Date: Fri, 2 Apr 93 05:26:40 From: Space Digest maintainer Reply-To: Space-request@isu.isunet.edu Subject: Space Digest V16 #404 To: Space Digest Readers Precedence: bulk Space Digest Fri, 2 Apr 93 Volume 16 : Issue 404 Today's Topics: Earth's atmospheric pressure constant over geolgic time? How do they ignite the SSME? Space FAQ 06/15 - Constants and Equations Space FAQ 12/15 - Controversial Questions Space FAQ 13/15 - Interest Groups & Publications the call to space (was Re: Clueless Szaboisms ) Venus is covered with water? Why use AC at 20kHz for SSF power Welcome to the Space Digest!! Please send your messages to "space@isu.isunet.edu", and (un)subscription requests of the form "Subscribe Space " to one of these addresses: listserv@uga (BITNET), rice::boyle (SPAN/NSInet), utadnx::utspan::rice::boyle (THENET), or space-REQUEST@isu.isunet.edu (Internet). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 1 Apr 93 11:35:51 GMT From: Flemming Sylvest Johansen Subject: Earth's atmospheric pressure constant over geolgic time? Newsgroups: sci.space robert.f.casey (wa2ise@cbnewsb.cb.att.com) wrote: : All this mention of Venus's atmosphere at about 100 atm makes me wonder : why, if Earth is even a bit more massive than Venus, the Earth doesn't : also have a thicker atmosphere? Probably the oceans made limestone : of lots of CO2? Anyway, do we know if the atmospheric pressure has : been constant over millions of years? Maybe those pterdytals (sp, those : flying dinosaur era reptiles) flew in a thicker atmosphere. Flying in : a 3 atm atmosphere could be a lot easier to do. Has this issue ever been : looked at? I vaguely recall once hearing of a study on the composition of air found in small cavities in amber. Apparently, the atmosphere at the time of creation for the amber was much richer in oxygen than it is today (~ 30%). Of course, the composition of the amber-trapped air could have changed a lot over time. Does anyone know more about this ? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1993 22:01:19 GMT From: "Carlos G. Niederstrasser" Subject: How do they ignite the SSME? Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle,sci.space The subject line says it all. My professor today could not remember how they ignite these babies. On a possible related subject, what are all the sparks flying around underneath the engines just before takeoff? --- --------------------------------------------------------------------- | Carlos G. Niederstrasser | Only two things are infinite, | | Princeton Planetary Society | the universe and human | | | stupidity, and I'm not sure | | | about the former. - Einstein | | carlosn@phoenix.princeton.edu |---------------------------------| | space@phoenix.princeton.edu | Ad Astra per Ardua Nostra | --------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: 1 Apr 93 09:57:28 GMT From: Jon Leech Subject: Space FAQ 06/15 - Constants and Equations Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space,sci.answers,news.answers Archive-name: space/constants Last-modified: $Date: 93/04/01 14:39:04 $ CONSTANTS AND EQUATIONS FOR CALCULATIONS This list was originally compiled by Dale Greer. Additions would be appreciated. Numbers in parentheses are approximations that will serve for most blue-skying purposes. Unix systems provide the 'units' program, useful in converting between different systems (metric/English, etc.) NUMBERS 7726 m/s (8000) -- Earth orbital velocity at 300 km altitude 3075 m/s (3000) -- Earth orbital velocity at 35786 km (geosync) 6371 km (6400) -- Mean radius of Earth 6378 km (6400) -- Equatorial radius of Earth 1738 km (1700) -- Mean radius of Moon 5.974e24 kg (6e24) -- Mass of Earth 7.348e22 kg (7e22) -- Mass of Moon 1.989e30 kg (2e30) -- Mass of Sun 3.986e14 m^3/s^2 (4e14) -- Gravitational constant times mass of Earth 4.903e12 m^3/s^2 (5e12) -- Gravitational constant times mass of Moon 1.327e20 m^3/s^2 (13e19) -- Gravitational constant times mass of Sun 384401 km ( 4e5) -- Mean Earth-Moon distance 1.496e11 m (15e10) -- Mean Earth-Sun distance (Astronomical Unit) 1 megaton (MT) TNT = about 4.2e15 J or the energy equivalent of about .05 kg (50 gm) of matter. Ref: J.R Williams, "The Energy Level of Things", Air Force Special Weapons Center (ARDC), Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, 1963. Also see "The Effects of Nuclear Weapons", compiled by S. Glasstone and P.J. Dolan, published by the US Department of Defense (obtain from the GPO). EQUATIONS Where d is distance, v is velocity, a is acceleration, t is time. Additional more specialized equations are