Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 7997;andrew.cmu.edu;Ted Anderson Received: from beak.andrew.cmu.edu via trymail for +dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr11/tm2b/space/space.dl@andrew.cmu.edu (->+dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr11/tm2b/space/space.dl) (->ota+space.digests) ID ; Tue, 20 Nov 1990 17:03:44 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: Precedence: junk Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Tue, 20 Nov 1990 17:03:10 -0500 (EST) Subject: SPACE Digest V12 #581 SPACE Digest Volume 12 : Issue 581 Today's Topics: Re: Ariane Launch Manifest (Nov. 1990) The Space Plane Re: Misc: Space Station and ACRV Psych effects + Space M+A+X Re: Photon Engine Re: FITS images STS 38 payload search Re: The Space Plane Re: Big bang discovered 1400 years ago ? Ulysses Update - 11/17/90 Re: STS 38 Observation Reports -- red? Re: The Space Plane Administrivia: Submissions to the SPACE Digest/sci.space should be mailed to space+@andrew.cmu.edu. Other mail, esp. [un]subscription notices, should be sent to space-request+@andrew.cmu.edu, or, if urgent, to tm2b+@andrew.cmu.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 19 Nov 90 02:58:49 GMT From: dweasel!loren@lll-winken.llnl.gov (Loren Petrich) Subject: Re: Ariane Launch Manifest (Nov. 1990) After looking at that Ariane launch manifest, I noticed that it called for nearly one launch a month. It looks nearly as good as the Shuttle :-). $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Loren Petrich, the Master Blaster: loren@sunlight.llnl.gov Since this nodename is not widely known, you may have to try: loren%sunlight.llnl.gov@star.stanford.edu ------------------------------ Date: 15 Nov 90 23:16:40 GMT From: agate!linus!think.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!uupsi!cci632!ritcsh!nowhere!ritvax.isc.rit.edu!swd0170@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (DAVIS, SW) Subject: The Space Plane I was curious if anyone out there knew anything about a possible space plane. Some magazines mentioned a experimental high altitude "space plane" that could be used to ferry cargo into low earth orbit and could be used commercialy to fly passengers from say...New York to Sydney in five hours. I believe it was called the "X-87" or something like that. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?? ------------------------------ Date: 18 Nov 90 14:51:38 GMT From: crash!orbit!pnet51!schaper@nosc.mil (S Schaper) Subject: Re: Misc: Space Station and ACRV Another way to do this would be to emulate the Soviet method and use Hermes. Launch new crew, old crew lands in old Hermes, new Hermes remains docked for the duration. Repeat. This might work with presently planned technology. ************************************************************************** Zeitgeist Busters! UUCP: {amdahl!bungia, uunet!rosevax, chinet, killer}!orbit!pnet51!schaper ARPA: crash!orbit!pnet51!schaper@nosc.mil INET: schaper@pnet51.cts.com ------------------------------ ReSent-Message-ID: Resent-Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 11:34:11 EST Resent-From: Harold Pritchett Resent-To: Space discussion group Date: Fri, 16 Nov 90 13:08 GMT From: THE URBAN SPACEMAN Subject: Psych effects + Space M+A+X Path: titan.kingston.ac.uk!me_s420 From: me_s420@titan.kingston.ac.uk Newsgroups: space Subject: Psych effects + Space M+A+X Message-ID: <1990Nov16.130727.29858@titan.kingston.ac.uk> Date: 16 Nov 90 13:07:27 GMT Organization: Kingston Polytechnic News-Moderator: Approval required for posting to space Lines: 36 Two things .... 1) Pyschological Effects of Moonwalking A month ago I posted request for info on this topic as I was hoping to disprove the urban myth that 'the Apollo astronauts all became very religous or alcohlics'. (No arbitary judgement of religous people or alcoholics implied, folks) I only had two bits of mail (a belated 'thanks' to Mike M. and Mary S.) on this subject and a post from Nick Watkins, so the subject is still wide open. So, if you know something MAIL ME ! I will summarise to the net if I get enough information. 2) Space M+A+X I already have the 'Entertainment Version' of this. Final Frontier Software ahve just sent me a 'Christmas Catalog' plugging new, improved version V3.1, 'The College Version'. Does anyone out there have any feedback on V3.1 ? Is it significantly better ? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Welch Janet: cswelch@kingston.ac.uk Kingston Polytechnic Bitnet: cswelch%kingston.ac.uk@uk.ac U.K. 'Two men look out through the same bars: One sees the mud, and one the stars.' F.Langbridge -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: 18 Nov 90 18:36:31 GMT From: wuarchive!julius.cs.uiuc.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!news.cs.indiana.edu!maytag!watdragon!watyew!jdnicoll@decwrl.dec.com (Brian or James) Subject: Re: Photon Engine I may be misremembering, but I don't think the lasers are intended for use in a 'pure' photon engine. Photon engines have to have very impressive power supplies to generate large values of thrust (Power = C x Force, or something? My mind is going...). My impression was that they use the land based laser to evaporate reaction mass, with the benefits of not having to carry the powerplant to orbit, and being able to achieve higher exhaust velocities. Granted, once you're in orbit, low thrust isn't a problem (if you are patient), but surface to orbit launches work better if the thrust is higher than the local gravity :) James Nicoll ------------------------------ Date: 19 Nov 90 17:22:59 GMT From: wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo!henry@eddie.mit.edu (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: FITS images In article <1990Nov17.154937.12584@agora.uucp> rickc@agora.uucp (Rick Coates) writes: >how about some images? Look, from news statistics I gather that >alt.sex.pictures has megabytes of traffic - how about some star pictures >as well as crotch shots? ... Do you really want to get sci.astro or sci.space banned the way a.s.p has been in many places? Those megabytes of added traffic are *most* unwelcome to news administrators already struggling with busy systems and crowded disks. -- "I don't *want* to be normal!" | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology "Not to worry." | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry ------------------------------ Date: 18 Nov 90 19:30:40 GMT From: usc!