Space Digest Fri, 13 Aug 93 Volume 17 : Issue 018 Today's Topics: A couple of space questionz. DC-X Exploding Heads Fate of Luna samples (was Re: Moon Rocks For Sale) Getting Digital Pix (was Re: Mars Observer's First Photo) GPS orbit info? hypothetical clintonisms (2 msgs) man-made meteor storm? Mars Observer Update - 08/12/93 MESUR Pathfinder Imaging PI Named Moon Rocks For Sale NASA's planned project management changes Orbital Information Simple Space Plane! Space Station News Starlite, Super Material? The Columbus Project (2 msgs) Timetable for Shuttle launches in Sept. 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: 12 Aug 93 09:59:08 EDT From: "John F. Woods" Subject: A couple of space questionz. Newsgroups: sci.space quagga@trystero.com (Quagga) writes: >1) Does the term 'Periapsis' refer to a Venus orbit? "Periapsis" is the low point of any orbit; "perigee" is the Earth-specific equivalent. Apoapsis (apogee) is the high point of the orbit. ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 93 13:50:30 GMT From: "Theodore F. Vaida ][" Subject: DC-X Newsgroups: sci.space > Consider that any child that does not have >> access to a computer before she reaches the age of 15 is peranently >> and most likely extremely dissadvantaged in the working world today > > Rediculous statement. It takes 15 min. to learn how to use a computer >for >most uses like word processing and stuff. > EHHHH... oohh so sorry, thank you for playing, we do have a year's supply of rice'a'roni for you though... Take it all the way through... a child that did not have access to a computer by 15 doesnt have enough money to take the special training classes, and did not go to a ahigh school with computer ed. When this child is 18 and looking for a job, try to find many companies that are willing to teach computer skills from scratch. I know of none, perhaps you live in a more benign area? Or maby the depression never hit the area you live in? (oh, right I forgot, GB officially announced it was over....) Almost anyone can turn on a computer, to use one efficently (this includes typing skills which ABSOLUTELY require a class or some sort of self-trining (which requires a computer to do, catch-22)) enough for a job. I doubt that any rational employer would choose to hier an employee that takes 30 times as long to complete an entry or type a letter as any other applicant. I dont know of ANY offices (except maby some government offices like the PATENT office) that dont have computers on the secretary's desk. -- ---------==============Sig file cover sheet=====================--------- ->POLAR CAPS<- or tfv0@lehigh.edu Pages including this page: 1 ----- "One must not confuse John Donne's famous quote `No man is an Island' with New York Telephone's `We're all connected'" - Dad ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 1993 16:58:04 GMT From: jeffrey a hittinger Subject: Exploding Heads Newsgroups: sci.space I'm of the mind to think that the extreme cold would pretty much end it for life in space... ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 93 13:14:53 -0600 From: Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey Subject: Fate of Luna samples (was Re: Moon Rocks For Sale) Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary,sci.geo.geology In article <12AUG199315131260@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov>, baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov (Ron Baalke) writes: > The moon dust was collected from the "first Luna mission", > which I interpreted as meaning the first successful Luna mission that > returned lunar soil, which would make it Luna 16. > [...] collect 101 grams of lunar material. [...] > Three grams of the Luna 16 sample > was exchanged in 1971 for 3 grams of Apollo 11 and 3 grams of Apollo 12 > lunar samples. This raises the obvious but interesting question: How do experiementers get access to Luna samples? *Lunar Sourcebook* gives fair detail on the curation of Apollo samples, but is silent on the subject of the Soviet samples. If somebody wanted to study Luna 16, 20, or 24 samples, are they available? To Russian scientists? To other F.S.U. scientists? To Western scientists? How much has been distributed to laboratories and how much is still in a vault? And isn't it interesting that Korolev's family had a private lunar sample? I recently saw a Luna sample return lander in the Alabama Space and Rocket Center. Mighty nice piece of equipment. Wish we had more... Bill Higgins | If we can put a man on the Moon, why can't Fermilab | we put a man on the Moon? -- Bill Engfer higgins@fnal.fnal.gov | If we can put a man on the Moon, why can't higgins@fnal.Bitnet | we put a woman