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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 1999)
eB;ntalion N ATION What was the Star? Page 9 » Tuesday. December 7, 1999 nanswered questions ASA ponders fate of lost Mars Polar Lander PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — With hope fading fast lor the Mars Polar Lander, NASA investigators may He to face the possibility of never really knowing tohat went wrong with the spacecraft 157 million /miles from Earth. Hhe space agency has only scant information on the final moments of the $165 million spacecraft’s attempt Jfand on Mars and no hope of re- hb* '(Bering any wreckage. ™lt may be that everything went t, and it simply landed in a terri- le spot,” physics professor Robert , a University of Maryland expert lithe space program, said. “Who knows if it landed on a big boulder hd fell over? We just don’t know, id we never will is my guess.” For NASA, the loss would mean back-to-back Mars expeditions e ended in failure, ission controllers plan another "It may be that everything went right, and it simply landed in a terrible spot/' — Robert Park University of Maryland space program expert Impt today to detect a signal from the spacecraft, ihich has not been heard from since it began its de cent Friday. Two microprobes that were to have land- eparately also were lost. No signal during the next window would eliminate one explanation for the spacecraft’s silence — that it was in a slumbering “safe mode” caused by some problem after landing, Laurie Leshin, a member of the lander’s science team, said. “We think this is one of our last really good chances,” she said yesterday. mmillimmimmilimmmm Other possible explanations: the spacecraft burned up in the plan et’s atmosphere, crash-landed on the “Red Planet” or experienced some kind of problem with its an tenna or its computer. It could be two weeks before the mission is declared a failure, Richard Cook, the spacecraft’s op erations manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said. If the mission did fail, one criti cal piece of information could be acquired by the powerful cameras Wednesday, December 8 7:00 pm ' Ray Auditorium, (Room 159) Wehner Building, West Campus www.common-ground.org AH ASTRONOMICAL INVESTIGATION www.bootsforless.com 1-800-292-2668 “the earth’s biggest boot store!” “the earth’s lowest prices’ “Ag owned & operated” Be on your way to an “A” of NASA’s orbiting Mars Global Surveyor, a satellite that is mapping the surface of Mars. Cook said NASA will look for evidence of the lander’s para chute on Mars. Organized, detailed, typed notes Done by top students in class Fast quality service Semester packs, exam packs, and daily notes HOW DOES IT WORK? Top students in selected classes take notes which are then typed and available for you to pick up the NEXT DAY! You may pick up the notes whenever you wish - daily, week ly, or before exams - whenever. wounded in school shooting IIC SCHNEIDER IhiB a finals study care Pg J 'ORT GIBSON, Okla. (AP) — A enth-grader walked up to a |vd of youngsters waiting for the li ning bell yesterday and alleged- |pened fire with a gun, wound- four schoolmates before a [:her pinned him against a wall, one of the injuries appeared to f 1 n ^threatening. A fifth young- yes beats & a suffered bumps and bruises. j He doesn’t even know who it I s deputy Ter- iCragg said. “There was not a |e thing. 1 asked him why. He don’t know.’” Ifhe 13-year-old dropped the ^tiptied, 9mm semiautomatic jandgun as he was approached by lence teacher Ronnie Holuby, vho also serves as the safety offi- er at Fort Gibson Middle School, erintendent Steve Wilmoth unch in la TIN (AP) - Steve eorge W. Bush tothf :^d exas governor’s home oes, the millionaire executive from Bee was the first pie peful listed by tlie dean Party as fife March 14 primary, oes filed his pap® ■xas GOP Friday, jnner in a number polls, plans to file >allot “in the near ign spokesperson lan said yesterday, ig for spots on the Ref md Democratic continues through! er Republicans filing ? three incum! ne Court Justices- es, who was her Democrat stepped down; Nat who has served oa since 1989, and Prist who took office ini' Barber, a Colorado ■y who has battled ver a billboard that ay No to Searches," ? GOP- nomination l on the Texas Com al Appeals. said. Holuby grabbed the boy’s arms and pinned him against a brick wall. The small, slender boy was tak en to court for a closed, 15-minute arraignment, walking solemnly be tween two deputies and keeping his head down. His name was not released. No details were released on the ar raignment or on what charges the boy faces. Gov. Frank Keating issued a statement saying the shooting “must serve as a call to arms” to address “the root causes of what is happening to our families and young people.” He later issued a re vised statement, deleting a “call to arms” and substituting the phrase “wake-up call.” President Clinton told re- COLO. KANSAS j MO. 1 Tulsa • - | OKLA. \ARK. O • Oklahoma City k 1 TEXAS | Fort Gibson School lOOVniles shooting 100 km ACCT 209.506 ACCT 327.501-503,506 ANTH 202.500 ANTH 205.501 ANTH 205.504 BIOL 113.503 BIOL 113.504 BIOL 114.500 ECON 202.506,509-510 ECON 202.507-508 ECON 203.506 GEOG 305.500 HIST 105.508 HIST 105.515 HIST 106.502 HIST 106.507 HIST 106.509 MGMT 105.500 MGMT 211.501-502 porters in Washington that in vestigators from the FBI and Bu reau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were on the scene. “Our prayers are with each of the children and their families,” Clinton said. 694-9403 MGMT 363.501-502 MICR 351.501-510 MKTG 321.501-502 MKTG 321.503-504 MKTG 321.505 MKTG 345.501-503 PHYS 201.511-520 PHYS 306.501 POLS 206.501 POLS 206.503-504 POLS 207.502-503 POLS 207.504 POLS 207.505,510 PSYC 107.508 RDNG 351.500 RENR 205.502 SCOM 301.500 SOCI 319.500 VAPH 305.501-503 707 Texas Ave., 222D (Next to Barnes & Noble) ioShow Your Site for Digital Audio, Free Audio Software and Other Things to Stick in Your Ear. .crorri Tlte UUorld i/s Li/sfettitty