available from: ames.arc.nasa.gov:pub/SPACE/FAQ/MoreEquations For constant acceleration d = d0 + vt + .5at^2 v = v0 + at v^2 = 2ad Acceleration on a cylinder (space colony, etc.) of radius r and rotation period t: a = 4 pi**2 r / t^2 For circular Keplerian orbits where: Vc = velocity of a circular orbit Vesc = escape velocity M = Total mass of orbiting and orbited bodies G = Gravitational constant (defined below) u = G * M (can be measured much more accurately than G or M) K = -G * M / 2 / a r = radius of orbit (measured from center of mass of system) V = orbital velocity P = orbital period a = semimajor axis of orbit Vc = sqrt(M * G / r) Vesc = sqrt(2 * M * G / r) = sqrt(2) * Vc V^2 = u/a P = 2 pi/(Sqrt(u/a^3)) K = 1/2 V**2 - G * M / r (conservation of energy) The period of an eccentric orbit is the same as the period of a circular orbit with the same semi-major axis. Change in velocity required for a plane change of angle phi in a circular orbit: delta V = 2 sqrt(GM/r) sin (phi/2) Energy to put mass m into a circular orbit (ignores rotational velocity, which reduces the energy a bit). GMm (1/Re - 1/2Rcirc) Re = radius of the earth Rcirc = radius of the circular orbit. Classical rocket equation, where dv = change in velocity Isp = specific impulse of engine Ve = exhaust velocity x = reaction mass m1 = rocket mass excluding reaction mass g = 9.80665 m / s^2 Ve = Isp * g dv = Ve * ln((m1 + x) / m1) = Ve * ln((final mass) / (initial mass)) Relativistic rocket equation (constant acceleration) t (unaccelerated) = c/a * sinh(a*t/c) d = c**2/a * (cosh(a*t/c) - 1) v = c * tanh(a*t/c) Relativistic rocket with exhaust velocity Ve and mass ratio MR: at/c = Ve/c * ln(MR), or t (unaccelerated) = c/a * sinh(Ve/c * ln(MR)) d = c**2/a * (cosh(Ve/C * ln(MR)) - 1) v = c * tanh(Ve/C * ln(MR)) Converting from parallax to distance: d (in parsecs) = 1 / p (in arc seconds) d (in astronomical units) = 206265 / p Miscellaneous f=ma -- Force is mass times acceleration w=fd -- Work (energy) is force times distance Atmospheric density varies as exp(-mgz/kT) where z is altitude, m is molecular weight in kg of air, g is local acceleration of gravity, T is temperature, k is Bolztmann's constant. On Earth up to 100 km, d = d0*exp(-z*1.42e-4) where d is density, d0 is density at 0km, is approximately true, so d@12km (40000 ft) = d0*.18 d@9 km (30000 ft) = d0*.27 d@6 km (20000 ft) = d0*.43 d@3 km (10000 ft) = d0*.65 Atmospheric scale height Dry lapse rate (in km at emission level) (K/km) ------------------------- -------------- Earth 7.5 9.8 Mars 11 4.4 Venus 4.9 10.5 Titan 18 1.3 Jupiter 19 2.0 Saturn 37 0.7 Uranus 24 0.7 Neptune 21 0.8 Triton 8 1 Titius-Bode Law for approximating planetary distances: R(n) = 0.4 + 0.3 * 2^N Astronomical Units (N = -infinity for Mercury, 0 for Venus, 1 for Earth, etc.) This fits fairly well except for Neptune. CONSTANTS 6.62618e-34 J-s (7e-34) -- Planck's Constant "h" 1.054589e-34 J-s (1e-34) -- Planck's Constant / (2 * PI), "h bar" 1.3807e-23 J/K (1.4e-23) - Boltzmann's Constant "k" 5.6697e-8 W/m^2/K (6e-8) -- Stephan-Boltzmann Constant "sigma" 6.673e-11 N m^2/kg^2 (7e-11) -- Newton's Gravitational Constant "G" 0.0029 m K (3e-3) -- Wien's Constant "sigma(W)" 3.827e26 W (4e26) -- Luminosity of Sun 1370 W / m^2 (1400) -- Solar Constant (intensity at 1 AU) 6.96e8 m (7e8) -- radius of Sun 1738 km (2e3) -- radius of Moon 299792458 m/s (3e8) -- speed of light in vacuum "c" 9.46053e15 m (1e16) -- light year 206264.806 AU (2e5) -- \ 3.2616 light years (3) -- --> parsec 3.0856e16 m (3e16) -- / Black Hole radius (also called Schwarzschild Radius): 2GM/c^2, where G is Newton's Grav Constant, M is mass of BH, c is speed of light Things to add (somebody look them up!) Basic rocketry numbers & equations Aerodynamical stuff Energy to put a pound into orbit or accelerate to interstellar velocities. Non-circular cases? NEXT: FAQ #7/15 - Astronomical Mnemonics ------------------------------ Date: 1 Apr 93 10:00:29 GMT From: Jon Leech Subject: Space FAQ 12/15 - Controversial Questions Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.answers,news.answers Archive-name: space/controversy Last-modified: $Date: 93/04/01 14:39:06 $ CONTROVERSIAL QUESTIONS These issues periodically come up with much argument and few facts being offered. The summaries below attempt to represent the position on which much of the net community has settled. Please DON'T bring them up again unless there's something truly new to be discussed. The net can't set public policy, that's what your representatives are for. