Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V08/V8_186.TXT

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Date: Sun, 10 Apr 88 03:05:56 PDT
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Subject: SPACE Digest V8 #186

SPACE Digest                                      Volume 8 : Issue 186

Today's Topics:
             Re: Mars Declaration
         Re: Where is Apollo 13 Lunar module?
        Space Settlement Act of 1988 (HR 4218)
                  NASA News
                  NASA News
         Re: Power satellites (was greenhouse effect)
             JPL Vision Statement
              Some Articles of Interest
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 29 Mar 88 11:47:18 GMT
From: mcvax!ukc!its63b![e-mail]  (ERCF08 Bob Gray)
Subject: Re: Mars Declaration

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (XMRP50000[jto]-d.l.skran) writes:
>I recently received a copy of the Planetary Society Mars
>Declaration.
>
>Basically, it's a straight forward and carefully worded call
>for the human exploration of Mars. Hopefully, I or someone else
         ^^^^^
>will type it in at some point.

If this is what they mean, they don't have anything to wory
about. The Soviets have already made it clear that they
intend to go there, and they have the technology to do so.

Or perhaps they mean American?

If they want an international effort, they should target
their petition at ALL the Governments of the world capable
of contributing to the human exploration of Mars.

If they want an American effort, they should be more careful
in the wording.
    Bob.

------------------------------

Date: 28 Mar 88 18:21:48 GMT
From: mtunx!whuts![e-mail]  (WARMINK)
Subject: Re: Where is Apollo 13 Lunar module?

In article <201300003@prism>, [e-mail] writes:
> So my question is, what happened to the lunar
> landing module?  Did it re-enter and burn up (I would think that
> chunks of it would have come all the way down) or did it continue on, in some
> sort of orbit?  Would it be in orbit around the earth?

It burned up in the atmosphere, but: some chunks of it did not. Most noticable
of these was the plutonium powered generator, now somewhere at the bottom
of the Indian Ocean I believe. Not much has been said about this...

The Galileo Jupiter probe will be similarly powered, current flightpath calls
for a close Earth gravity assist fly-by. Wait for the debate to start up!
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"We demand rigidly defined areas of    |  Stuart Warmink, APT UK Ltd.
 doubt and uncertainty" (Vroomfondel)  |  <ihnp4>!whuts!sw
-----------> My opinions are not necessarily those of APT UK Ltd. <-----------

------------------------------

Date: 31 Mar 88 05:23:19 GMT
From: agate!jiff![e-mail]  (William Baxter)
Subject: Space Settlement Act of 1988 (HR 4218)

William Baxter

ARPA: [e-mail]
UUCP: {cbosgd,sun,dual,decwrl,decvax,ihnp4,hplabs,...}!ucbvax!bosco!web

------------------------------

Date: 27 Mar 88 16:08:03 GMT
From: cu-den!udenva!isis!scicom!embudo![e-mail]  (markf)
Subject: NASA News


NASA NEWS
NASA To Acquire Second Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft

NASA ... announced plans to acquire a Boeing 747-100 jetliner to serve
as a second Space Shuttle carrier aircraft (SCA) for the space transportation
system.

A letter contract has been signed with Boeing Military Airplane Co., a
division of the Boeing Company, Seattle, to reserve the aircraft for NASA
use. The additional SCA will provide increased ferrying capability and
eliminate a potential single-point failure in the space transportation
system.

The 231-foot long aircraft will be modified to carry Shuttle orbiter
vehicles from landing sites to orbiter processing facilities at the
Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Modifications will be made by Boeing at their
manufacturing facilities in Wichita, Kan. The 747-100 is nearly identical
to the original SCA and was selected to minimize costs associated with
modifications and operations.

The original SCA has transported orbiters since 1977 when orbiter Enterprise
was first used for unpowered atmospheric flight tests. Since then, Columbia,
Challenger, Discovery and Atlantis have been ferried coast to coast atop
the SCA.

Total cost of the aircraft and required modifications is currently under
negotiations. That figure is expected to be available this summer.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Reprinted with permission for electronic distribution
NASA News Release 88-28
By Sarah Keegan  Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
and Jeffrey Carr  Johnson Space Center, Houston

------------------------------

Date: 27 Mar 88 15:55:37 GMT
From: cu-den!udenva!isis!scicom!embudo![e-mail]  (markf)
Subject: NASA News


NASA NEWS
NASA ISSUES UPDATED MIXED FLEET MANIFEST

NASA ... issued an updated mixed fleet manifest reflecting current
planning for primary payloads for Space Shuttle missions and expendable
launch vehicles (ELVs) through Fiscal Year 1993. The manifest is for
planning purposes only. Firm Shuttle payload assignmentsare made during
the formal integration process at approximately 19 months prior to
launch. The planned next Shuttle launch (STS-26) remains in August 1988.

