Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 7997;andrew.cmu.edu;Ted Anderson Received: from hogtown.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 ; Wed, 16 Jan 91 20:33:42 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: Precedence: junk Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Wed, 16 Jan 91 20:33:37 -0500 (EST) Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #051 SPACE Digest Volume 13 : Issue 51 Today's Topics: Re: CHEMICAL RELEASE SUMMARY - NEXT SCHEDULED RELEASE NASA Headline News for 01/14/91 (Forwarded) Barium/Lithium altazimuths Re: Metrics (was Re: Rotating Joints for Habitat) COBE maps interstellar material in Milky Way galaxy (Forwarded) Administrivia: Submissions to the SPACE Digest/sci.space should be mailed to space+@andrew.cmu.edu. Other mail, esp. [un]subscription requests, should be sent to space-request+@andrew.cmu.edu, or, if urgent, to tm2b+@andrew.cmu.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 14 Jan 91 14:58:51 GMT From: uvaarpa!murdoch!COLE%SAMSON.PHYS.VIRGINIA.EDU@mcnc.org Subject: Re: CHEMICAL RELEASE SUMMARY - NEXT SCHEDULED RELEASE In article <910113202633.272002b8@HG.ULeth.CA>, std_oler@HG.ULeth.CA (Cary Oler) writes: >Successful chemical releases were accomplished on 13 January. The first >release was a Barium payload that was released at 02:17 UT. The second >release occurred later that evening at 07:05 UT. This second release was a >large Lithium payload. > >The second release was not as easily seen as the first apparition. Lithium >produces a red colored aurora that does not remain visible as long as the >Barium. Although this event was visible at the same locations as the Barium >release, the intrinsic color, different location and shorter duration of the >Lithium release prevented many people from viewing this latter event. I was looking right at the expected release point under fairly dark skies and saw absolutely nothing. Red is a very difficult color for the dark adapted eye to see, as the rod cells are almost insensitive to any color but blue-green. The cones can see red, but have a higher threshold so the light must be brighter. The lithium releases are indeed subtle. The barium release was clouded out from Virginia, but there is a better chance for the one tonight. ------------------------------ Date: 14 Jan 91 20:11:26 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: NASA Headline News for 01/14/91 (Forwarded) Headline News Internal Communications Branch (P-2) NASA Headquarters Monday, January 14, 1991 Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788 This is NASA Headline News for Monday, January 14, 1991 The space science and plasma physics community had a successful weekend. The Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite deployed two chemical tracer cannisters - the first, a barium release, at 9:17 pm EST Saturday and the second, a lithium release, at 2:05 am Sunday. Project management reports there were good visual sightings for both releases from North American and Caribbean ground observers. There are five scheduled releases remaining this month, including one tonight. Today's chemical release opportunities begin at 11:11 pm EST for a small barium release. Another opportunity occurs for the small barium release at 12:32 am tomorrow morning. There is a window for a large barium or lithium release which opens at 2:35 am EST tomorrow and closes at 4:48 am. All three opportunities offer very good sighting possibilities for Washington-area residents. They will appear about 40 degrees up from the horizon nearly due west. Clear weather at the ground observing stations and a quiescent magnetosphere are required in order for the chemical tracers to be released by the CRESS satellite. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Members of the STS-39 crew were at Kennedy Space Center this past weekend for a scheduled crew equipment interface test. The test went fine and the crew is now back in Houston. Ammonia boiler servicing has been completed. The orbiter main propulsion system's low pressure side is being tested today. Discovery's hydraulic system will be tested throughout the week. A brake anti-skid test is set for Wednesday. The new IBM General Purpose Computers have been installed. On Atlantis, workers installed a new Ku-band antenna over the weekend. They will be installing the antenna electrical connections today. Primary reactant storage and distribution system testing has been completed. Atlantis' auxiliary power units will be tested today and tonight, with the evening portion involving hazardous work. Four of the five new general purpose computers have been installed. GPC software is being installed today. Window 1 has been replaced and window 6 is being prepared for replacement today. In the Vehicle Assembly Building, Atlantis' left-hand solid rocket booster stack is nearly complete. Work on the right-hand SRB will begin tomorrow. Columbia is in VAB high bay 2, where work on its tiles continues. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Gamma Ray Observatory is scheduled to have its test batteries removed and flight batteries installed today and tomorrow. Fueling of the spacecraft's monomethyl hydrazine tanks has been completed and tank pressure has been adjusted. The Tethered Satellite will be fit checked with its deployer later this week. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Admiral Truly announced Friday several additional actions reflecting NASA's commitment to implement the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on the Future of the U.S. Space Program. Adm. Truly said that space science will remain an essential priority element of a balanced civil space program. He said that NASA and the Air Force will form a task force to assess heavy lift launch technologies and options for development of such launchers. He also reported that NASA will work with the Office of Personnel Management to structure a personnel management system which recognizes the agency's special requirements for attracting and retaining top-flight scientists, engineers and other specialists. Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select TV. All times are Eastern. **indicates a live program. Monday, 1/14/91 12:30 pm New Findings from the Cosmic Background Explorer - three photographic releases will be transmitted. This is photo only, no audio. 1:00 pm NASA Radio show will be transmitted. All events and times may change without notice. This report is filed daily, Monday through Friday, at 12:00 pm, EST. It is a service of Internal Communications Branch at NASA Headquarters. Contact: CREDMOND on NASAmail or at 202/453-8425. NASA Select TV: Satcom F2R, Transponder 13, C-Band, 72 degrees West Longitude, Audio 6.8, Frequency 3960 MHz. ------------------------------ Date: 14 Jan 91 18:42:17 GMT From: snorkelwacker.mit.edu!usc!sdd.hp.com!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!aplcen!warper.jhuapl.edu!sterner@bloom-beacon.mit.edu (Ray Sterner) Subject: Barium/Lithium altazimuths CRRES 15 Jan 1991 (UT) first of two releases. This is to be a large barium cloud or lithium. Tables for two alternate times are given below. From hotline information as of 1:08 pm EST. Note: the alternate release times below are actually the start and end times of a time window. That may mean that the release could occur anytime within the window. Call the hotline to get the latest release time. ------------------------- Primary release time ---------------------- Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES) Marshall Space Flight Center hotline: 205-544-5356. Values are for a spherical earth with no atmospheric refraction. Distances in km, angles in degrees. Universal time is given. Large barium or lithium release at 07:35:00 15 Jan 1991 UT. Satellite altitude = 33433. Sub-satellite lat, long (deg) = 9.30 101.70 ***************************************************** * An alternate time is 09:47:59 15 Jan 1991 UT. * * Table below does NOT apply to the alternate time! * ***************************************************** City Satellite City Lat Long Azi Alt Dist Anchorage 61.2 149.8 124.2 18.6 37315 Atlanta 33.8 84.4 217.1 55.6 34383 Bermuda 32.3 65.8 243.4 42.8 35197 Chicago 41.8 87.6 204.9 49.2 34765 Columbus 40.0 83.0 213.6 49.1 34773 Dallas 32.8 96.8 192.0 61.8 34077 Denver 39.7 105.0 173.6 54.0 34472 Edmonton 53.5 113.5 163.5 37.4 35610 El Paso 31.8 106.4 167.9 62.9 34026 Honolulu 21.3 157.8 93.4 26.6 36545 London 51.5 0.0 284.9 -9.0 40306 Los Angeles 34.0 118.3 144.6 55.8 34372 Miami 25.8 80.2 235.0 59.1 34205 Montreal 45.5 73.6 222.5 39.4 35457 New York 40.7 74.0 225.8 43.5 35151 Paris 48.8 2.3 283.1 -8.2 40218 Phoenix 33.5 112.0 156.3 59.3 34192 Puerto Rico 18.5 66.2 260.0 48.3 34825 Salt Lake City 40.8 111.9 161.2 51.6 34616 San Francisco 37.8 122.3 141.5 50.1 34706 Seattle 47.6 122.3 148.8 41.0 35337 St. Louis 38.7 90.3 202.3 53.4 34507 Washington, DC 38.8 77.0 223.4 46.8 34920 Winnipeg 50.6 96.3 188.0 41.5 35293 --------------------- Alternate release time -------------------- Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES) Marshall Space Flight Center hotline: 205-544-5356. Values are for a spherical earth with no atmospheric refraction. Distances in km, angles in degrees. Universal time is given. Large barium or lithium release at 09:48:00 15 Jan 1991 UT. Satellite altitude = 29437. Sub-satellite lat, long (deg) = 3.30 115.20 ***************************************************** * An alternate time is 07:35:00 15 Jan 1991 UT. * * Table below does NOT apply to the alternate time! * ***************************************************** City Satellite City Lat Long Azi Alt Dist Anchorage 61.2 149.8 140.7 16.7 33458 Atlanta 33.8 84.4 230.0 40.3 31354 Bermuda 32.3 65.8 248.5 26.2 32538 Chicago 41.8 87.6 220.2 36.0 31695 Columbus 40.0 83.0 226.8 34.8 31793 Dallas 32.8 96.8 214.2 49.2 30743 Denver 39.7 105.0 196.9 45.2 31006 Edmonton 53.5 113.5 182.2 30.9 32115 El Paso 31.8 106.4 197.9 54.4 30435 Honolulu 21.3 157.8 107.5 36.6 31641 London 51.5 0.0 292.2 -22.2 37731 Los Angeles 34.0 118.3 174.1 53.0 30513 Miami 25.8 80.2 242.1 42.0 31233 Montreal 45.5 73.6 233.4 25.1 32644 New York 40.7 74.0 235.9 28.4 32343 Paris 48.8 2.3 289.7 -21.8 37685 Phoenix 33.5 112.0 186.3 53.6 30481 Puerto Rico 18.5 66.2 258.5 30.9 32116 Salt Lake City 40.8 111.9 185.5 45.2 31004 San Francisco 37.8 122.3 167.5 48.1 30813 Seattle 47.6 122.3 169.9 37.1 31603 St. Louis 38.7 90.3 219.0 40.2 31368 Washington, DC 38.8 77.0 234.1 31.6 32057 Winnipeg 50.6 96.3 205.0 31.3 32082 Ray Sterner sterner%str.decnet@warper.jhuapl.edu Johns Hopkins University North latitude 39.16 degrees. Applied Physics Laboratory West longitude 76.90 degrees. Laurel, MD 20723-6099 ------------------------------ Date: 14 Jan 91 19:53:18 GMT From: snorkelwacker.mit.edu!