Date: Mon, 31 May 93 05:00:03 From: Space Digest maintainer Reply-To: Space-request@isu.isunet.edu Subject: Space Digest V16 #649 To: Space Digest Readers Precedence: bulk Space Digest Mon, 31 May 93 Volume 16 : Issue 649 Today's Topics: Carl Sagan got a Ph.D. in Astronomy, not Biology Dyson Sphere (for a gaming world).. (3 msgs) heleopause Hubble vs Keck Jupiter in July 1994 (Was: Re: Comet Shoemaker-Levy, Possible Collisi Mining on the Moon? Moon Base (2 msgs) Moon vs. asteroids, Mars, comets non-solar planets (3 msgs) Novy Cygni 1992 Space History Questionnaire (please read) Space Station Freedom (2 msgs) Tom Wolfe's THE RIGHT STUFF - Truth or Fiction? Voyager Discovers the First Direct Evidence of the Heliopause What the latest on DCX? 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: Sat, 29 May 1993 16:58:09 GMT From: Stupendous Man Subject: Carl Sagan got a Ph.D. in Astronomy, not Biology Newsgroups: sci.space A while ago, several people said that Sagan had gotten a degree in "bio-astronomy" or "astro-biology" or something; I responded that he got a Ph.D in Astronomy and Astrophysics from University of Chicago in 1960. I thought it would end the discussion, but noooo... William Mills mentions a curious "fact" about Carl Sagan's early career. > When he gave his "Is there intelligent life on Earth Speech" here > last month, he was introduced as having been an assistant professor > of genetics at Stanford in 1962. Unfortunately, no one asked him > how he went from a PhD in astronomy to a faculty position in genetics. I have in front of me "American Men and Women of Science", 16th ed. In the entry for "Sagan, Carl", I read: "Educ: Univ of Chicago, AB '54, BS '55, MS '56, PhD (astron, astrophys) '60. ... Prof. Exp: Miller reseach fellow astronomy, Institute for Basic Research in Science, University of California, Berkeley, '60-'62. Asst. prof. Harvard Univ. '62-'68. Astrophysicist, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, '62-'68. ..." Whoever stated that he was "assistant professor of genetics at Stanford" was mistaken. Now, this is the last I'll post concerning Sagan. Like I said, I don't know him, I don't worship him, I just respect him. I've tried to educate some of the readers of this group about his credentials, but I expect that we'll continue to hear stories about Sagan's "astro-biology degree" and "genetics position" and probably some story linking him to Marilyn Monroe, as reported in the Enquirer :-) -- ----- Michael Richmond "This is the heart that broke my finger." richmond@astro.princeton.edu ------------------------------ Date: 30 May 93 12:10:15 GMT From: Morgoth the Mad Subject: Dyson Sphere (for a gaming world).. Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc,sci.space In article , tony@phsbbs.princeton.nj.us (Anthony Foglia) writes: > malloy@crash.cts.com (Sean Malloy) writes: >> In article <1993May26.185137.20774@unislc.slc.unisys.com> das@unislc.slc.unis >> >Sean Malloy (malloy@crash.cts.com) wrote: >> >: The effects of the force toward the equator and the loss of atmospheric >> >: density would therefore limit the habitable region of a rotating Dyson >> >: sphere to a relatively narrow band on either side of the equator. The >> >: effects could be mitigated to some extent by 'terracing' the sphere, so >> >: that the surface is always perpendicular to the axis of rotation, and by >> > >> >This makes sense. But what happens if you rotate a sphere around more >> >than one axis? Isn't it possible to get a fairly evenly distributed >> >artificial gravity with enough axes of rotation? (assuming you have >> >materials strong enough to hold the sphere together against these forces) >> >> I haven't done the math to prove this, but I believe that the result of two >> separate rotations is a rotation about the cross product of the two axes, >> which doesn't get you anywhere. > > Actually, if you treat the rotations as vectors along the axis of > rotation, you just have to vector add them to get axis of rotation. But > keep in mind the possibilty that one of the two original axes is rotating > around the other. Now the vector sum of the two is also rotating and > create major mathematical problems. (Ask on sci.physics if you're still > curious.) > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Disclaimer: The above views may be mine but may be those of the guy > behind me. You decide. > There are two types of people in the world: > The first type always, no matter what, finishes what they start; Anybody on sci.space want to comment on this? Physics and engineering? Im letting the gents/ladies on sci.space take a look at the discussion on rec.games.frp.misc so we can either move the discussion to sci.space or make the discussion on the orignal newsgroup have more realism with actual rocket scientists involved.. Later and enjoy.. Morgoth the Mad lives in Rogue AIs everywhere! ------------------------------ Date: 30 May 93 15:20:11 GMT From: Jim Hart Subject: Dyson Sphere (for a gaming world).. Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc,sci.space,rec.arts.sf.science It's important to understand that the Dyson sphere, as Dyson conceived it, is *not* a preplanned, constructed object. Instead, the Dyson Sphere is a structure that emerges out of the efforts of competitive cultures to capture as much stellar energy as possible. The sphere consists of thousands of independent space colonies which resolve blocking conflicts (mostly peacefully, eg through stellar view property rights markets) and, as the view gets deaer, eventually link up in equidstant orbits to form a cohesive, all-encompassing sphere. This concept makes the Dyson sphere radically different from O'Neill colonies, Ringworlds, etc. which are all preplanned objects requiring massive, centrally planned engineering projects to implement. With Dyson, I claim that such large preplanned structures are about as probable as the Third Reich lasting 1,000 years, the old Soviet Union meeting its 5-year plans for an entire century, NASA building a Shuttle/Space Station/Moon base/Mars base infrastructure that "opens up the solar system to space settlement", and other such hubristic central-planning nonsense. Jim Hart jhart@agora.rain.com ------------------------------ Date: 30 May 93 17:29:14 GMT From: Jon Leech Subject: Dyson Sphere (for a gaming world).. Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc,sci.space,rec.arts.sf.science In article , jhart@agora.rain.com (Jim Hart) writes: |> It's important to understand that the Dyson sphere, as Dyson conceived |> it, is *not* a preplanned, constructed object. |> [...] |> The sphere consists of thousands of independent space colonies which |> [...] |> This concept makes the Dyson sphere radically different from |> O'Neill colonies, Ringworlds, etc. which are all preplanned objects |> requiring massive, centrally planned engineering projects to implement. If the Dyson sphere is made up of large, preplanned objects like space colonies, why is it more probable than said colonies? Note followups. Jon __@/ ------------------------------ Date: 29 May 93 09:56:00 GMT From: Tim Lemsky Subject: heleopause Newsgroups: sci.space Someone explain what this heleopause is? ------------------------------ Date: 30 May 93 19:11:53 BST From: clements@vax.ox.ac.uk Subject: Hubble vs Keck Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1993May28.112034.14363@vax.oxford.ac.uk>, clements@vax.oxford.ac.uk writes: > In article <1993May27.144457.18904@astro.as.utexas.edu>, anita@astro.as.utexas.edu (Anita Cochran) writes: >> In article <1993May26.143436.14303@vax.oxford.ac.uk>, clements@vax.oxford.ac.uk writes: >>> In article , henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes: >>> > In article pgf@srl01.cacs.usl.edu (Phil G. Fraering) writes: >>> >>it would probably be cheaper to build another Hubble. Or to simply >>> >>write off the Hubble program entirely and build 2.5 more Keck >>> >>Interferometers. (Which could be done for the cost of fixing >>> >>Hubble). >> >> Actually, having just gone through all of this for my HST proposal, Henry is >> correct. The reason why HST wins, despite the 45 minutes per cycle and >> smaller telescope, is that the sky background is so much lower. >> A dark site on the ground has a sky background of 21.5 or 22 (very dark >> such as McDonald Obs) per sq arcsec. With typical CCD plate scales, >> the background per pixel is around 22.5 mag. Contrast that with >> the HST WFPC2 numbers of a sky background of ~27.2 mag/pixel. Thus, >> to reach a given signal/noise, one can use shorter integration times >> on Hubble that on a comparable sized telescope on the ground. As you >> point out, Keck is much larger but the sky background is a surface brightness >> and Keck just gathers more sky. Additionally, with Keck, you have seeing >> effects which hurt you. So, all in all, HST can reach pretty impressive >> limiting magnitudes. Tyson and his co-workers have probably gone the >> deepest on the ground and have reached