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From: XianneKei@aol.com
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 1997 01:00:50 -0500 (EST)
Fwd Date: Tue, 25 Mar 1997 22:46:27 -0500
Subject: Rockets To Collect Data on Comet

Rockets To Collect Data on Comet

By EDUARDO MONTES

      WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. (AP) - Scientists are firing
four arrow-like rockets beyond the outer reaches of the atmosphere
to help solve the mysteries of the Hale-Bopp comet and possibly
yield clues about the birth of the universe.

      Each carrying a different set of instruments, the suborbital
rockets set for launch over the next two weeks will collect data on
the comet's composition, including gas emissions and dust
particles, which could tell scientists Hale-Bopp's age and origin.
The first was to be launched Monday night.

      Telescopic equipment that can provide a clearer picture than
possible from Earth are designed to parachute back onto the missile
range shortly after takeoff.

      The rockets won't reach orbit - the highest will only go 240
miles high and provide only five minutes of data - but scientists
hope the encounter with Hale-Bopp will bring back information they
could never get otherwise.

      ``When we're studying the comets like this, we're getting some
real clues about what conditions were like at the formation of the
universe. It's like a time machine going back 4{ billion years,''
said Alan Hale, one of two men who discovered the comet and who was
to be on hand for the launch Monday.

      Hale-Bopp, roughly three to four times bigger than Halley's
comet, is one of the largest comets ever cataloged, with a tail
estimated at 10 million to 20 million miles in length. It last
passed Earth about 4,000 years ago.

      If the telescopic images do show that the comet contains the
noble gases neon and argon, they could help determine where and
when the comet was formed because the gases only form under certain
conditions, said James Green, the University of Colorado astronomer
conducting the experiment.

      Green said it could take several months to analyze data from the
experiment, which he said would provide only a small piece of the
total universe puzzle.

      ``It is not going to happen in our lifetime that we are going to
get the final answer,'' said Green. ``But we are making progress.''

      Each experiment is loaded on a two-stage Black Brant sounding
rocket, a slender craft with guidance fins that resemble the tail
of a dart. The launches cost about $1 million each.

      The NASA-funded launches continue Tuesday with an experiment by
the University of Wisconsin to examine dust particles. The San
Antonio-based Southwest Research Institute will launch a rocket
Saturday, and Johns Hopkins University will follow April 5.

      AP-NY-03-24-97 2149EST
      Copyright 1997 The Associated Press.  The information
contained in the AP news report may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without
prior written authority of The Associated Press.