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utzoo!henry@bloom-beacon.mit.edu (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: Metrics (was Re: Rotating Joints for Habitat) In article <1991Jan13.160402.1020@mailer.cc.fsu.edu> cain@geomag.gly.fsu.edu (Joe Cain) writes: > Metre may still be the "official" spelling, but in many >government agencies that worried about such things (e.g. USGS) they >have long since grown tired of arguing with authors and will allow meters. Actually, the relevant metric-practice standards -- ANSI in the US and CSA in Canada -- specifically authorize "meter" as an alternate spelling. -- If the Space Shuttle was the answer, | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology what was the question? | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry ------------------------------ Date: 14 Jan 91 20:31:01 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: COBE maps interstellar material in Milky Way galaxy (Forwarded) Paula Cleggett-Haleim Headquarters, Washington, D.C. January 14, 1991 (Phone: 202/453-1549) Noon Randee Exler Goddard Space Flight Center, Md. (Phone: 301/286-7277) RELEASE: 91-6 COBE MAPS INTERSTELLAR MATERIAL IN MILKY WAY GALAXY For the first time, astronomers have mapped the distribution of nitrogen throughout our galaxy. The new observations were taken by an instrument on NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer, the Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer. This all-sky survey, along with additional maps of carbon and dust, provides quantitative information that may enable scientists to understand better the heating and cooling processes that take place throughout the Milky Way. These accomplishments were reported today at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Philadelphia by members of the COBE science team. COBE scientists presented images that show the locations in the galaxy of ionized nitrogen. The nitrogen map of the Milky Way is at the wavelength of 205 micrometers and is the first detection of this important spectral line. The carbon map was produced at 158 micrometers and the dust map at 205 micrometer wavelengths. "Before COBE, it was not possible to map the whole galaxy in this way, although these atomic emissions are the dominant way in which the interstellar gas cools," said COBE Project Scientist Dr. John C. Mather, who added that COBE's unique capabilities permit these all-sky measurements unencumbered by atmospheric and instrument emission. Five months of data were used to produce the maps. The emission from ionized nitrogen atoms was found to occur at a precise wavelength of 205.3 micrometers. The exact determination of this wavelength, which had never been measured before, is important because it will enable astronomers to build future instruments to map this radiation with greater spatial resolution. The COBE data also were used to measure the total energy emitted by the dust, neutral carbon atoms and carbon monoxide molecules in the interstellar gas, showing that our galaxy is a typical spiral galaxy. These new data show that carbon and nitrogen atoms -- some of the key building blocks of life -- are extremely widespread in the thin gas that fills the space between the stars. These atoms are created inside stars by nuclear reactions and then released back into space by stellar winds or explosions at the ends of stellar lives. The data also confirm theories that the mixture of gas and dust in our galaxy is heated by starlight striking dust grains and cooled by the carbon and nitrogen emissions. The greatest concentrations of the atoms and dust grains are in the plane of the galaxy. The data were taken using the Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS), one of the three instruments aboard COBE, NASA's first satellite primarily designed for cosmological studies. COBE, launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., Nov. 18, 1989, primarily studies the diffuse microwave and infrared light coming from the "big bang" at the beginning of the currently observable universe and from the first objects that formed after this primordial explosion. FIRAS is the same instrument that 1 year ago enabled COBE scientists to report the most precise measurements ever obtained of the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation. The new results show that this instrument also is remarkably sensitive to emissions of dust grains, atoms and molecules in the galaxy. The report was made by Drs. John C. Mather, Richard A. Shafer and Charles L. Bennett of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., and Dr. Edward L. Wright, of the University of California. The data were analyzed at the Goddard Space Flight Center. The scientific team includes members at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.; General Research Corp., Danvers, Mass.; Princeton University, N.J.; University of California at Los Angeles, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., as well as the Goddard Space Flight Center. Scientists at General Sciences Corp., Laurel, Md., Applied Research Corp., Landover, Md.; Universities Space Research Association, Greenbelt, Md., and Systems Technologies Corp., Lanham, Md., support the reduction and analysis of the data. This research is supported by NASA's Astrophysics Division of the Office of Space Science and Applications. ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V13 #051 *******************