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SATURN V PLANS Despite a widespread belief to the contrary, the Saturn V blueprints have not been lost. They are kept at Marshall Space Flight Center on microfilm. The problem in re-creating the Saturn V is not finding the drawings, it is finding vendors who can supply mid-1960's vintage hardware (like guidance system components), and the fact that the launch pads and VAB have been converted to Space Shuttle use, so you have no place to launch from. By the time you redesign to accommodate available hardware and re-modify the launch pads, you may as well have started from scratch with a clean sheet design. WHY DATA FROM SPACE MISSIONS ISN'T IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE Investigators associated with NASA missions are allowed exclusive access for one year after the data is obtained in order to give them an opportunity to analyze the data and publish results without being "scooped" by people uninvolved in the mission. However, NASA frequently releases examples (in non-digital form, e.g. photos) to the public early in a mission. RISKS OF NUCLEAR (RTG) POWER SOURCES FOR SPACE PROBES There has been extensive discussion on this topic sparked by attempts to block the Galileo and Ulysses launches on grounds of the plutonium thermal sources being dangerous. Numerous studies claim that even in worst-case scenarios (shuttle explosion during launch, or accidental reentry at interplanetary velocities), the risks are extremely small. Two interesting data points are (1) The May 1968 loss of two SNAP 19B2 RTGs, which landed intact in the Pacific Ocean after a Nimbus B weather satellite failed to reach orbit. The fuel was recovered after 5 months with no release of plutonium. (2) In April 1970, the Apollo 13 lunar module reentered the atmosphere and its SNAP 27 RTG heat source, which was jettisoned, fell intact into the 20,000 feet deep Tonga Trench in the Pacific Ocean. The corrosion resistant materials of the RTG are expected to prevent release of the fuel for a period of time equal to 10 half-lives of the Pu-238 fuel or about 870 years [DOE 1980]. To make your own informed judgement, some references you may wish to pursue are: A good review of the technical facts and issues is given by Daniel Salisbury in "Radiation Risk and Planetary Exploration-- The RTG Controversy," *Planetary Report*, May-June 1987, pages 3-7. Another good article, which also reviews the events preceding Galileo's launch, "Showdown at Pad 39-B," by Robert G. Nichols, appeared in the November 1989 issue of *Ad Astra*. (Both magazines are published by pro-space organizations, the Planetary Society and the National Space Society respectively.) Gordon L Chipman, Jr., "Advanced Space Nuclear Systems" (AAS 82-261), in *Developing the Space Frontier*, edited by Albert Naumann and Grover Alexander, Univelt, 1983, p. 193-213. "Hazards from Plutonium Toxicity", by Bernard L. Cohen, Health Physics, Vol 32 (may) 1977, page 359-379. NUS Corporation, Safety Status Report for the Ulysses Mission: Risk Analysis (Book 1). Document number is NUS 5235; there is no GPO #; published Jan 31, 1990. NASA Office of Space Science and Applications, *Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Ulysses Mission (Tier 2)*, (no serial number or GPO number, but probably available from NTIS or NASA) June 1990. [DOE 1980] U.S. Department of Energy, *Transuranic Elements in the Environment*, Wayne C. Hanson, editor; DOE Document No. DOE/TIC-22800; Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., April 1980.) IMPACT OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE ON THE OZONE LAYER From time to time, claims are made that chemicals released from the Space Shuttle's Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) are responsible for a significant amount of damage to the ozone layer. Studies indicate that they in reality have only a minute impact, both in absolute terms and relative to other chemical sources. The remainder of this item is a response from the author of the quoted study, Charles Jackman. The atmospheric modelling study of the space shuttle effects on the stratosphere involved three independent theoretical groups, and was organized by Dr. Michael Prather, NASA/Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The three groups involved Michael Prather and Maria Garcia (NASA/GISS), Charlie Jackman and Anne Douglass (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center), and Malcolm Ko and Dak Sze (Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc.). The effort was to look at the effects of the space shuttle