaches "opposition" this month and is thus at its closest point to Earth for the year. During this October Saturn is trying to keep cool by swimming with the fishes in Pisces on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun. Saturn is therefor highest in the sky when the Sun is lowest, around midnight. Then Saturn visibly shines in the south more than halfway up between horizon and zenith. Although somewhat fainter than Jupiter the rings give it away. Even in low power binoculars Saturn is noticeably oval-shaped. Galileo first noticed that there was something unusual about Saturn when he turned a telescope toward it in the early 1600's. He drew it as a circular disc with a smaller disc on either side. Later sketches had the planet appearing like a sugar bowl with detached handles. The problem was not Galileo but his telescope whose quality was below even the worst "department store telescope". It was not until 1655 that the Dutch physicist Christian Huygens observed with a telescope good enough to reveal the true nature of the "appendages". Jupiter had beautiful rings, not bulging love handles. Early observers noted three rings which were dubbed A, B, and C. The B ring is the brightest and with a telescope a dark band between it and the A ring can be viewed. This separation is called "Cassini's division." The rings are made up of small particles each in independent orbit about the planet. The Pioneer 11 spacecraft added more letters and rings out to G. The Voyager I and II spacecraft stunned astronomers by revealing that the rings are in turn composed of thousands of thin concentric ringlets. Surface markings are more subtle on Saturn than on Jupiter and require a medium sized telescope to see. One feature of interest to telescope observers is the sharp shadow the planet casts on the rings. It is harder to see during opposition, but in the coming months the shadow will again become apparent. If you would like to learn more about October's sky come to the Bear Branch Nature Center planetarium on October 10 for the Fall show with Mr. Scott Diegel. Reservations may be made by calling the nature center at 410-848-2517.