spacetoday.net: News briefs: November 9

Posted: Sat, Nov 10, 2001, 11:52 AM ET (1652 GMT)
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter illustration (NASA/JPL)

NASA selected two instruments Friday for its 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission. The HiRISE high-resolution camera and the CRISM hyperspectral imaging spectrometer will join four other instruments already selected for the mission. NASA also selected eight scientists to participate on the science teams for the spacecraft's instruments.
The two portions of ESA's Rosetta spacecraft have been successfully mated in preparation for its launch in a little over a year, the space agency said Friday. The Payload Support Module, home to Rosetta's 11 instruments, was attached to its Bus Support Module, which houses power, communications, and propulsion systems, at a facility in Italy November 2. Rosetta will be moved next week to the Netherlands for tests before being shipped to Kourou, French Guiana, in summer 2002. The spacecraft, which will visit the comet Wirtanen, is scheduled for launch from Kourou in January 2003.
Kidney stones could pose a threat to future long-duration spaceflight crews, the British news agency Ananova reported. Doctors say that in weightlessness people consume less fluids, and salts are more likely to crystallize into stones. Scientists are investigating supplements that could prevent the formation of stones.