Message-Id: <9103291401.AA03297@easynet.crl.dec.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Mar 91 09:01:15 EST
From: "When you have learned to snatch the error code from the trap frame, it will be time for you to leave.  29-Mar-1991 0856" <peterm@cssetp.enet.dec.com>
To: cnet@cssetp.enet.dec.com
Subject: Not SCA, but I thought people might be interested

FYI:

<><><><><><><><>  T h e   V O G O N   N e w s   S e r v i c e  <><><><><><><><>

 Edition : 2290               Friday 29-Mar-1991            Circulation :  8548
  
VNS TECHNOLOGY WATCH:                           [Mike Taylor, VNS Correspondent]
=====================                           [Littleton, MA, USA            ]

           Names Of Notable Women To Be Proposed For Venus Features

    Scientists of NASA's Magellan Project, in association with the U.S.
    Geological Survey, are inviting the public to propose names of notable
    women for the many impact craters and large volcanic vents being
    discovered on Venus by the Magellan spacecraft's imaging radar. 

    "We want everyone, especially students, to share in the adventure of
    discovery," said Magellan Project Scientist Dr. Steve Saunders. He
    said that the impact craters on Venus are some of the most beautiful
    features in the solar system. They form somewhat randomly in time and
    space when an asteroid or very large comet collides with Venus'
    surface. 

    "The flower-like symmetry of impact craters evidences the enormous
    energy of these infrequent events," he said. "A modest 20-mile-
    diameter crater represents more energy than is contained in all the
    arsenals on Earth." 

    Names sent to the Magellan Project offices at NASA's Jet Propulsion
    Laboratory will be compiled for the Working Group for Planetary System
    Nomenclature, a committee of the International Astronomical Union
    (IAU). The IAU gives final approval to names for bodies in the solar
    system. 

    Because the IAU meets only every 3 years and its next meeting is in
    July 1991, names newly proposed for Venusian features will not be
    considered until the following meeting in 1994. But names proposed
    this year, if accepted as provisional by the nomenclature committee,
    may be used on published maps and in articles, pending final approval
    by the IAU. 

    Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey's Flagstaff, Ariz., field
    office said they expect names for 4000 or more features on Venus are
    likely to be required in the coming decade. Of those features, at
    least 900 are expected to be impact craters. Cratersand volcanic
    calderas, called "paterae," on Venus are named for notable, actual
    women. 

    Indeed, all features on Venus are named for women, with only three
    exceptions. They are Maxwell Montes, named years ago for early radar
    pioneer James Maxwell, and Alpha Regio and Beta Regio. 

    "The mapping of Venus is unique in the history of cartography," said
    USGS cartographers Ray Batson and Joel Russell. "Never has so much
    territory been discovered and mapped in so short a period of time." 

    The process of naming features on Venus began in the 1960s with early
    radar images taken from Earth. It continued through radar mapping
    spacecraft expeditions of the United States and Soviet Union. 

    But, they said, the Magellan mission is resolving features 25 times
    smaller than those mapped previously and its radar data will cover an
    area nearly equivalent to that of the continents and the ocean floors
    on Earth. 

    Many features on Venus, by international agreement, are named for
    goddesses of ancient religions and cultures. But craters and volcanic
    calderas or vents, the paterae, are named for actual women. 

    There are certain stipulations, however. For example, women must have
    been deceased for at least 3 years and must have been in some way
    notable or worthy of the honor. 

    Names of military or political figures of the 19th and 20th Centuries
    are specifically forbidden under rules of the IAU, as are the names of
    persons prominent in any of the six main living religions. Names of a
    specific national significance also are not allowed. 

    When the name is submitted, her birth and death years and a one or two
    sentence written rationale for the honor should be given, along with a
    reference book citation, if available. 

    The Magellan project members ask that submissions be sent to:
 
		Venus Names
		Magellan Project Office
		Mail Stop 230-201
		Jet Propulsion Laboratory
		4800 Oak Grove Dr.
		Pasadena, Calif. 91109


    {Jet Propulsion Laboratory press release}
    {Contributed to usenet@ames.arc.nasa.gov by Peter E. Yee}