Purdue Best Bets
July 11, 1997
JOURNALISTS: Here are ideas about an ongoing news story and a Purdue event during
the next two weeks.
Mars rocks scientists
Two Purdue scientists say they hope that excitement over the Pathfinder mission to
Mars helps generate more interest in space exploration. "I think this mission bodes
well in eventually getting people to Mars," says James Longuski, associate professor
of aeronautics and astronautics. Longuski worked for nine years on the Galileo project,
designing the orbital path of the spacecraft for its trip to Jupiter and its moons.
An expert on orbital trajectories, he and his students have found a gravity-assisted
trajectory, similar to that of Voyager's, which would support a mission to Uranus, Neptune
and Pluto some time after the year 2000. Michael Lipschutz, professor of chemistry,
has been a consultant to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration since
1973 and participated in the Apollo program by analyzing lunar samples brought back by
Apollo astronauts. "This mission is proving that better, faster and cheaper can be
done when it comes to space exploration," he says. CONTACTS: Longuski, (765) 494-5139/494-5117; home: (765) 423-1287; e-mail, longuski@ecn.purdue.edu
Lipschutz, (765) 494-5326/494-5204; home: (765) 463-2895; e-mail, rnapuml@vm.cc.purdue.edu
(He will be unavailable July 15-29.)
Events
July 24-26.
The Indiana State Fair International Wine Competition, also known as the "Indy International,"
was the fourth-largest wine competition in the country last year with 1,701 entries.
This year's judging takes place from 9-4 p.m. at the Farm Bureau Building on the Fairgrounds. Journalists are invited to participate in a hands-on short course
on wine judging where the subtleties will be explained by national wine experts.
Richard Vine, associate professor and wine specialist in the Purdue Cooperative Extension
Service, is coordinator of the competition. CONTACT: Chris Sigurdson, Purdue Agricultural
Communications, (765) 494-8415.
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
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