Launch delayed
Just two minutes and 42 seconds before the booster engines are to fire, flight controllers halt the launch of the New Horizons probe due to high ground winds which may compromise the safety of the launch. NASA:
We chose not to launch today because the ground winds were just a bit too high. The wind limit at the pad is 33 knots [and] we have exceeded that limit several times today.
Payload ready
The payload of seven science instruments completes its last major preparations for flight.
Although the hard work on the instrument development and testing is over, the work never stops. We’ll only stop worrying once we’ve achieved full mission success, but we’re thrilled that the payload is ready for flight…The New Horizons payload is a remarkably compact, but powerful suite of instruments that will revolutionize our knowledge of Pluto, its large moon Charon and bodies farther out in the Kuiper Belt.
The instruments include:
Alice, an ultraviolet imaging spectrometer that will probe the atmospheric composition and structure of Pluto.
Ralph, a visible and infrared camera that will obtain high-resolution color maps and surface composition maps of the surfaces of Pluto and Charon.
LORRI, or Long Range Reconnaissance Imager, will image Pluto’s surface at football-field sized resolution, resolving features as small approximately 50 yards across.
SWAP, or Solar Wind Around Pluto, will measure charged particles from the solar wind near Pluto to determine whether it has a magnetosphere and how fast its atmosphere is escaping.
PEPSSI, or Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science Investigation, will search for neutral atoms that escape the planet’s atmosphere and subsequently become charged by their interaction with the solar wind.
SDC, or Student Dust Counter, will count and measure the masses of dust particles along the spacecraft’s entire trajectory, covering regions of interplanetary space never before sampled.
REX, or Radio Science EXperiment, a circuit board containing sophisticated electronics that has been integrated with the spacecraft’s radio telecommunications system, will study Pluto’s atmospheric structure, surface thermal properties, and make measurements of the mass of Pluto and Charon and KBOs.
Probe arrives at Space Center
The New Horizons one thousand pound probe arrives at the Kennedy Space Center for final preparations and testing before its launch.
Probe shipped
John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, which built the New Horizons probe, ships it to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for its next round of pre-launch testing. APL Project manager:
Our testing program is off to a good start. We’ve shown that New Horizons is structurally ready for the ride on the launch vehicle, and now we’ll test it in the full range of conditions it would face on the voyage to Pluto, Pluto’s moon, Charon, and beyond.
‘Anti needless government’
Running for reelection, Walker takes on the populist role based on his accomplishments during his first two years in office. After taking over a fiscally troubled county government, Walker is getting things back on track with his anti-tax message, cutting the budget, direct appeals to the public, and a government that is downsized, reformed and open. He feels that the government is still inefficient enough to allow for more cuts.
I’m not anti-government, but I’m anti needless government bureaucracy. . . . Cleaning the mess left over from the last administration is often not easy, and it requires some dramatic actions…The people that were swept from power want it back, I need your help to continue reforming your county government.
Wants workweek or jobs cut
With a $4 million deficit, Walker plans to either layoff 400 workers or cut the workweek to 35 hours for all county employees. Labor leaders promise a court fight if Walker makes a unilateral decision:
Why should it only be county employees who take a hit? We don’t think that’s the only choice the exec has. . . . The county could ask its hundreds of private vendors to take a cut, or seek workers interested in taking voluntary furloughs.
Walker tells the unions that if they do not agree to the cut in the workweek, he will be forced to layoff people:
We feel we have a strong legal case for imposing a 35-hour workweek. The approach shares the pain across county government and minimizes the impact on the public, which will see little service reduction because workers in many cases could simply shave an hour a day off their schedules. Management has the ability to reduce workers’ hours to 35 hours a week without union approval during a budget crises.
Atlas V to launch probe
NASA chooses the Atlas V expendable launch vehicle to launch the New Horizons probe into space. The launch is planned for January 2006.
Construction authorized
After NASA’s team of experts conducted a detailed, in-depth review of every facet of the mission plans and design, they authorize the construction of the New Horizons probe and ground systems.
This is a truly historic step forward. For the first time, NASA is undertaking a mission to explore Pluto-Charon and the distant reaches of the solar system beyond Neptune. This kind of frontier exploration is one of the important ways that NASA and the American space program lead the world. Our team is proud of the authorization NASA has given us to proceed and we’re reminded by the responsibility on our shoulders to make this mission a success.
Announces 100 job cuts
The BBC announces 100 job losses across its websites as it looks to control costs. Highfield says the corporation’s spending on the web will fall by £6m in the next financial year to £68m and by a similar amount the following year. After several years of explosive growth in staffing and spending, BBCi will only receive inflation-linked budget increases from now on.
We have strategically positioned the move towards interactive TV because we’ve seen how popular it can be and it reaches people that don’t necessarily spend a lot of time on the web…We’ve got to work out what people look at and what they don’t.
Refuses contributions
Walker ends a tradition by refusing to accept contributions to his reelection campaign from county employees. He will return any contributions already given and he does not expect them to attend his fund-raising events. He wants to evaluate his employees on their merits, not on their political loyalty.