and Titan rockets on the stratosphere. The following are the estimated sources of stratospheric chlorine: Industrial sources: 300,000,000 kilograms/year Natural sources: 75,000,000 kilograms/year Shuttle sources: 725,000 kilograms/year The shuttle source assumes 9 space shuttles and 6 Titan rockets are launched yearly. Thus the launches would add less than 0.25% to the total stratospheric chlorine sources. The effect on ozone is minimal: global yearly average total ozone would be decreased by 0.0065%. This is much less than total ozone variability associated with volcanic activity and solar flares. The influence of human-made chlorine products on ozone is computed by atmospheric model calculations to be a 1% decrease in globally averaged ozone between 1980 and 1990. The influence of the space shuttle and Titan rockets on the stratosphere is negligible. The launch schedule of the Space Shuttle and Titan rockets would need to be increased by over a factor of a hundred in order to have about the same effect on ozone as our increases in industrial halocarbons do at the present time. Theoretical results of this study have been published in _The Space Shuttle's Impact on the Stratosphere_, MJ Prather, MM Garcia, AR Douglass, CH Jackman, M.K.W. Ko and N.D. Sze, Journal of Geophysical Research, 95, 18583-18590, 1990. Charles Jackman, Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Branch, Code 916, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 Also see _Chemical Rockets and the Environment_, A McDonald, R Bennett, J Hinshaw, and M Barnes, Aerospace America, May 1991. HOW LONG CAN A HUMAN LIVE UNPROTECTED IN SPACE If you *don't* try to hold your breath, exposure to space for half a minute or so is unlikely to produce permanent injury. Holding your breath is likely to damage your lungs, something scuba divers have to watch out for when ascending, and you'll have eardrum trouble if your Eustachian tubes are badly plugged up, but theory predicts -- and animal experiments confirm -- that otherwise, exposure to vacuum causes no immediate injury. You do not explode. Your blood does not boil. You do not freeze. You do not instantly lose consciousness. Various minor problems (sunburn, possibly "the bends", certainly some [mild, reversible, painless] swelling of skin and underlying tissue) start after ten seconds or so. At some point you lose consciousness from lack of oxygen. Injuries accumulate. After perhaps one or two minutes, you're dying. The limits are not really known. References: _The Effect on the Chimpanzee of Rapid Decompression to a Near Vacuum_, Alfred G. Koestler ed., NASA CR-329 (Nov 1965). _Experimental Animal Decompression to a Near Vacuum Environment_, R.W. Bancroft, J.E. Dunn, eds, Report SAM-TR-65-48 (June 1965), USAF School of Aerospace Medicine, Brooks AFB, Texas. HOW THE CHALLENGER ASTRONAUTS DIED The Challenger shuttle launch was not destroyed in an explosion. This is a well-documented fact; see the Rogers Commission report, for example. What looked like an explosion was fuel burning after the external tank came apart. The forces on the crew cabin were not sufficient to kill the astronauts, never mind destroy their bodies, according to the Kerwin team's medical/forensic report. The astronauts were killed when the more-or-less intact cabin hit the water at circa 200MPH, and their bodies then spent several weeks underwater. Their remains were recovered, and after the Kerwin team examined them, they were sent off to be buried. USING THE SHUTTLE BEYOND LOW EARTH ORBIT You can't use the shuttle orbiter for missions beyond low Earth orbit because it can't get there. It is big and heavy and does not carry enough fuel, even if you fill part of the cargo bay with tanks. Furthermore, it is not particularly sensible to do so, because much of that weight is things like wings, which are totally useless except in the immediate vicinity of the Earth. The shuttle orbiter is highly specialized for travel between Earth's surface and low orbit. Taking it higher is enormously costly and wasteful. A much better approach would be to use shuttle subsystems to build a specialized high-orbit spacecraft. [Yet another concise answer by Henry Spencer.] THE "FACE ON MARS" There really is a big rock on Mars that looks remarkably like a humanoid face. It appears in two different frames of Viking Orbiter imagery: 35A72 (much more facelike in appearance, and the one more often published, with the Sun 10 degrees above western horizon) and 70A13 (with the Sun 27 degrees from the west). Science writer Richard Hoagland has championed the