S/N=3 (I think) for m in the R band >> of 27.8 in 22000 sec with the 4-m CTIO prime focus. We figure we can reach >> m=28.5 with S/N=4 in R in 18000sec on HST. Yes, one has to reacquire >> each 45 minutes with HST but in practice, 22000 sec on the ground takes >> a long time too since one has to worry about airmass so it takes several >> nights. >> The place the Keck and large ground based telescopes really do win is, of course, not in imaging (though with adaptive optics this will improve) but in spectroscopy, where the sky background gets spread all over the chip, while the spectral lines you're interested in stay on the same small number of pixels. You thus get the full benefit of the larger collecting area with few of the detriments of collecting more background at the same time. This will mean very large, faint galaxy surveys become possible, for example. [Sound of DLC kicking himself hard as he should've made this comment earlier] > -- > ================================================================================ > Dave Clements, Oxford University Astrophysics Department > ================================================================================ > clements @ uk.ac.ox.vax | Umberto Eco is the *real* Comte de > dlc @ uk.ac.ox.astro | Saint Germain... > ================================================================================ -- ================================================================================ Dave Clements, Oxford University Astrophysics Department ================================================================================ clements @ uk.ac.ox.vax | Umberto Eco is the *real* Comte de dlc @ uk.ac.ox.astro | Saint Germain... ================================================================================ ------------------------------ Date: 29 May 93 18:40:23 GMT From: Bruce Watson Subject: Jupiter in July 1994 (Was: Re: Comet Shoemaker-Levy, Possible Collisi Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro On July 25, 1994 Jupiter will be 87 days past the Apr 30, 1994 opposition. It will be at RA 14:15 dec -12.4 (between Virgo and Libra) elongated 93 degrees east of the sun. It's diameter will be 37.5 arc-seconds and will be magnitude -2.1 with an earth distance of 5.25 AUs. -- Bruce Watson (wats@scicom.alphaCDC.COM) ------------------------------ Date: 30 May 1993 14:12:51 GMT From: "Bruce d. Scott" Subject: Mining on the Moon? Newsgroups: sci.space In article , henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes: [some good points] |> In article <1993May29.094400.16782@waikato.ac.nz> |> brs@waikato.ac.nz writes: |> |> >- what are the type and extent of the mineral resources on the moon? |> |> Essentially nothing is known about this. Ore deposits are, almost by |> definition, rare events -- the results of extreme conditions. We have |> a sketchy knowledge of the Moon's average geology (quite sketchy -- every |> Apollo mission found new minerals), but essentially no data on extremes. Except that titanium is so abundant in lunar surface material that it has been said to qualify as medium to high-grade ore by terrestrial standards. I think I saw this in some G Harry Stine-like propaganda some years ago, so I am not completely sure of its veracity. -- Gruss, Dr Bruce Scott The deadliest bullshit is Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik odorless and transparent bds at spl6n1.aug.ipp-garching.mpg.de -- W Gibson ------------------------------ Date: 30 May 93 08:13:30 GMT From: Ward Paul Subject: Moon Base Newsgroups: sci.space In article <4238@spikes.mdavcr.mda.ca> gopinath@mdavcr.mda.ca (Gopinath Kuduvalli) writes: >Pray tell, what *are* these other reasons for long-term permanent presence >on the moon, mars or wherever in space? I dunno. What are the reasons for long term permanent presence here on earth? I guess we live here. So why not live on the moon, mars, or wherever in space. (To put it another way, this whole discussion must closely resemble what Columbus must have gone through, trying to get funding to reach India.) -- Paul ------------------------------ Date: 30 May 1993 11:51:43 -0400 From: Pat Subject: Moon Base Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1993May30.081330.1725@wisipc.weizmann.ac.il> ward@agamit.