In addition to supporting Department of Defense mission requirements and
the Commercial Space Initiative recently announced in conjunction with
the new National Space Policy, this mixed fleet manifest continues to
reflect the high priority assigned to civil space science and applications
payloads, both on the Shuttle and ELVs.

A decision to interchange the STS-29 and STS-28 missions eases the orbiter
processing flow and enables NASA to maintain the required launch windows
for two interplanetary missions in 1989 -- Magellan, a mission to map
the planet Venus in April, Galileo, a cooperative project with Germany
to survey Jupiter and its moons,in October. The Hubble Space Telescope
also maintains its flight assignment date of June 1989.

Astro-1, a Spacelab mission designed to study the univers in the
ultraviolet spectrum is being reconfigured to enhance the study of
Supernova 1987A, an event that has drawn the attention of astrophysicists
from around the world. The Broad-Band X-Ray Telescope has been added
to complement the Astro-1 mission now slated to fly on STS-35 in November
1989.

Taking advantage of the recently announced Shuttle downweight additional
capability, Spacelab missions are now planned to fly aboard the orbiter
Columbia (OV-102), which was not previously possible. Two Spacelab
payloads have been assigned flights in 1990 -- a Spacelab Life Science
mission in March and the first of the Atomospheric Laboratory for
Applications and Science mission series, Atlas-1, scheduled for
projected schedule, is now slated for March 1990 and the Ulysses
projected October 1990 launch date.

Another important addition to the manifest is a misson to retrieve the
Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) in July 1989. Launched by the
Space Shuttle in April 1984, LDEF originally was scheduled for retrieval
in March 1985. The LDEF retrieval mission will replace Astro-1 as the
payload for STS-32.

The manifest supports the commercial space initiative announced with the
National Space Policy, February 11, 1988, as follows:

- The Industrial Space Facility (ISF) is manifested as a fully reimbursable
payload under a pre-existing agreement.

- The Spacehab is manifested as a fully reimbursable payload.

- The Commercially Developed Space Facility (CDSF) will be manifested
when the government's lease arrangements are complete.

All of the above are subject to further negotiations with the appropriate
commercial organizations and specific manifesting decisions will depend
on commercial customer demand.

This mixed fleet manifest continues to reflect NASA's plans to use
ELVs for those payloads that do not need the capabilities of the Space
Shuttle. Thirty-five ELV launches are planned through FY 1993.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Republished with permission for electronic distribution
Nasa News Release 88-38  March 15, 1988
By Barbara E. Selby  Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

------------------------------

Date: 30 Mar 88 17:10:19 GMT
From: sun.soe.clarkson.edu![e-mail]  (Michael Montague)
Subject: Re: Power satellites (was greenhouse effect)

From article <[e-mail]>, by [e-mail] (John F Carr):
> Structural strength would be in a rigid frame with members thick enough
> not to be destroyed by meteoroids.
Actually, you have to play the odds when selecting a size for the structural
members.  If you build the members large enough so they cant be destroyed by
meteoroids would be prohibitively expensive. Dust pitting the mirror may
be more of a problem than meteoroids actually penetrating it.

Michael.



--
Internet: [e-mail]  |  Woody's my hero...
Bitnet: [e-mail]            |
uucp: {rpics, gould}!clutx!montague      |

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 31 Mar 88 09:55:24 PST
From: Peter Scott <[e-mail]>
Subject: JPL Vision Statement
X-Vms-Mail-To: EXOS%"[e-mail]"

JPL has just embarked on formulating a vision statemnet.  This will be a long
range (15-25 years) set of goals and objectives for the lab.  Most of the
other NASA field centers have published such statements recently.  It was
reported that as a result of writing its statement, Lewis has already
decided to divest itself of its communication effort.

------------------------------

Date:    Thu, 31 Mar 88 10:33:14 PST
From: [e-mail] (Ron Tencati)
Subject: Some Articles of Interest
X-St-Vmsmail-To: ST%"[e-mail]"

The following is a small compenduim of news articles relating to recent
events of interest

Ron Tencati
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

WASHINGTON POST, MARCH 18

"SOVIETS TO FLY U.S. PLAQUE TO MARS MOON"

     "Soviet officials have agreed to place aboard their
spacecraft bond for the Martian moon Phobos a plaque
commemorating the moon's discovery by an American."