on the Moon? -- Bill Higgins ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 93 10:09:54 -0600 From: Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey Subject: Getting Digital Pix (was Re: Mars Observer's First Photo) Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary In article , schumach@convex.com (Richard A. Schumacher) writes: > Just in case anyone has missed the point: > > First crack at the data is the chief perk that attracts talented > scientists to work on these missions. It's certainly not the > money. If the data were to be released to everyone immediately, > this perk would be lost and the principal investigators would > have little incentive. Taken to the extreme, we would then have > probes sending back nothing more than pretty pictures, because > there'd be no one here to analyze and interpret them in any > systematic way. This would not be a good return on the taxpayer's > investment, even as pure amusement: Lucas/Spielberg movies > would be much cheaper and have better effects. Clearly put, but just in case anyone has missed the *other* point: The investigators choose to release some data in the form of photographs to the press and public. Many of us would like to obtain these images in digital form. This seems a reasonable request. In my opinion, we have a chance of seeing this boon granted if we just keep politely asking NASA, JPL, and/or the investigators. In the past couple of years we've seen considerable progress in this area: 1) Ron Baalke, and others, have slapped the photos down onto scanners and produced GIFs or JPEGs *very* soon after they're released. (Thanks!) 2) Peter Yee has built up a wonderful FTP resource at NASA Ames chock full of spaceflight press releases, images, and other material. 3) JPL has added an Internet node and FTP site for its Public Information Office where one can browse a lot of images. We may hope that other institutions will follow suit. 4) NASA's space science effort is seriously committed to bringing out raw data in digital form as quickly as possible on CD-ROM-- at very low cost. They've done a good job on Magellan, Voyager, and Viking, and this policy will probably continue. Granted, this happens after the data-embargo period, but I take it as a very encouraging sign. The U.S. Geological Survey has provided fine services on CD-ROM, too. So progress has been good, but we are still in the [digital data -> analog photographic print -> scanned digital image] stage of development. I think prospects are good for moving to the next stage. The European Space Agency now has a mailing list for press releases, and the Space Telescope Science Institute has an FTP site featuring status reports and newsletters (in addition to technical stuff). I'm not aware that they make any images available, but it could happen someday. -- O~~* /_) ' / / /_/ ' , , ' ,_ _ \|/ - ~ -~~~~~~~~~~~/_) / / / / / / (_) (_) / / / _\~~~~~~~~~~~zap! / \ (_) (_) / | \ | | Bill Higgins Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory \ / Bitnet: HIGGINS@FNAL.BITNET - - Internet: HIGGINS@FNAL.FNAL.GOV ~ SPAN/Hepnet: 43011::HIGGINS ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1993 14:02:24 GMT From: Andrew Rogers Subject: GPS orbit info? Newsgroups: sci.space What are the orbits of the GPS system? The NAVSTAR GPS Constellation Status shows Orbital Plane Positions like C-1, A-1, C-4. How are these interpreted? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 93 11:02:11 EDT From: SABELD@WMAVM7.VNET.IBM.COM Subject: hypothetical clintonisms The quote about "everybody being above average" subject I thought had begun with some town in the usa (I think it began with an "L" but that is all i remember) that claimed that all of its students were "above average". It somehow tied in to their sat scores. One must be careful when using the word "average". Mathematically speaking, there is no such thing. "Average", as we use it in language, can correspond to the mean, mode, or median, all of which can be argued are true representatives of the "average" of some set of data. ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 1993 18:30:16 +0100 From: Mike C Holderness Subject: hypothetical clintonisms Newsgroups: sci.space In article SABELD@WMAVM7.VNET.IBM.COM writes: >The quote about "everybody being above average" subject I thought had begun >with some town in the usa (I think it began with an "L" but that is all i >remember) that claimed that all of its students were "above average". It >somehow tied in to their sat scores. > Gosh, this "place" makes you feel old so soon... It was the intro to Garrison Keillor's weekly series of reports from Lake Woebegon, Michigan. It was required listening for every NPR type for yonks up until it went off-air in 1989 or 1990. Many Net users were alive then. It was the sort of show where you'd get seriously bqawled out for phoning people while it was on the air -- like the Archers in dear old Blighty here. >From memory, in Lake Woebegon "all the men are handsome, all the women are and all the children are above average". But I'm a furriner, so I'm allowed to get your cultural references wrong. Do not flame unless you can explain the cultural significance of a visit by Shula Archer to the Horobin household. =mike= ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 93 10:07:14 GMT From: Bryan Carpenter Subject: man-made meteor storm? Newsgroups: sci.space In <1993Aug12.084503.159669@zeus.calpoly.edu> jgreen@trumpet.calpoly.edu (Innocent Bystander) writes: >If you really want a "man-made" meteor shower, here's what I >would do. >Take a good sized rocket, say delta or Titan, and fill the >payload shroud with iron filings. Shoot it straight up so that >it doesn't go into orbit, but rather has a parabolic up and down >flight with a high point of, say, 100,000 miles. This number >can be varied to produce the shower at the desired location. At >[...] >Why iron filings. Ever used a grinder and watched the sparks >fly? Same idea. On re-entry the filings will hit the Oxygen in >the atomsphere and glow much brighter than say sand (SiO2) >would. I doubt whether the chemical reaction will make much contribution to the brightness...falling from that height, the kinetic energy is probably going to be an order of magnitude bigger than the chemical energy released by oxidation. (This is a guesstimate---I'm open to correction). Bryan ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 1993 18:36 UT From: Ron Baalke Subject: Mars Observer Update - 08/12/93 Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary Forwarded from the Mars Observer Project MARS OBSERVER STATUS REPORT August 12, 1993 MOI -12 Days The spacecraft is stable in Array Normal Spin, with X-Band communication via the High Gain Antenna; uplink at 125 bps, downlink at the 2 kbps Engineering data rate. One Way Light Time is 18 minutes and 34 seconds. The Payload Data System, Gamma Ray Spectrometer, and Magnetometer/Electron Reflectometer are powered on. Indications are that all spacecraft subsystems and the instrument payload are performing well. Flight Sequence C13 B is active through August 17. Flight Sequence T1 was uplinked on Friday, August 6. T1 has 2 components: T1 A which pressurizes propellant tanks prior to the insertion burn; and T1 B which contains maneuver execution parameters. The T1 B component currently onboard is designated T1 B-backup. It insures that a capture maneuver will be performed, even if communication with the ground were to be lost due to unforeseen events on the ground. Updated T1 B maneuver parameters will be uplinked as the T1 B load to be used for the maneuver on 8/20, 4 days prior to MOI. A command contained in the 8/20 T1 B load terminates the T1 B-backup script. Today the Spacecraft is 2,611,543 km (1,622,737 miles) from Mars, travelling at a speed of 2.46 kps (5492 mph) with respect to Mars. MOI = Mars Orbit Insertion ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| Ron Baalke | baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov | | | | __ \ /| | | | Jet Propulsion Lab | ___| | | | |__) |/ | | |__ M/S 525-3684 Telos | When given a choice between /___| | | | ___/ | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | two exciting things, choose |_____|/ |_|/ |_____|/ | the one you haven't tried. ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 1993 18:07 UT From: Ron Baalke Subject: MESUR Pathfinder Imaging PI Named Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary Donald Savage Headquarters, Washington, D.C. August 12, 1993 (Phone: 202/358-1600) Jim Doyle Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif (Phone: 818/354-5011) RELEASE: 93-146 NASA NAMES IMAGING PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR FOR MESUR PATHFINDER Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tuscon, has been named Principal Investigator for the imaging system for the MESUR Pathfinder lander, NASA announced today. MESUR (for Mars Environmental Survey) Pathfinder is a small Discovery-class mission that NASA proposes to launch to Mars in 1996 which will place a lander and rover on the surface of Mars in 1997. Once on the surface, the camera will obtain a 360- degree panoramic image of the landing site and also will acquire images of specific areas at intervals during the year-long mission. Martin Marietta Astronautics Group, Denver, Colo., was named as the prime