Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 7997;andrew.cmu.edu;Ted Anderson Received: from corsica.andrew.cmu.edu via trymail for +dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr1/ota/space/space.dl@andrew.cmu.edu (->+dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr1/ota/space/space.dl) (->ota+space.digests) ID ; Tue, 1 Aug 89 05:17:32 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <4YpKeXe00UkVI=XU54@andrew.cmu.edu> Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Tue, 1 Aug 89 05:17:24 -0400 (EDT) Subject: SPACE Digest V9 #575 SPACE Digest Volume 9 : Issue 575 Today's Topics: Re: Don't Mess with NASA (afterburners) Re: S-Band Beacon on Moon Re: Space Quest Re: Vaguely space related queries Re: George Koopman killed Re: Space Activist Survey, Food for Thought Re: Atari(s) and Sat Photos Re: Magellan Status for 07/17/89 (Forwarded) Re: Apollo 11 program alarms From the July 17 issue of AVIATION WEEK AND SPACE TECHNOLOGY. Re: Questions about Apollo 11 Re: S-Band Beacon on Moon ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 20 Jul 89 23:49:25 GMT From: stadler@apple.com (Andy Stadler) Subject: Re: Don't Mess with NASA (afterburners) In article shafer@elxsi.dfrf.nasa.gov (Mary Shafer) writes: >>In article <8907201027.AA07833@osteocyber.ortho.hmc.psu.edu> dsc@OSTEOCYBER.ORTHO.HMC.PSU.EDU (david s. channin) writes: >>> ... What are the laws, regulations, etc (if any) that prevent you from >>> doing the following: >>> 1. Walk into the Northrop offices in wherever. >>> 2. Pull out a bank check for x million dollars. >>> 3. Say,``I'd would like that nice T-38 that's in the showroom''. >>> 4. Fly away with same after filling the tank... >>> >>> Why wouldn't this scenario work?? (or would it?). > >Change the scenario to: > > 1. Walk into the Bede offices in wherever. > 2. Pull out a bank check for x million dollars. > 3. Say,``I'd would like that nice BD-5J that's in the showroom''. > 4. Fly away with same after filling the tank... > >and you'll be on your way. Just speaking personally, as a fairly >frequent flier, I'd really prefer that fighters be limited-distribution >items. There are enough things to worry about, without worrying about >some yahoo out there in an F-something with sidewinders at my 747's six. > > [...] > >Just because you can afford an airplane, doesn't mean you can fly it. >Look at the stereotype about MDs and Bonanzas. > I used to consider that a stereotype until about the 3rd time a Bonanza tried to run me down.... Why is it always Bonanzas making straight in's at uncontrolled airports? (This probably belongs in rec.aviation) --Andy stadler@apple.com ------------------------------ Date: 20 Jul 89 15:58:47 GMT From: jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo!henry@rutgers.edu (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: S-Band Beacon on Moon In article <683@aurora.AthabascaU.CA> lyndon@cs.AthabascaU.CA (Lyndon Nerenberg) writes: >>... when the Apollo seismometer network was shut down (to save some >>trifling amount of money!!! :-[ ) some years ago... > >Eh? Was ConEd charging NASA for the power produced by the (moon-based) >nuclear reactors? No, but it was costing some small amount of money to receive, store, and analyze the data. -- $10 million equals 18 PM | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology (Pentagon-Minutes). -Tom Neff | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu ------------------------------ Date: 21 Jul 89 18:25:44 GMT From: pezely@louie.udel.edu (Dan Pezely) Subject: Re: Space Quest I got some mail in response to my posting, and an interesting point was brought up. Since I want the space contractors to actually own their own space administration corporation, Seth Hollub wrote: >Some things like this are violations of the Anti-Trust Act, I hope >that's not an impediment. I'm not very knowledgeable about the annoying government policies in this area. Does any know for sure? This brings up another point about Space Quest, we need people to help us with matters such as these. Anyone care to spend their one hour a week helping us here? Yes, there are many obstacles, but they are just little details that we can get around somehow. If you're determined enough, you can do anything. - Daniel ------------------------------ Date: 20 Jul 89 16:44:06 GMT From: emory!phssra@gatech.edu (Scott R. Anderson) Subject: Re: Vaguely space related queries In article GILL@QUCDNAST.BITNET writes: >Will Martin asked several questions, which got various responses, some >of which were rather dubious attempts at physics. > >>2) Regarding elementary particles -- one of their characteristics is called >>"spin". Is this REALLY "spin" the way a top or gyroscope spins -- that is, > >Here there was some misinformation. Spin is NOT angular momentum!! >Rather, it is a purely quantum mechanical phenomenum (like the quantites >of colour you mention above). People mistakenly think that it is an >angular momentum because of its mathematical properties. In the >mathematics of quantum mechanics, spin transforms and has operators that >are identical to the normal angular momentum operator, though with its >own unique eigenvalues (values that it can take on in particular >physical situations)....In fact, spin is an intrinsic feature of any >particle, just like mass and electrical charge.... >(Another example of using macroscopic terms for unrelated microscopic >processes.) It depends on your definition of angular momentum, I guess. If you insist that angular