idea that the Face is artificial, intended to resemble a human, and erected by an extraterrestrial civilization. Most other analysts concede that the resemblance is most likely accidental. Other Viking images show a smiley-faced crater and a lava flow resembling Kermit the Frog elsewhere on Mars. There exists a Mars Anomalies Research Society (sorry, don't know the address) to study the Face. The Mars Observer mission will carry an extremely high-resolution camera, and better images of the formation will hopefully settle this question in a few years. In the meantime, speculation about the Face is best carried on in the altnet group alt.alien.visitors, not sci.space or sci.astro. V. DiPeitro and G. Molenaar, *Unusual Martian Surface Features*, Mars Research, P.O. Box 284, Glen Dale, Maryland, USA, 1982. $18 by mail. R.R. Pozos, *The Face of Mars*, Chicago Review Press, 1986. [Account of an interdisciplinary speculative conference Hoagland organized to investigate the Face] R.C. Hoagland, *The Monuments of Mars: A City on the Edge of Forever*, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California, USA, 1987. [Elaborate discussion of evidence and speculation that formations near the Face form a city] M.J. Carlotto, "Digital Imagery Analysis of Unusual Martian Surface Features," *Applied Optics*, 27, pp. 1926-1933, 1987. [Extracts three-dimensional model for the Face from the 2-D images] M.J. Carlotto & M.C. Stein, "A Method of Searching for Artificial Objects on Planetary Surfaces," *Journal of the British Interplanetary Society*, Vol. 43 no. 5 (May 1990), p.209-216. [Uses a fractal image analysis model to guess whether the Face is artificial] B. O'Leary, "Analysis of Images of the `Face' on Mars and Possible Intelligent Origin," *JBIS*, Vol. 43 no. 5 (May 1990), p. 203-208. [Lights Carlotto's model from the two angles and shows it's consistent; shows that the Face doesn't look facelike if observed from the surface] NEXT: FAQ #13/15 - Space activist/interest/research groups & space publications ------------------------------ Date: 1 Apr 93 10:01:34 GMT From: Jon Leech Subject: Space FAQ 13/15 - Interest Groups & Publications Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.answers,news.answers Archive-name: space/groups Last-modified: $Date: 93/04/01 14:39:08 $ SPACE ACTIVIST/INTEREST/RESEARCH GROUPS AND SPACE PUBLICATIONS GROUPS AIA -- Aerospace Industry Association. Professional group, with primary membership of major aerospace firms. Headquartered in the DC area. Acts as the "voice of the aerospace industry" -- and it's opinions are usually backed up by reams of analyses and the reputations of the firms in AIA. [address needed] AIAA -- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Professional association, with somewhere about 30,000-40,000 members. 65 local chapters around the country -- largest chapters are DC area (3000 members), LA (2100 members), San Francisco (2000 members), Seattle/NW (1500), Houston (1200) and Orange County (1200), plus student chapters. Not a union, but acts to represent aviation and space professionals (engineers, managers, financial types) nationwide. Holds over 30 conferences a year on space and aviation topics publishes technical Journals (Aerospace Journal, Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, etc.), technical reference books and is _THE_ source on current aerospace state of the art through their published papers and proceedings. Also offers continuing education classes on aerospace design. Has over 60 technical committees, and over 30 committees for industry standards. AIAA acts as a professional society -- offers a centralized resume/jobs function, provides classes on job search, offers low-cost health and life insurance, and lobbies for appropriate legislation (AIAA was one of the major organizations pushing for IRAs - Individual Retirement Accounts). Very active public policy arm -- works directly with the media, congress and government agencies as a legislative liaison and clearinghouse for inquiries about aerospace technology technical issues. Reasonably non-partisan, in that they represent the industry as a whole, and not a single company, organization, or viewpoint. Membership $70/yr (student memberships are less). American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The Aerospace Center 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW Washington, DC 20077-0820 (202)-646-7400 AMSAT - develops small satellites (since the 1960s) for a variety of uses by amateur radio enthusiasts. Has various publications, supplies QuickTrak satellite tracking software for PC/Mac/Amiga etc. Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) P.O. Box 27 Washington, DC 20044 (301)-589-6062 ASERA - Australian Space Engineering and Research Association. An Australian non-profit organisation to coordinate, promote, and conduct space R&D projects in Australia, involving both Australian and international (primarily university) collaborators. Activities include the development of sounding rockets, small satellites (especially microsatellites), high-altitude research balloons, and appropriate payloads. Provides student projects at all levels, and is open to any person or organisation interested in participating. Publishes a monthly newsletter and a quarterly technical journal. Membership $A100 (dual subscription) Subscriptions $A25 (newsletter only) $A50 (journal only) ASERA Ltd PO Box 184 Ryde, NSW, Australia, 2112 email: lindley@syd.dit.csiro.au BIS - British Interplanetary Society. Probably the oldest pro-space group, BIS publishes two excellent journals: _Spaceflight_, covering current space activities, and the _Journal of the BIS_, containing technical papers on space activities from near-term space probes to interstellar missions. BIS has published a design study for an interstellar probe called _Daedalus_. British Interplanetary Society 27/29 South Lambeth Road London SW8 1SZ ENGLAND No dues information available at present. ISU - International Space University. ISU is a non-profit international graduate-level educational institution dedicated to promoting the peaceful exploration and development of space through multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary space education and research. For further information on ISU's summer session program or Permanent Campus activities please send messages to 'information@isu.isunet.edu' or contact the ISU Executive Offices at: International Space University 955 Massachusetts Avenue 7th Floor Cambridge, MA 02139 (617)-354-1987 (phone) (617)-354-7666 (fax) L-5 Society (defunct). Founded by Keith and Carolyn Henson in 1975 to advocate space colonization. Its major success was in preventing US participation in the UN "Moon Treaty" in the late 1970s. Merged with the National Space Institute in 1987, forming the National Space Society. NSC - National Space Club. Open for general membership, but not well known at all. Primarily comprised of professionals in aerospace industry. Acts as information conduit and social gathering group. Active in DC, with a chapter in LA. Monthly meetings with invited speakers who are "heavy hitters" in the field. Annual "Outlook on Space" conference is _the_ definitive source of data on government annual planning for space programs. Cheap membership (approx $20/yr). [address needed] NSS - the National Space Society. NSS is a pro-space group distinguished by its network of local chapters. Supports a general agenda of space development and man-in-space, including the NASA space station. Publishes _Ad Astra_, a monthly glossy magazine, and runs Shuttle launch tours and Space Hotline telephone services. A major sponsor of the annual space development conference. Associated with Spacecause and Spacepac, political lobbying organizations. Membership $18 (youth/senior) $35 (regular). National Space Society Membership Department 922 Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E. Washington, DC 20003-2140 (202)-543-1900 Planetary Society - founded by Carl Sagan. The largest space advocacy group. Publishes _Planetary Report_, a monthly glossy, and has supported SETI hardware development financially. Agenda is primarily support of space science, recently amended to include an international manned mission to Mars. The Planetary Society 65 North Catalina Avenue Pasadena, CA 91106 Membership $35/year. SSI - the Space Studies Institute, founded by Dr. Gerard O'Neill. Physicist Freeman Dyson took over the Presidency of SSI after O'Neill's death in 1992. Publishes _SSI Update_, a bimonthly newsletter describing work-in-progress. Conducts a research program including mass-drivers, lunar mining processes and simulants, composites from lunar materials, solar power satellites. Runs the biennial Princeton Conference on Space Manufacturing. Membership $25/year. Senior Associates ($100/year and up) fund most SSI research. Space Studies Institute 258 Rosedale Road PO Box 82 Princeton, NJ 08540 SEDS - Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. Founded in 1980 at MIT and Princeton. SEDS is a chapter-based pro-space organization at high schools and universities around the world. Entirely