instrument contractor. The Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy, Lindau, Germany, will provide the image detector and its supporting electronics. Smith's proposal for an imaging system for the MESUR Pathfinder lander was submitted earlier this year in response to a NASA announcement of opportunity for the mission. Dr. Wesley Huntress, NASA Associate Administrator for the Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. was the selecting official. Imaging System Description The camera is a side-by-side charged-coupled device (CCD) stereo imager which sits on top of a "jack-in-the-box" mast that pops up one meter above the lander. The camera has a 12-position color filter wheel and is fully controllable in both elevation and side-to-side (azimuth) motion. The optics do not require active focusing. The field of view for each eye is 14.4 degrees square and has a resolution of six-tenths of a millimeter near the lander. The filter wheel contains eight color filters optimized for Mars geology, three color filters for atmospheric water vapor and dust measurements and one broadband filter for stereo imaging with both eyes. The camera will be used for science experiments, including filter-wheel spectral mapping of the landing site to determine its composition and to identify rocks which may be designated as targets for further investigation. Spectral mapping also will study weathering processes and products in the dust, soil and rocks of Mars. Images also will be taken to study phenomena which occur over time, such as frost, dune formation and seasonal changes. NASA also announced the selection of Dr. Jens Martin Knudsen of the University of Copenhagen as a co-investigator, to provide a magnetic properties investigation for the mission in conjunction with Smith's team. He will provide five magnets of varying strengths to capture wind-blown magnetic dust particles. Other co-investigators for the imaging experiment are Drs. Robert Singer, Martin Tomasko, Lyn Doose and Daniel Britt, all of the University of Arizona, Tuscon; Dr. Larry Soderblom, U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Ariz., and Dr. H. Uwe Keller, Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy. The Arizona team proposed to develop and deliver camera hardware and one flight instrument, accompanied by operational and data compression software. The effort, estimated at $5 million in fiscal year 1992 dollars, will culminate with the delivery of the flight imaging system in late 1995. The MESUR Pathfinder will use a small robotic rover to explore the region within about 50 meters of the landing site. In contrast to the three-color imaging provided by the two Viking landers in the late 1970s, the MESUR Pathfinder lander imaging system will be capable of imaging in a variety of spectral bands to determine mineral content within view of the lander. The spectral channels are particularly sensitive to iron and pyroxene minerals -- dark, silicon-based, crystal-like rocks. The primary mission is for 1 month on the surface of Mars, with a goal of 1 year of extended mission. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., will manage the MESUR Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Headquarters, Washington, D.C. - end - ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| Ron Baalke | baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov | | | | __ \ /| | | | Jet Propulsion Lab | ___| | | | |__) |/ | | |__ M/S 525-3684 Telos | When given a choice between /___| | | | ___/ | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | two exciting things, choose |_____|/ |_|/ |_____|/ | the one you haven't tried. ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 1993 15:13 UT From: Ron Baalke Subject: Moon Rocks For Sale Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary,sci.geo.geology I found out more about the moon rocks that will be on the auction block in December. The rocks were advertised as "rock fragments", but after talking to the auction house, they admitted it is more closer to being moon dust. The moon dust was collected from the "first Luna mission", which I interpreted as meaning the first successful Luna mission that returned lunar soil, which would make it Luna 16. Luna 16 was launched on September 12, 1970 and soft landed on the Moon on September 20. A drill was used to collect 101 grams of lunar material. The lunar sample was returned to Earth on September 24. Three grams of the Luna 16 sample was exchanged in 1971 for 3 grams of Apollo 11 and 3 grams of Apollo 12 lunar samples. The Luna 16 lunar material that will be auctioned off is a very small sample and my impression was that there is less than a gram there. The moon dust is encased in a metal box with a clear plastic top, and as far as I can determine has been sealed in this box for at least 20 years. ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| Ron Baalke | baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov | | | | __ \ /| | | | Jet Propulsion Lab | ___| | | | |__) |/ | | |__ M/S 525-3684 Telos | When given a choice between /___| | | | ___/ | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | two exciting things, choose |_____|/ |_|/ |_____|/ | the one you haven't tried. ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 1993 13:10:55 -0400 From: Pat Subject: NASA's planned project management changes Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1993Aug11.123914.15930@iti.org> aws@iti.org (Allen W. Sherzer) writes: >Charities don't procure in a way that doubles the cost of anything. >(I wouldn't donate to any that did anyway). Sure accounting methods Obviously Alan is not familiar with either the American Red Cross or United Way. every time you make a payroll contribution, you are helping fly their corporate jet. pat -- I don't care if it's true. If it sounds good, I will publish it. Frank Bates Publisher Frank Magazine. ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 1993 16:25:10 GMT From: "George C. Kaplan" Subject: Orbital Information Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1993Aug11.204009.113677@ua1ix.ua.edu>, keel@hera.astr.ua.edu (&) writes: |> Specifically, a sun-synchronous orbit has the following properties. |> This is taken verbatim from my Observational Astronomy lecture |> notes, ... |> |> [ description of sun-synchronous polar orbits ] |> ... This means that, |> for a spacecraft pointed outward above the terminator, fixed solar panels |> will always face the Sun, and the field of view (if wide enough) will sweep |> over the entire sky every 6 months. This has been used for the IRAS, |> ROSAT, and EUVE missions. ^^^^ EUVE's orbit is inclined 28.5 degrees; it's the easiest orbit to reach from Cape Canaveral. Since the sun-synchronous orbits are polar (actually, slightly retrograde) satellites using it have to be launched toward the west, which isn't done from Florida (for safety reasons). -- George C. Kaplan Internet: gckaplan@ssl.berkeley.edu Phone: 510-643-5651 ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 1993 13:16:00 -0400 From: Pat Subject: Simple Space Plane! Newsgroups: sci.space If i recall, teh ASAT terminal package, is a bout the size of a tomato can, i had a job offer from LTV to write the ballistic trajectory programs for the bird. it owuld have been a cool job, but i thought the program was far too sensitive as a political football. not that i would have minded working in Texas, then McCall and I could have argued locally :-) pat -- I don't care if it's true. If it sounds good, I will publish it. Frank Bates Publisher Frank Magazine. ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 1993 09:30:55 U From: "Dugan.Timothy" Subject: Space Station News Why does Space Digest so rarely mention details about the space station program? Is it because of limited interest or because of limited information? Assuming it is due to a lack of available information, I have attached an abridged copy of a McDonnell Douglas publication called Space Station Today, issue number 42. =========== From: Williams.Jody Date: Tue, Aug 10, 1993 1:38 PM Subject: "Space Station Today" #42 =========== Program Status and Summary -- The NASA Administrator has convened a panel of high-level NASA officials who will provide an assessment for use in the selection of the host center and prime contractor. The team includes representatives from NASA's Office of the Administrator, General Counsel and Procurement, and from Reston, Johnson Space Center, and Marshall Space Flight Center. The first meeting was scheduled for yesterday [August 9]; the naming of the host center and prime contractor is expected to be made soon. Contrary to a number of rumors being circulated, neither the host center nor prime contractor has been selected. [ TEXT DELETED ] =========== Following is a brief summary of other program-related news: - On Friday, July 30, Transition Director Bryan O'Connor kicked off a month-long series of activities to be conducted with the 25-member Russian delegation now located at the Transition Team's headquarters in Crystal City, VA. Three NASA teams are working with the delegation to explore potential Russian contributions to the U.S. Space Station program, and more generally, to study a broad range of possible U.S./Russian human space cooperation in the future. The Russian team is led by Boris Ostroumov, deputy