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il (Ward Paul) writes: >(To put it another way, this whole discussion must closely resemble what >Columbus must have gone through, trying to get funding to reach India.) Not at all. Columbus had enormous reason to try and reach India. A cheaper trade route. The turks were making the italians and spanish merchants insane with their freight charges over the silk road. Plus, everyone suspected them of holding back the best stuff. Columbus figured that the route around was reachable in the caravels of his time. Of course, he grossly exagerrated how easy the route would have been. Contemporary astronomers of that time had correctly estimated the length of a westward passage and determined it was beyond the range of current ships. Although everyone knew there was land over the western oceans, they figured it must be very far away. Had the americas not existed, columbus would have either starved en-route to china, or his crew would have mutinied and forced him to return. pat ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 May 1993 12:14:18 GMT From: Jim Hart Subject: Moon vs. asteroids, Mars, comets Newsgroups: sci.space jthomas@prs.k12.nj.us (Jay Thomas) writes: >The problem is not as bleak as it sounds. The Space Studies Institute has >done lots of research into it. ... [describes 15+ year old O'Neill >strategies] God, it *is* as bleak as it sounds. From the sounds of your description you folks haven't come up with any new ideas since the late 1970s. Still putting across the same nonsense about "self-replicating factories" when you don't even know what kinds of materials and processes are important to a factory. SSI was once a creative organization, but now it looks like it has ossified into chanting from the hymnbook of O'Neill. I'm glad I haven't joined. ------------------------------ Date: 30 May 1993 12:04:51 -0400 From: Pat Subject: non-solar planets Newsgroups: sci.space Actually does the Sun Have Rings or disks? If IRAS has imaged them around numerous stars, then have we any way to see if there is one around Sol? If we could measure the behavior of our own Ring, it may give a good characterization for other solar rings. pat ------------------------------ Date: 30 May 1993 12:23:17 -0400 From: Matthew DeLuca Subject: non-solar planets Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1ualv3$dho@access.digex.net> prb@access.digex.net (Pat) writes: >Actually does the Sun Have Rings or disks? If IRAS has imaged them >around numerous stars, then have we any way to see if there is >one around Sol? If we could measure the behavior of our own Ring, >it may give a good characterization for other solar rings. The Sun does indeed have a ring of matter about it, but the majority of that mass seems to have coalesced into a few dozen clumps... -- Matthew DeLuca Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332 uucp: ...!{decvax,hplabs,ncar,purdue,rutgers}!gatech!prism!matthew Internet: matthew@phantom.gatech.edu ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 May 1993 18:40:22 GMT From: Leigh Palmer Subject: non-solar planets Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1uan1lINN978@phantom.gatech.edu> Matthew DeLuca, matthew@phantom.gatech.edu writes: >The Sun does indeed have a ring of matter about it, but the majority of that >mass seems to have coalesced into a few dozen clumps... Actually the part that hasn't condensed into those clumps is quite visible under the correct circumstances. We call it the "Zodiacal light" and it can be seen under favorable conditions before sunrise and after sunset (low angle forward scattering) and as the "Gegenschein" (180 degree backscattering) perhaps also, though I'm not sure that is due to the same stuff. Can anyone inform me better as to the location of the stuff responsible for the Gegenschein and about the integrated absolute magnitude of the Zodiacal light? Yes, Pat, the sun does have a ring around it. Leigh ------------------------------ Date: 30 May 1993 15:14:23 -0400 From: Earl W Phillips Subject: Novy Cygni 1992 Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro I revisited Nova Cygni 1992 on UT3:19 5/27/93, and estimate it's magnitude at 11.9, using the Hubble Guide Star Catalogue. ***************************************************************** * | ====@==== ///////// * * ephillip@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu| ``________// * * | `------' * * -JR- | Space;........the final * * | frontier............... * ***************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 May 1993 16:38:12 GMT From: Danek Duvall Subject: Space History Questionnaire (please read) Newsgroups: sci.space Hi all, I hate to beg, and I hate to have others