momentum is something that is defined by L = r x p, then, yes, spin is not angular momentum. But this is a little like saying that energy is something that is defined by K = (1/2)mv^2, and potential energy or mass energy are not really energy. However, if something acts like angular momentum and is interchangeable with angular momentum, then physicists generally prefer to generalize the concept of angular momentum. Different sources of angular momentum are then qualified, when necessary. So, physicists now speak about orbital angular momentum, spin angular momentum, and total angular momentum (the sum of the two). The latter is a conserved quantity, so, for example, when an electron in an atom changes its orbital state and loses one unit of orbital angular momentum, a photon is emitted which carries away one unit of spin angular momentum. The necessary qualification here is that the name "spin" is a misnomer; as pointed out above it is an intrinsic property of elementary particles, and has nothing to do with them spinning like a top. That seemed like a possibility in 1925, and though it was disproven by Dirac in 1928, the name has stuck. * * ** Scott Robert Anderson gatech!emoryu1!phssra * * * ** phssra@unix.cc.emory.edu phssra@emoryu1.bitnet * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ------------------------------ Date: 22 Jul 89 02:38:23 GMT From: ganoe@arizona.edu (Bill Ganoe) Subject: Re: George Koopman killed Addition: Koopman was killed Wednesday. Correction: Koopman was a co-founder (not THE founder) of AMROC. Other principals were Bevin McKinney and Jim Bennett (who has had a lot to do with commercial space legislation). -- > Standard | William H. Ganoe sie!bill@arizona.edu disclaimer <| SIE Dept; Univ. of Arizona; Tucson, AZ 85721; USA "We have no gods. We do business." ------------------------------ Date: 22 Jul 89 02:39:30 GMT From: blake!wiml@beaver.cs.washington.edu (William Lewis) Subject: Re: Space Activist Survey, Food for Thought In article <26581@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> web@garnet.berkeley.edu (William Baxter) writes: >A Survey for Space Activists > [...] >3. Are you aware that less than half the population of Mexico was alive ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >at the time of the last Apollo moon landing? > [...] > >William Baxter The other half was dead? Why did they include corpses in the population count? Maybe this questionnaire should have been in rec.humor ... --- phelliax "Eat spam. Don't eat spam. Eat spam. Don't eat spam." ------------------------------ Date: 19 Jul 89 01:15:00 GMT From: ssc-vax!shuksan!tahoma!jpg3196@beaver.cs.washington.edu (James P. Galasyn) Subject: Re: Atari(s) and Sat Photos In article <6073@watdcsu.waterloo.edu>, magore@watdcsu.waterloo.edu (Mike Gore, Institute Computer Research - ICR) writes: > Time to announce that I have a new version of the software for > NOAA & METEOR receiver/display program. This version now works on IBM > XT/AT/386 systems and can use 800(H)*600(V)*256(GREY) VGA modes. I hope to > post a final release within a month. As before this project uses the > signal received _directly_ from the satellites. The results can be *very* > nice - just yesterday I received an image from NOAA in IR where I can see the > thermal footprint of the Kitchener/Waterloo area where I live. Any medium to > large city can be seen in this way due to the extra heat ... I, being an IBM 386 VGA-type guy, can hardly wait. This is the coolest. For digital circuit design hackers, there are excellent Home Satellite Weather Center plans available from Circuit Cellar Ink, P.O. Box 772, Vernon, CT, 06066 (203) 875-2199. *BIG* MC68000-based project for IBM PCs, way beyond anything I'd care to tackle. Go easy, . Strangers passing in the street DEATH . .. By chance two separate glances meet . . . And I am you and what I see is me. . . . . - Floyd . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . ------------------------------ Date: 20 Jul 89 15:54:30 GMT From: jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo!henry@rutgers.edu (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: Magellan Status for 07/17/89 (Forwarded) In article <805@eutrc3.urc.tue.nl> exiphm@eutrc3.urc.tue.nl (h.munk) writes: >Forive me my ignorance, but what is "momentum wheel desaturation", >and why is it done ? There are a number of methods of attitude control for spacecraft. Just using control jets works, but if the spacecraft is going to have to do a lot of turning, it uses a lot of fuel. Magellan is going to be pivoting around two or three times per orbit for months on end (it alternates mapping Venus and transmitting back to Earth, through the same antenna), so one would prefer an alternative. If you simply put a heavy little wheel on a motor inside, when you spin the wheel in one direction the spacecraft turns slowly in the other. When you stop the wheel, the turn stops too. In theory. The problem is that you can get torques on the spacecraft from outside forces, like gravity gradients and light pressure. Not large ones, but not insignificant. If the momentum wheel is used to counter those, it can end up spinning faster and faster when the spacecraft is stationary. So once in a while you need to put on the brakes for the wheel to keep its speed within bounds. (This generally means firing control jets at the same time, to keep the spacecraft from just picking up the wheel's rotation.) This is momentum-wheel desaturation. -- $10 million equals 