     The POST says in an informal ceremony in Houston, NASA
science official Bevan French presented the plaque to scientist
Lev Mukhin of the Soviet Space Research Institute.  The Soviets
have scheduled a July launch, scheduled to reach the Martian moon
in the spring of 1989.

     "I can promise the plaque will be installed on the lander,"
the robot vehicle that will descend to the moon's surface, Mukhin
said afterward.  "This means it will remain on Phobos forever."

     The POST says the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, were
discovered in 1877 by astronomer Asaph Hall of the U.S. Naval
Observatory in Washington, D.C.

                    *********************

WASHINGTON POST, MARCH 18

"SOVIET SATELLITE LAUNCH"

     "The Soviet Union entered the commercial space race with its
first paid-for-launch of a foreign satellite, a 1-ton weather
monitor for the Indian government that was placed into a near-
Earth polar orbit on a Vostok rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
in Kazahstan."

     The POST says the head of the Soviet space engineering
agency, Alexander Dunayev, said his government was losing money
on the deal.  No price was mentioned in the story.

                    *******************

NEW YORK TIMES, MARCH 18

"U.S. REVISES SPACE MISSIONS"

     "The space agency has revised its schedule of space shuttle
flights and cargoes, adding a mission that is to retrieve a bus-
size satellite left in space in 1984 for what was to have been
one year."

     The TIMES story says the satellite has led scientists to
conclude that it could crash through the atmosphere and burn up
if it is not retrieved.

     The story says the Shuttle schedule reverses the order of
one military and once civilian flight early next year.  It says
this enables NASA to orbit a pair of communications satellites
earlier than planned--because they will be needed in June 1989
when the Hubble Space Telescope is launched from a Shuttle.

                    ********************

AEROSPACE DAILY, MARCH 18

"SUCCESS OF MANNED MISSION GOALS LINKED TO CORE TECHNOLOGIES"

     "Developing life support systems, determining criteria for
crew selection and finding ways to deal with the rigours of long
term space flight are some of the supporting research
technologies which must be addressed further if NASA is to meet
its long term space exploration goals, Ames Research Center
officials reported."

     "We don't know how to do a lot of those things" necessary
for long duration manned missions, said Bruce Webbon, chief of
the Crew Research and Space Human Factors branch at Ames.  "We
haven't done the homework and the foundation isn't there."

     Webbon told the DAILY that project Pathfinder, which NASA
requested $100 million in FY '89, will provide the missing link
needed to develop the technology base which will make long term
missions a reality.

                   *********************

NEWSWEEK Magazine, MARCH 21

"THE SPACE RACE HEATS UP AGAIN"  By:  Frank Givney and John
Schwartz

     "The ancient Romans had a saying:  'To the stars through
difficulties.'  America's private space industry might adopt it
as a motto."

     The article says last month the Reagan administration issued
a directive urging NASA to work more closely with the private
sector, a boost that could be worth millions.

       It outlines the plans of Space Industries Inc., and its
Industrial Space Facility; Space Services, run by former
astronaut Donald "Deke" Slayton, and American Rocket Co.

*                  *                   *                   *

NEWSWEEK, MARCH 21

"IS THE NEW SHUTTLE ROCKET FIT FOR TAKEOFF?"  By:  Harry Hurt

     "More than two years after the Challenger disaster, the last
shipment of main booster parts for the new space shuttle
Discovery arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida last
week.  Morton Thiokol, the Utah-based company that built the
flawed Challenger booster, has made key changes in the solid
rocket motors.  But as technicians stack the parts for a planned
Aug. 4 launch, a battle is still raging over whether the new
booster is safe."

     The article goes on to discuss the various re-designed parts
of the booster, and lists pro and con arguements about its
ability to do the job safely.

                   ********************

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, MARCH 17

"SCIENTISTS:  STUDY SUPPORTS THEORY THAT METEORITE DOOMED
DINOSAURS"  By:  Thomas Maugh

     "Two scientists who experimented with a 50-foot 'gun' to
simulate the impact of a giant meteorite on prehistoric earth
have concluded that such a collision could have raised
temperatures enough to have killed off the dinosaurs."

     The story says research by the California Institute of
Technology suggests that if a meteorite or comet 10 miles in
diameter struck 65 million years ago, it would have released two
to five times as much carbon dioxide as was already in the
atmosphere.  The carbon dioxide would have produced a "greenhouse
effect."  The story says this would have killed off many of the
dinosaurs as well as the leafy plants they fed on.

------------------------------

End of SPACE Digest V8 #186
*******************