student run. Each chapter is independent and coordinates its own local activities. Nationally, SEDS runs a scholarship competition, design contests, and holds an annual international conference and meeting in late summer. Students for the Exploration and Development of Space MIT Room W20-445 77 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 (617)-253-8897 email: odyssey@athena.mit.edu Dues determined by local chapter. SPACECAUSE - A political lobbying organization and part of the NSS Family of Organizations. Publishes a bi-monthly newsletter, Spacecause News. Annual dues is $25. Members also receive a discount on _The Space Activist's Handbook_. Activities to support pro-space legislation include meeting with political leaders and interacting with legislative staff. Spacecause primarily operates in the legislative process. National Office West Coast Office Spacecause Spacecause 922 Pennsylvania Ave. SE 3435 Ocean Park Blvd. Washington, D.C. 20003 Suite 201-S (202)-543-1900 Santa Monica, CA 90405 SPACEPAC - A political action committee and part of the NSS Family of Organizations. Spacepac researches issues, policies, and candidates. Each year, updates _The Space Activist's Handbook_. Current Handbook price is $25. While Spacepac does not have a membership, it does have regional contacts to coordinate local activity. Spacepac primarily operates in the election process, contributing money and volunteers to pro-space candidates. Spacepac 922 Pennsylvania Ave. SE Washington, DC 20003 (202)-543-1900 UNITED STATES SPACE FOUNDATION - a public, non-profit organization supported by member donations and dedicated to promoting international education, understanding and support of space. The group hosts an annual conference for teachers and others interested in education. Other projects include developing lesson plans that use space to teach other basic skills such as reading. Publishes "Spacewatch," a monthly B&W glossy magazine of USSF events and general space news. Annual dues: Charter $50 ($100 first year) Individual $35 Teacher $29 College student $20 HS/Jr. High $10 Elementary $5 Founder & $1000+ Life Member United States Space Foundation PO Box 1838 Colorado Springs, CO 80901 (719)-550-1000 WORLD SPACE FOUNDATION - has been designing and building a solar-sail spacecraft for longer than any similar group; many JPL employees lend their talents to this project. WSF also provides partial funding for the Palomar Sky Survey, an extremely successful search for near-Earth asteroids. Publishes *Foundation News* and *Foundation Astronautics Notebook*, each a quarterly 4-8 page newsletter. Contributing Associate, minimum of $15/year (but more money always welcome to support projects). World Space Foundation Post Office Box Y South Pasadena, California 91301 PUBLICATIONS Aerospace Daily (McGraw-Hill) Very good coverage of aerospace and space issues. Approx. $1400/yr. Air & Space / Smithsonian (bimonthly magazine) Box 53261 Boulder, CO 80332-3261 $18/year US, $24/year international ESA - The European Space Agency publishes a variety of periodicals, generally available free of charge. A document describing them in more detail is in the Ames SPACE archive in pub/SPACE/FAQ/ESAPublications. Final Frontier (mass-market bimonthly magazine) - history, book reviews, general-interest articles (e.g. "The 7 Wonders of the Solar System", "Everything you always wanted to know about military space programs", etc.) Final Frontier Publishing Co. PO Box 534 Mt. Morris, IL 61054-7852 $14.95/year US, $19.95 Canada, $23.95 elsewhere Space News (weekly magazine) - covers US civil and military space programs. Said to have good political and business but spotty technical coverage. Space News Springfield VA 22159-0500 (703)-642-7330 $75/year, may have discounts for NSS/SSI members Journal of the Astronautical Sciences and Space Times - publications of the American Astronautical Society. No details. AAS Business Office 6352 Rolling Mill Place, Suite #102 Springfield, VA 22152 (703)-866-0020 GPS World (semi-monthly) - reports on current and new uses of GPS, news and analysis of the system and policies affecting it, and technical and product issues shaping GPS applications. GPS World 859 Willamette St. P.O. Box 10460 Eugene, OR 97440-2460 (503)-343-1200 Free to qualified individuals; write for free sample copy. Innovation (Space Technology) -- Free. Published by the NASA Office of Advanced Concepts and Technology. A revised version of the NASA Office of Commercial Programs newsletter. Planetary Encounter - in-depth technical coverage of planetary missions, with