do my homework for me (tho this is what I'm supposed to do), but anyway... I need to conduct a series of interviews about the space race -- its history, offspring technologies -- really a general overview. I'd like to get an international set of respondents, so I'm posting here. Would anybody be interested in taking a few minutes to answer some questions about your involvment with space during the '60s? I'd like to get responses from countries other than the US (specifically old USSR and associates). Also, if you know someone who doesn't read Usenet and would be willing, you might pass the request on. If you would be interested, please e-mail me for the questions. I'm not going to post them unless someone requests that. Thanks very much in advance, Danek p.s. If you know of any other groups I might post this to, drop me a line. Thanks. -- Danek Duvall: Washington and Lee U. Internet: duvalld@liberty.uc.wlu.edu *** ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 May 1993 02:31:52 GMT From: Miroslaw Kuc Subject: Space Station Freedom Newsgroups: sci.space I came accross the following article in newsgroup sci.research which would be of interest to all. If this info has already appeared here, please forgive me, I have not seen it. Miro Article 404 of sci.research: Newsgroups: sci.research Path: r-node!zooid!geac!utcsri!utnut!torn!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!darwin.sura.net!dtix.dt.navy.mil!relay-wo!nswc-wo.nswc.navy.mil!rsherme From: rsherme@nswc-wo.nswc.navy.mil (Russel Shermer (R43)) Subject: Fyi #68: Rep. George Brown Lays Down His Marker on Space Station Freedom Message-ID: <1993May25.155306.23646@relay.nswc.navy.mil> Sender: news@relay.nswc.navy.mil Organization: NAVSWC DD White Oak Det. Date: Tue, 25 May 1993 15:53:06 GMT Lines: 76 Posted for: Public Information Division American Institute of Physics Contact: Richard M. Jones Phone: (202) 332-9661 Email: fyi@aip.org Rep. George Brown Lays Down His Marker on Space Station Freedom FYI No. 68, May 20, 1993 At a jam-packed press conference this morning, House science committee chairman George Brown (D-California) announced that "the Freedom-derived Station is the only design I intend to support." Although not a surprise because of his past support for the space station, Brown's statement is significant. One, he is clearly not backing away from the station. Two, Brown is signaling to the administration his strong preferences about the design outcome he wants. Brown said that while he would not actively oppose a scaled-down design, he would not support it either. The loss of his advocacy would be very detrimental in what is sure to be another bruising battle over station funding. In an hour-long conference announcing the introduction of H.R. 2200, the NASA authorization bill for fiscal years 1994 and 1995, the only real topic of discussion was Space Station Freedom. Brown seeks station funding of $1.9 billion per year for each of the next five years. While this total of $9.5 billion is 24% less than the existing station baseline, or a savings of $3 billion, it is $500 million more than the Clinton Administration wants to spend. When asked about this difference, Brown said the administration has compromised its original positions on other legislation, and that such negotiating would be expected on this issue. Brown's move is clearly intended to pressure the White House as its moves towards its June decision on the space station. He views current problems as political, not technological. Commenting on the review, Brown said, "Although a great many innovative ideas have surfaced -- and this has been a valuable exercise -- none of the alternative concepts to emerge in discussion so far have the potential to mature to the state that now characterizes the Freedom design. Any new concept, however attractive it may sound, will require detailed study and development before I would feel comfortable with any large-scale commitment. Thus, the Freedom-derived Station is the only design I intend to support. If the Nation decides not to pursue the Freedom Space Station, I would recommend that we give much more serious consideration to our next step than a 90-day study can provide." The committee will wait until the design review is completed before taking further action on H.R. 2200. A panel of outside experts is scheduled to review NASA's study by June 10, at which time President Clinton will select the redesign option. Brown said that he would be meeting with House appropriations