On the cover: At intervals of about 33 years since at least 1799, the Leonid meteor shower has erupted into a meteor storm with shooting stars streaking across the sky continually. (Don Yeomans)

Leonids Rain
Peaking on average every 33 years for the last two centuries, history's greatest meteor shower may be preparing for an encore in 1998. The Leonids, recharged earlier this year by the passage of Comet Tempel-Tuttle, will shower Earth will shooting stars the nights of November 16 and 17.

A Rock-Solid Case
Not until about two centuries ago, however, did astronomers finally agree that meteors are, in fact, rocks from space. As author Barbara Ryden explains, scientists of the Age of Reason proffered all manner of explanations for meteorites that seem ludricous in retrospect. Ernst Chaldni, a German lawyer-turned-physicist, took a stand for scientific truth and prevailed in the end.

Martian Invasion
Also in this issue, frequent StarDate contributor Robert Zimmerman examines the feats and frustrations of space exploration as it heads into the 21st century. Even as NASA prepares a convoy of probes to uncover the secrets of Mars, its International Space Station suffers yet more delays and uncertainties. øMartian InvasionÓ begins on page 16. For more on the space station, see page 20.

AstroNews: Space station delays, rings around Jupiter

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