I’ve seen too many times in government where the expectation to give comes with the job.
Passes second review
The team completes its second major system-level evaluation. Experts study the mission plan and spacecraft design and conclude that the project is ready to proceed. Review panel:
New Horizons has validated its preliminary design and the team can move ahead with more detailed design activities.
Tells daughter to seek mental help
Voight announces publicly that he thinks Jolie should seek help for her serious mental problems after learning she adopted a son from Cambodia. Jolie insists that she is fine and doesn’t want to make it more than it is.
I’m a desperate father. I’m trying to reach her. I just pray to God she hears me.
Defends increased BBC web spending
Highfield defends the previous year’s decision by the BBC to almost double the amount invested in the corporation’s websites. The corporation spent £100.4m on the internet last year, compared with £54.2m the year before. Including interactive television, the total expenditure rises to £111.6m. Highfield says future spending will be capped at 3%. Commercial rivals and some MPs have criticised the BBC’s spending, arguing it is using licence fee-payers’ money to provide online services already offered by the commercial sector.
Having arrived from the commercial sector, I’m always acutely aware of this. Whenever I think about where we’re going to put our money, I always carefully consider the consequences for the private sector. I trebled the amount we spend on nations and regions, increasing the number of Where I Live regional sites from 13 to 37. It doesn’t block out any commercial interest because most existing regional sites are heavily based on classified advertising.
A large proportion of the extra money was spent on upgrading the BBC’s server technology to cope with the increase in users following September 11.
Part of our original commitment was to encourage people to come on to the web and I think we’re doing that. Of the 500,000 visitors who used the Test the Nation site on the day of the broadcast, 300,000 had never visited the BBC site before.
Passes first review
The mission passes its first major review by technical experts who say that it is on track.
The Systems Requirements Review confirmed that New Horizons is making progress on spacecraft and scientific instrument design, and that we are ready to proceed toward the mission confirmation reviews that NASA is requesting.
Faster arrival
As the New Horizons team studies the mission and their launch window, they realize that they can get the probe to Pluto a year earlier than anticipated.
This [is] a great opportunity to improve our scientific return while reducing mission risks and costs. We’ll get a better look at Pluto itself, since more of the surface will be sunlit and the atmosphere will be another year away from freezing onto the planet’s surface. We’ll have more fuel for the journey into the Kuiper Belt after exploring Pluto-Charon, and the shorter cruise time reduces some of the costs associated with flight operations.
Mission approved
NASA selects the New Horizons proposal from Southwest Research Institute for a mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt System. Director of SRI space studies:
We’ll be exploring frontier worlds near the edge of the planetary system. This mission is likely to rewrite textbooks regarding the origin of the planets, the nature of the outer solar system, and even the origin of primitive materials that may have played a role in the development of life.
Sign Wye Agreement
Netanyahu and Arafat sign the Wye River Agreement. The agreement is a land-for-peace deal which is signed after a 21-hour discussion between the two parties mediated by US president Bill Clinton. Jordan’s King Hussein, is also in attendance, assisting in the negotiations. Netanyahu:
The agreement benefits both sides and leaves me brimming with some confidence that Israel and the Palestinians could reach a final accord, though I guarantee you it will not be easy.
Decides to sell Trump Plaza casino
Trump decides to sell Trump Plaza, one of his Atlantic City casinos, saying it could sell for as much as $1 billion. He says he will use the money to decrease his company’s $1.7 billion debt. The company’s stock has fallen 59 percent in the last year as casino revenues have remained stagnant. He says the decision is not a sign that he is losing interest in Atlantic City.
There is a thirst to come into Atlantic City, but it’s very hard to get land and it takes a long time to build from the ground up. I just feel, in a nutshell, that Atlantic City is hot, that I have the best properties and this is a good time to sell…We don’t need other markets. A lot of the Las Vegas developers, they now want to come into Atlantic City.
Michaelangelo Virus
McAfee tells journalists that a virus dubbed “Michelangelo,” which completely wipes the hard drive of infected computers, will be activated on as many as five million PCs. His declaration causes a near-panic in the computer-using world. But by March 7, nothing has happened. He is blamed for creating a false threat to sell more of his anti-virus software. Sales reportedly “skyrocket” with more than half of the companies in the Fortune 100 having purchased McAfee software.
Pollard boasted of working for Israeli Intelligence
Marshall, a friend of Pollard’s and co-graduate from Stanford, says that Pollard bragged about working for Israeli Intelligence, although his claims seemed contradictory. Pollard claimed frequently to be a colonel in the Israeli military and to have worked for Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency. However, while still in college, Pollard also said he was a captain in the Mossad.
That discrepancy indicated he wasn’t telling the truth all the time. [He] was unusually well-informed and quite articulate and made what might otherwise have been an outlandish series of claims quite convincing.
Marshall says he concluded at the time that Mr. Pollard might indeed have some connections with Israeli intelligence but that he probably had ”embroidered” his role. He also says Pollard was ”a committed Zionist, but fairly liberal” on certain questions of Middle East politics.
He described himself as part of an Israeli officers’ group that favored more open channels of communication with Egypt.