18 PM | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology (Pentagon-Minutes). -Tom Neff | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu ------------------------------ Date: 20 Jul 89 21:26:00 GMT From: ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!pierce@uxc.cso.uiuc.edu Subject: Re: Apollo 11 program alarms > In that CBS special it appeared that Armstrong made that decision. He > said something to the effect, "Hang tight, we're going" and just kep > going when the program alarm came up. Among recently published books, both Aldrin's MEN FROM EARTH and Harry Hurt III's FOR ALL MANKIND describe the events surrounding the 1202 and 1201 alarms. Both books claim that Bales, as GUIDO, made the decision to ignore the alarms. (I don't believe that Collins deals with this topic in either of his books, but I could be wrong about that.) -- Charlie Richter MCC Austin, Texas uucp: richter@milano.uucp arpa: richter@mcc.com I just read Mike Collin's first book (newly reprinted), and he mentions this event in passing while he was monitoring the landing. He was just going for the manuals to see what a 1202 alarm was when somebody from Houston gave a GO to land. He thought that it was good work on their part. Tedd Pierce Aero/Astro Eng. UIUC pierce@uicfda.aae.uiuc.edu ------------------------------ Date: 20 Jul 89 12:12:13 GMT From: wrksys.dec.com!klaes@decwrl.dec.com (CUP/ASG, MLO5-2/G1 6A, 223-3283) Subject: From the July 17 issue of AVIATION WEEK AND SPACE TECHNOLOGY. The Apollo 11 Mission Armstrong and Aldrin collected and brought back 48 lbs of Moon rocks and soil. The task was so important that it was one the first things Armstrong did after stepping on the lunar surface. After testing his "Moon legs", he scooped up a small bagful of lunar soil and stored it in a pocket of his spacesuit. The astronauts left behind a number of items, the largest being the descent stage of the lunar lander with a commemorative plaque attached to one of its legs. A silicon disk about the size of a half dollar, etched microscopically with goodwill messages from the leaders of 73 countries, and a gold olive branch symbolizing peace were also left amidst tracks of human footprints. The Apollo 11 Astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander of Apollo 11, the first man to set foot on the Moon, was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, August 5, 1930. Armstrong was the only civilian member of the Apollo 11 crew. He was selected as an astronaut in 1962 and served in Gemini 8 before being assigned as commander of the Apollo 11 mission. Armstrong is now Chairman of Computer Technologies for Aviation, Inc., Lebanon Ohio. Edwin "Buzz" E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module Eagle pilot, was the second man to walk on the Moon. He was born Jan 20, 1930 in Montclair New Jersey, and is a graduate of West Point. An Air Force Colonel at the time of Apollo 11, Aldrin was named as an astronaut in 1963 and served as a backup pilot for the Gemini 9 mission and prime pilot for Gemini 12. Michael Collins, command module Columbia pilot. During Apollo 11, Collins orbited the Moon in the command module. Collins was born in Rome, Italy on Oct 31, 1930. He is a West Point graduate and was a Lieutenant Colonel at the time of Apollo 11. He was the backup pilot in Gemini 7 and a pilot in the Gemini 10 mission. ------------------------------ Date: 20 Jul 89 15:57:58 GMT From: jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo!henry@rutgers.edu (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: Questions about Apollo 11 In article <28852@ames.arc.nasa.gov> mike@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Mike Smithwick) writes: > >Most of the footage of staging is from the unmanned missions, I don't >think that any of the manned boosters had the cameras on board. I'm not sure about that; remember that there were only two unmanned Saturn V launches. I wouldn't be surprised if one or two of the early manned ones had camera pods aboard, especially given that the second unmanned flight hit problems. (It took considerable boldness and a lot of confidence in the engineers to fly Apollo 8 on the third one.) -- $10 million equals 18 PM | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology (Pentagon-Minutes). -Tom Neff | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu ------------------------------ Date: 20 Jul 89 17:39:28 GMT From: n3dmc!gronk!johnl@uunet.uu.net (John Limpert) Subject: Re: S-Band Beacon on Moon In article <683@aurora.AthabascaU.CA> lyndon@cs.AthabascaU.CA (Lyndon Nerenberg) writes: >In article <1989Jul17.230138.26746@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: >>As far as I know, all the Apollo lunar-surface transmitters were shut >>down when the Apollo seismometer network was shut down (to save some >>trifling amount of money!!! :-[ ) some years ago. I could be wrong. >Eh? Was ConEd charging NASA for the power produced by the (moon-based) >nuclear reactors? I started working at a NASA tracking station shortly after ALSEP was shut down. The story I heard was that NASA ran out of money to receive, record and process the telemetry data. The tracking stations used to record ALSEP data for hours at a time, every day. I was also told that NASA had warehouses full of magnetic tape that couldn't be reduced or analyzed due to lack of funding. -- John Limpert johnl@gronk.UUCP uunet!n3dmc!gronk!johnl ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V9 #575 *******************