diagrams, lists of experiments, interviews with people directly involved. World Spaceflight News - in-depth technical coverage of near-Earth spaceflight. Mostly covers the shuttle: payload manifests, activity schedules, and post-mission assessment reports for every mission. Box 98 Sewell, NJ 08080 $30/year US/Canada $45/year elsewhere Space (bi-monthly magazine) British aerospace trade journal. Very good. $75/year. Space Calendar (weekly newsletter) Space Daily/Space Fax Daily (newsletter) Short (1 paragraph) news notes. Available online for a fee (unknown). Space Technology Investor/Commercial Space News -- irregular Internet column on aspects of commercial space business. Free. Also limited fax and paper edition. P.O. Box 2452 Seal Beach, CA 90740-1452. All the following are published by: Phillips Business Information, Inc. 7811 Montrose Road Potomac, MC 20854 Aerospace Financial News - $595/year. Defense Daily - Very good coverage of space and defense issues. $1395/year. Space Business News (bi-weekly) - Very good overview of space business activities. $497/year. Space Exploration Technology (bi-weekly) - $495/year. Space Station News (bi-weekly) - $497/year. UNDOCUMENTED GROUPS Anyone who would care to write up descriptions of the following groups (or others not mentioned) for inclusion in the answer is encouraged to do so. AAS - American Astronautical Society Other groups not mentioned above NEXT: FAQ #14/15 - How to become an astronaut ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1993 22:21:26 GMT From: fred j mccall 575-3539 Subject: the call to space (was Re: Clueless Szaboisms ) Newsgroups: sci.space In <1pcge0$dua@access.digex.com> prb@access.digex.com (Pat) writes: >Are canadian exports of Radio-nucliedes, also controlled by US >rules. Technology export controls, that sort of thing? Why would they be? They are, of course, subject to things like IAEA rules. And the Canadian government might make some agreements with the U.S. government. But have U.S. rules apply to Canada? I hadn't even heard we'd annexed them yet. ;-) -- "Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don't have the balls to live in the real world." -- Mary Shafer, NASA Ames Dryden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fred.McCall@dseg.ti.com - I don't speak for others and they don't speak for me. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 1 Apr 1993 11:27:11 GMT From: Paul Dietz Subject: Venus is covered with water? Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro In article <1993Apr1.080619.3502@bby.com.au> gnb@leo.bby.com.au (Gregory N. Bond) writes: > Which also explains the abnormally high abundance of Deuterium and > Tritium. Being heavier than ordinary hydrogen, they are slower to > "boil off". This preferentially increases their ratios. Tritium? Hardly -- its halflife is only 12 years. Some might be present on Venus from cosmic ray interactions, but only in very small amounts, not enough to have yet been detected by experiments done so far. Paul ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1993 22:24:56 GMT From: fred j mccall 575-3539 Subject: Why use AC at 20kHz for SSF power Newsgroups: sci.space In <1pche2$f82@access.digex.com> prb@access.digex.com (Pat) writes: >In article <1993Mar30.181913.8218@mksol.dseg.ti.com> mccall@mksol.dseg.ti.com (fred j mccall 575-3539) writes: >|>On 23 Mar 1993 15:25:37 -0500, Pat writes: >| >|>/PS. Aviation is a fairly large segment of the US economy. Larger >|>/then you think. Dallas, Wichita, Seattle and St Louis make >|>/aircraft a substantial part of their business. >|Well, I'd agree with all but that last bit. We don't do that many >|airplanes in Dallas, I don't think. Now, if you want to go over by Ft >|Worth . . . >| >Well, If one wants to get picky, I was thinking of Arlington, >that's where LTV is doing fuselage work for god knows who all. >Boeing, McDac, Lockheed.... I just wrapped it up under the >heading Dallas, cuz I doubt few people outside of texas have ever heard >of Arlington. If i mentioned it, most people would think of >Virginia. >WHo'se located in Fort Worth? General Dynamics. Bell Helicopter (nearby, actually, I think). Just to name a couple of big ones. -- "Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don't have the balls to live in the real world." -- Mary Shafer, NASA Ames Dryden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fred.McCall@dseg.ti.com - I don't speak for others and they don't speak for me. ------------------------------ End of Space Digest Volume 16 : Issue 404 ------------------------------