[ot] astronomy & space exploration in the news

Caught the following couple of blurbs from a newslist I'm on. Considering the
recent thread on paint schemes of [specifically FSE] FT minis, who's going to
be the first on their block to have the Mars Fleet?:)

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Mars Flag: Red, Green, Blue

NASA has adopted a tricolor flag for Mars, in honor of Kim Stanley Robinson's
Mars trilogy. The red, green, and blue flag went into orbit aboard the Space
Shuttle Discovery in December. It will soon wave over the Mars Arctic Research
Station, which is currently being built in the US, to be reassembled in the
arctic for research beginning in the summer of 2001. *SF

Galileo detects new evidence for ocean in Europa

Galileo's most recent pass over Europa last week brought new magnetometer
findings that suggest a salty ocean under the moon's icy crust. NASA
scientists now think that the ocean lies within 60 miles of the surface of the
planet.

The magnetometer confirmed that Europa's magnetic field moves around,
reversing direction every 5 1/2 hours. The movement of the magnetic
field requires a medium for electrical currents to travel in, and scientists
think that medium is most likely to be salty water.