subcommittee chairman Louis Stokes (D-Ohio), Senate subcommittee chair Barbara Mikulski (D-Md), and Senate subcommittee science chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WVA) to establish a consensus on station funding, and will work with the White House. Although key congressional players may eventually rally around a station design, the outlook before the full Congress is quite uncertain. Brown warned that if the recommended design is a "harebrained" idea it would have, on a scale of 1 to 10, a "1" chance of passage. A station design meeting all of its international obligations and other requirements would have, Brown said, only a "5" chance of passage. "This is," Brown cautioned, "going to be a very hard sell to Congress." ############### Public Information Division American Institute of Physics Contact: Richard M. Jones (202) 332-9661 ############### -- wizard@r-node.hub.org | "Know thyself" - Greek maxim wizard@r-node.pci.on.ca | "Know thyself?" If I knew myself I'd run away. wizard@r-node.gts.org | - Goethe ------------------------------ Date: 30 May 1993 11:59:03 -0400 From: Pat Subject: Space Station Freedom Newsgroups: sci.space According to this weeks space news, The Johnson "GEODE" concept looks like it's back to life again. Although not under consideration by the O'Connor panel, Johnson thinks only Geode can meet the cost guidelines imposed by Clinton. Personally I think Geode is the way to go. You get quick assembly, the core truss concept remains, it's expandable and it meets the internationals requirements. It can go up in a high orbit for russian collaboration and Johnson claims it can be done for 7 Billion. If all the major concepts break budget, then we may look again at geode. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 May 1993 17:47:06 GMT From: Kennith Johnson Subject: Tom Wolfe's THE RIGHT STUFF - Truth or Fiction? Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.space.shuttle,rec.arts.books C.O.Egalon@larc.nasa.gov (Claudio Oliveira Egalon) writes: > Neither me... By the way do you know any other reference that > would confirm or not what Tom Wolfe had written in his book > about the above incident? No, I don't know of any other references that would pry into the private lives of the Grissoms in this way. If you're really that concerned about whether or not "The Right Stuff" is fact, I really think it would be more appropriate to dwell on the facts, rather than prying into (and disputing!) people's personal feelings. > It matters so much because if he did not describe this incident > accurately, he might had carried out other inaccuracies to other > parts of his book. Friend, you don't seem to understand that there's a difference between distorting facts and simply interpreting, as best one can, emotions and feelings that only one person can truly know. Wolfe wasn't in the motel room with the Grissoms. Scott ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 May 1993 19:52:52 GMT From: David Knapp Subject: Voyager Discovers the First Direct Evidence of the Heliopause Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary In article <1993May28.221004.18351@macc.wisc.edu> bunner@vms.macc.wisc.edu (Dana A. Bunner) writes: >In article <26MAY199316020920@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov>, baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov (Ron Baalke) writes... > >> "This discovery is an exciting indication that still more >>discoveries and surprises lie ahead for the Voyagers as they >>continue their journey to the outer reaches of our solar system," > >Just wondering, any chance of the Voyagers or Pioneers escaping the solar >system? > >Dana The question might be better put "Is there any way to keep the Voyagers or Pioneers from escaping the solar system?" -- David Knapp University of Colorado, Boulder Perpetual Student knapp@spot.colorado.edu ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 May 1993 20:03:02 GMT From: "Marc N. Barrett" Subject: What the latest on DCX? Newsgroups: sci.space What's the latest on the first launch of Delta Clipper X? It has to be coming up pretty soon. I noticed that the latest space calendar crossposted here had question marks for the data in June for the first launch of DCX. +++++++ ++++ Marc Barrett -MB- ++ IRC nick: Cyclone | e-mail: barrett@iastate.edu + "I won't raise taxes on the middle class." -- Bill Clinton ------------------------------ End of Space Digest Volume 16 : Issue 649 ------------------------------