director of the Russian Space Agency. - An interim U.S./Russian Space Cooperation Report is to be complete by August 16; the final report is due at the end of the month. - In an interview with Alabama journalists, reported in Space News, August 9, U.S. President Bill Clinton vowed to ensure the Space Station survives in the Senate. He said that the need to maintain a U.S. technological base in the wake of the Cold War's end is a central reason he supports the Space Station. - NASA employees now have until August 26 to apply for the 300 new positions in the Space Station Program Office. The office will be located at the NASA host center. The total number of NASA Space Station employees is capped at 1,000. - Effort continues to integrate current Space Station Freedom Program activities with ongoing transition activities at Crystal City. The Transition Team continues to review the redesigned Space Station hardware and program structure. An internal design review based on Option A is planned for late next week, leading to an interim progress briefing to the Administration in mid-August. MDA continues to support the review activities and will participate in the design review. =========== [ TEXT DELETED ] ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 1993 13:21:07 -0400 From: Pat Subject: Starlite, Super Material? Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1993Aug11.052043.15885@ke4zv.uucp> gary@ke4zv.UUCP (Gary Coffman) writes: |In article <2496ce$8ri@access.digex.net> prb@access.digex.net (Pat) writes: |>So wha'ts the dean drive? | |Your education is severely lacking. The Dean drive is a reactionless |drive system based on swinging weights and timed application of braking |impulses. It demonstrates that a device can fool a spring scale into |indicating an object weighs less than it does. What it isn't is a real >propulsion system. Back when i had a subscription to analog in the 70's they had some articles on various issues related to reactionless drive. i never thought much of it because it seemed to violate newtons' basic laws of motion. I just remember one corresponedent claiming it pushed against his hand. An e-mail correspondent sent me the entire article typed in from the originals. i had forgotten what the system was called, and didn't think it had ever gotten much attention. Now how about the Flanagan Nuero-phone. anything new on that? pat -- I don't care if it's true. If it sounds good, I will publish it. Frank Bates Publisher Frank Magazine. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1993 16:44:21 GMT From: SNYDER GARY EDWIN JR Subject: The Columbus Project Newsgroups: sci.space I receintly found a reference to 'the columbus project' by Hyde Ishikawa, and Wood. It seems to be a plan for a lunar expedition/settlement. I imagine it was an article somewhere but I can't seem to find it. Does anyone know what and where this is? thanks, g. ------------------------------ Date: 12 Aug 93 17:59:26 GMT From: hvanderbilt on BIX Subject: The Columbus Project Newsgroups: sci.space snyderg@spot.Colorado.EDU (SNYDER GARY EDWIN JR) writes: > I receintly found a reference to 'the columbus project' by Hyde >Ishikawa, and Wood. It seems to be a plan for a lunar >expedition/settlement. I imagine it was an article somewhere but I can't >seem to find it. Does anyone know what and where this is? >thanks, >g. That's Roderick Hyde, Muriel Ishikawa, and Lowell Wood, of Lawrence Livermore. I used to have a copy of the paper around here, but blest if I can find it. As best I recall, it was a proposal to use a Shuttle-Centaur derived lander plus inflatable structures to establish a quick&dirty Lunar base. Henry Vanderbilt -- hvanderbilt@bix.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1993 17:16:48 GMT From: deepak kenchammana-hosekote Subject: Timetable for Shuttle launches in Sept. Newsgroups: nasa.oast,nasa.oast.supersite,sci.space.shuttle,sci.space Hi, I will be visiting FL for the first time this September and would love to see a shuttle launch from Cape Canaveral. If any of your folks have a launch timetable for this year could you mail it to me so that I could plan to be there for any one in September? I'd love to hear people's experiences/advice regarding the trip/tour of the launch centre. Thanks a lot! \deepak \PS I'm not sure what the charter of nasa.oast.* is (since it has been empty out here). If I was in error posting to this group then please forgive the ignorance. -- "Instead of concentrating just on finding good answers to questions, it's more important to learn how to find good questions!" - D.E.K. ------------------------------ End of Space Digest Volume 17 : Issue 018 ------------------------------