[Spice_announce] Release of new leapseconds kernel naif0008.tls

[Nat Bachman]

Dear SPICE Users,

As of 2005 August 5, NAIF is releasing the updated leapseconds
kernel

   naif0008.tls

The file is available from the NAIF server

   naif.jpl.nasa.gov

in the path

   pub/naif/generic_kernels/lsk

This update reflects the addition of a leapsecond at the end of 2005.
This leapsecond has been announced in IERS bulletin C, dated
July 4, 2005.  The URL for this bulletin is:

  http://hpiers.obspm.fr/eoppc/bul/bulc/bulletinc.dat

On 2006 January 1 00:00:00 UTC, the time offset between UTC and
international atomic time (TAI) will be

   33 seconds

At that time, the offset between UTC and barycentric dynamical time
("TDB," "ephemeris time," "ET") will be approximately

   65.183926 seconds

The new kernel affects SPICE ET/UTC and spacecraft clock (SCLK)/UTC
conversions for dates on or after

   January 1, 2006 UTC

Results of time conversions performed with this kernel for earlier dates 
will
match those obtained using the previous leapseconds kernel

   naif0007.tls

The new kernel is a text file with Unix line termination.  The file
should be transferred in ASCII ftp mode.

It is *not* necessary to have a current (N0058) version of the SPICE Toolkit
in order to read this file:  all older SPICE Toolkits should able to 
read it.

  -Nat Bachman, for the NAIF team

Nathaniel.Bachman at jpl.nasa.gov