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!molczan@apple.com (Ted Molczan) Subject: STS 38 payload search It is possible that the STS 38 payload has already manoeuvred to the 741 km operational altitude claimed by AV WEEK. Below is an element set which can be used by observers as the basis for an "along the orbit" search, which involves staring at the orbit until the object is seen. The epoch of the elset is the midpoint between the last known sighting of the payload in its deployment orbit, and the first time that the payload was no longer seen to be in that orbit. Thus, the size, shape and orientation of the elset should be correct. What is not known, is the actual location of the payload within the orbit, thus the need for the "along the orbit" search. The Earth rotates under the plane of the orbit, so it is necessary to adjust for this when making the search. To aid in this, it is useful to plot on a star chart, a series of possible paths for the payload, based on different times of passage. One way to generate the paths is to run a series of orbit predictions with slightly different epoch times, spanning the time period when the plane is going to be well positioned for observation. The orbital period is 100 min, so the search should be about that long. If one stares at the orbit for an entire orbital period, and the object is in that orbit, then it must be seen. This is the standard method for searching for missing satellites. I have used this method successfully in the past, most notably in my discovery of the main STS 28 payload, in August 1989. The STS 38 is bright. Its standard visual magnitude is about 3. The standard is based on a range of 1000 km, and 50 percent illuminated. 1 90097U 90097 B 90321.40625000 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 05 2 90097 28.4600 233.1000 0000000 0.0000 0.0000 14.47000000 02 If you see the object, time its passage between pairs of stars to a precision of 1 s or better, and determine its position between the stars as accurately as possible. Your observations are very welcome (desperately needed). Even if you see nothing, that is important. Include your site coordinates and the time period of the search. Also, state whether or not you used binoculars. Good luck! -- Ted Molczan@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca ------------------------------ Date: 19 Nov 90 04:15:27 GMT From: att!pacbell.com!mips!sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo!henry@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: The Space Plane In article <1990Nov18.225941.17915@ariel.unm.edu> john@ghostwheel.unm.edu (John Prentice) writes: >Are you talking about the National Aerospace Plane? It would fit this >description, although it is a military project and (to my knowledge) there >has never been an unclassified explanation of its purpose or mission... There is no secret about the purpose/mission of the X-30, aka NASP: as the designation would indicate, it is a research vehicle. Its payload is two pilots, a toothbrush apiece, and probably several tons of flight-research instruments. It may, at some point, lead to a successor which would be useful for things like carrying cargo into orbit. -- "I don't *want* to be normal!" | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology "Not to worry." | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry ------------------------------ Date: 19 Nov 90 00:10:39 GMT From: usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!dsinc!netnews.upenn.edu!netnews!mjd@apple.com (Dominus the Bilious) Subject: Re: Big bang discovered 1400 years ago ? Boy, good thing I have such a short attention span, or I might have finished reading that. I gotta say that's one of the best things about having Korsakov's syndrome. -- In some sense a stochastic process can do better; at least it has a chance. Mark-Jason Dominus mjd@central.cis.upenn.edu ------------------------------ Date: 19 Nov 90 02:48:22 GMT From: sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@ucsd.edu (Ron Baalke) Subject: Ulysses Update - 11/17/90 ULYSSES STATUS REPORT November 17, 1990 As of 9AM (PST), Saturday, November 17, the Ulysses spacecraft is 23,928,063 miles (38,508,485 km) from Earth, and 440,606,271 miles (709,087,058 km) from Jupiter. The spacecraft is traveling at a heliocentric speed of 84,935 mph (136,689 kph) and a speed of 22,821 mph (36,727 kph) relative to the Earth. On Saturday November 10, the switch-on of the Solar X-Rays and Cosmic Gamma-Ray Burst experiment (HUS) continued. Further testing of the Radio and Plasma Waves (STO) experiment continued. The Energetic Particles and Interstellar Neutral Gas (KEP-GAS) experiment continues to gather data successfully. The nutation of the spacecraft has continued to grow in amplitude, and by November 13 it has reached 4 degrees, peak-to-peak. It was decided to delay the Low Energy Ion and Electrons Experiment (LAN) turn-on one day in order to perform a precession maneuver to point the high gain antenna towards Earth and perform a spacecraft spin change to try to reduce the nutation. The X-band transmitter was also turned-on. The precession maneuver was successfully completed without perturbing the nutation. A spin down maneuver was performed to slow the spin rate from 5.0 to 4.9 RPM. This was done and within a short time the nutation amplitude had grown to nearly 4.5 degrees. A spin-up maneuver back to 5.0 was performed, and the nutation amplitude reduced to 3.1 degrees. The spacecraft telemetry remained in the engineering mode until the following morning. The X-band transmitter had to be turned off because of increasing temperatures. On Wednesday, November 14, the LAN turn-on was started. The Solar Wind Ion Composition (GLG) experiment high voltage was raised to 15.4 kv. The checkout continued the following day. Since the nutation amplitude has been slowly increasing since November 13, another spin-up maneuver was done, raising the spin rate to 5.1 RPM. Again there was a dramatic decrease in the nutation amplitude to 3.1 degrees, followed by a slow increase to 3.3 degrees. On Friday, November 16, the Solar-Wind Plasma Experiment turn-on was started. Another spin-up was accomplished, with the telemetry in science mode. Again the nutation amplitude decreased 2.6 degrees. The GLG high voltage was raised to 17.9 kv. All experiments are now powered on. On November 20, a precession maneuver is planned. The remainder of the week will be devoted to monitoring experiments. The nutation amplitude will continue to be closely monitored. ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| | | | | __ \ /| | | | Ron Baalke | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov ___| | | | |__) |/ | | |___ Jet Propulsion Lab | baalke@jems.jpl.nasa.gov /___| | | | ___/ | |/__ /| M/S 301-355 | |_____|/ |_|/ |_____|/ Pasadena, CA 91109 | ------------------------------ Date: 20 Nov 90 00:30:55 GMT From: timbuk!sequoia!gbt@uunet.uu.net (Greg Titus) Subject: Re: STS 38 Observation Reports -- red? In article <4900@optilink.UUCP> cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) writes: >In article <1990Nov19.063120.15680@ns.network.com>, logajan@ns.network.com (John Logajan) writes: >> molczan@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (Ted Molczan) writes: ># #Bill noted that as the object neared the shadow it became red, and ># #made a bright orange flash. ># ># Pardon my ignorance, but isn't it possible that the red color is due ># to the same thing that occasionally gives red sunrises and sunsets? > >No. The red color at sunrise and sunset is caused by the atmosphere. >There's no atmosphere where the shuttle is; unless you are observing >the shuttle at a very flat angle to the horizon, you aren't going >to see red. Hmmm. When the shuttle is passing into shadow (thus passing the terminator at orbital altitude), the light which I see reflected from the shuttle reached it after passing completely through the atmosphere. That light should therefore be as or more reddened than the light I see directly when looking toward the sunset. Even better, do this: during a nice red sunset, stand facing east (yes, east). Hold a plastic model of the shuttle directly above your head. Now, look straight up at it. It's red (or at least orange). The situation is the same as it is if you replace the plastic model with a real shuttle, only farther away (in orbit), and add the requirement that the sun be setting at that real shuttle's altitude (thus it is passing the terminator). The red paint (on the satellite, not the shuttle) would probably have a greater effect on the satellite's apparent color, though. The above leads to ... suppose the satellite is still in the bay, and the shuttle is oriented so that we are looking into the bay (with the doors open) as it passes overhead. Is the satellite big enough with respect to the orbiter, and red enough, that the whole orbiter would then appear at least somewhat orange to the naked eye? greg -- -------------------------------------------------------------- Greg Titus (gbt@zia.cray.com) Compiler Group (Ada) Cray Research, Inc. Santa Fe, NM Opinions expressed herein (such as they are) are purely my own. ------------------------------ Date: 19 Nov 90 17:11:42 GMT From: pasteur!dog.ee.lbl.gov!hellgate.utah.edu!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo!henry@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: The Space Plane In article <1990Nov15.232259.17158@isc.rit.edu> swd0170@ritvax.isc.rit.edu writes: >...Some magazines mentioned a experimental high altitude "space plane" that >could be used to ferry cargo into low earth orbit and could be used commercialy >to fly passengers from say...New York to Sydney in five hours. I believe it was >called the "X-87" or something like that... The X-30 research aircraft, which may or may not ever be built, has been hyped as the precursor to cheap Earth-to-orbit transports, hypersonic airliners, and advanced military hypersonic aircraft. In practice, there appears to be no market for hypersonic airliners -- they are interesting in theory but an impossible hassle in practice -- and the military is not very big on hypersonics either (at least, not unclassified ones: there is speculation that a good bit of the X-30 work may be a duplication of "black" programs which already have flying hardware). If the X-30 works really well, a successor might be a useful Earth-to-orbit transport, but that is 15-20 years away, minimum, at the current pace. -- "I don't *want* to be normal!" | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology "Not to worry." | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V12 #581 *******************