Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V08/V8_381.TXT

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Date: Thu, Sep 29 88 09:13:26 EDT
Subject: SPACE Digest V8 #381

SPACE Digest                                      Volume 8 : Issue 381

Today's Topics:
           Former astronaut Schmitt in Chicago area
             space news from Aug 22 AW&ST
 China launches first weather satellite; ESA launches US satellites.
        NASA Release marking 30th Anniversary
         Update on Radio Programs (Forwarded)
           Space station history article available
              Grad programs in avionics?
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:     Mon, 26 Sep 88 20:45 CDT
From: Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey <[e-mail]>
Subject:  Former astronaut Schmitt in Chicago area
Original_To:  SPACE

 I just received the following announcement:
 ====================================================================

              The Harper College Department of Physical Sciences
              cordially invites you to attend a dinner to honor
                           Dr. Harrison H. Schmitt
                                  at Sage's
                            in the Radisson Hotel
                            74 West Algonquin Road
                         Arlington Heights, Illinois
                         on Thursday, October 6, 1988
                                 at 6:30 P.M.
                          Donation $50.00 per person

       In recognition of Dr. Schmitt's achievements in space exploration
       and the geological sciences, a dinner has been planned in
       celebration of the naming of the Meteorite Research Group at
       William Rainey Harper College in his honor: the Harrison H.
       Schmitt Meteorite Research Group. The proceeds of this dinner
       will assist in construction of an observatory at the Harper
       College campus. For more information, please contact Paul Sipiera
       at 397-3000, extension 2726 or 2375.

       Make checks payable to "Astronaut Dinner, Harper College."
       Tickets will be held at the door.
========================================================================

Harrison "Jack" Schmitt is, of course, the only scientist ever to
walk on the Moon.  He landed on the Apollo 17 mission (the last lunar
visit) in 1972.  Later he went on to serve as a Senator from New
Mexico.  He's still active in space-policy circles.

The story is that Harper College, already a center for meteorite
research, wants to build an observatory and space center.  This dinner
will kick off their fundraising campaign.  It's a good cause; I'll be
there.  If you're in the Chicago area, and you've got the afternoon of
October 6 free, Dr. Schmitt will also be speaking at 1 PM in room J-143
at Harper College in Palatine. It's a free question-and-answer session
about America's future in space.

                         ______meson      Bill Higgins
                      _-~
        ____________-~______neutrino      Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
      -   -         ~-_
    /       \          ~----- proton      Bitnet: [e-mail]
    |       |
    \       /                             SPAN/Hepnet/Physnet: 43011::HIGGINS
      -   -
        ~

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

Date: 19 Sep 88 03:36:49 GMT
From: attcan!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: space news from Aug 22 AW&ST

[Aviation Week & Space Technology subscription address is PO Box 1505,
Neptune NJ 07754 USA.  Rates depend on whether you are an "unqualified" or
"qualified" subscriber, which basically means whether you look at the ads
for cruise missiles out of curiosity, or out of genuine commercial or
military interest.  Best write for a "qualification card" and try to get
the cheap rate.  US rate is $58 qualified, higher for unqualified.
It's weekly, it's thicker than Time or Newsweek, and most of it has nothing
to do with space, so consider whether the price is worth it to you.]

Australia completes develoment and test of its Endeavor UV astronomy
package, which fits in two Getaway Special cans; it is now awaiting a
shuttle launch slot.

First Delta 2 launch slips to early next year due to a variety of minor
technical problems.  [Another possible issue is that it's rumored that
the USAF people at the Cape are not too happy about the northeast launch
heading needed to reach the high-inclination Navstar orbit -- it crosses
populated areas (Europe) too soon for the range-safety folks' liking.]

John Denver, the singer, who has been interested in a shuttle ride for a
long time, has asked the Soviets about buying a Soyuz trip to Mir.  They
quoted him a price of $10M, and said that he had to get permission from
the US government.  The State Dept. has officially said that it has "no
position" on the matter:  "We very carefully did not endorse his going,
but at the same time we can't prevent US citizens from going to exotic
places."  [It is reported that the Soviets have raised the price to $12M.
Maybe they've listened to some of his music. :-)]

Big story on early work on the international "Mission To Earth" project,
now a major focus of the 1992 International Space Year.  Initial efforts
will focus on the greenhouse effect, deforestation, and standardizing
data formats so that countries can use each other's data.  There is
broad political support for it, and various major environmental problems
of late have strengthened the case.

USAF selects Boeing, General Dynamics, and the Martin Marietta / McDonnell
Douglas team as the finalists in the Advanced Launch System effort.  All
three will do detailed design work in the next two years.  There is no
longer a requirement for a near-term interim ALS; the late 1990s is now
the target date.  Boeing's earlier concept -- they will not say whether
this is their current best idea -- looked somewhat like a shuttle minus
the SRBs, with the winged part being a flyback booster and the "external
tank" part being the core that would go on to orbit.  General Dynamics
is looking at a concept with two side-by-side stages, both firing at
liftoff but only one (with fewer engines) going all the way to orbit
with a payload on top; the "first" stage engines would be recovered and
reused a few times before final use on a "second" stage.  MM/MD has three
ideas, all using a common core stage:  #1 uses solid strap-ons in various
numbers, #2 uses liquid strap-ons with the same engine type as the core,
#3 uses either one or two flyback boosters.

Arianespace signs six very small satellites for piggyback launch on the
Ariane 4 that carries Spot 2 up, using a new small-payload platform to
fit in the lower part of the payload fairing.  Max total mass is 200 kg,
max individual mass is 40 kg.  The six are amateur-radio satellites,
two from U of Surrey and four from Amsat.  Target launch date is June 1989,
but it could be as early as January if Spot Image invokes a clause in
its contract that could be used to give Spot 2 special priority.

Rocketdyne engineers are assessing a possible problem with excessive shaft
travel in a LOX pump on one of Discovery's main engines.  It is within spec
but surprisingly large for the brief FRF test.  [I believe this is now
thought to have been measurement error.]  With the exception of the possible
small hydrogen leak, suspected to be due to microscopic changes in the
shapes of seals at cryogenic temperatures, no other significant problems
surfaced after the FRF.

Space is, surprisingly, becoming a bit of a political issue in the US
election, perhaps because the resumption of shuttle flights will occur
not long before the election, and there is heavy space involvement in
several key election states.  Dukakis and Bentsen visit NASA centers.
Dukakis comes out more strongly in favor of "a permanently manned space
station" than before.  Republican Party platform calls for a manned Mars
mission and resumption of lunar exploration (eventually).

NASA's inspector general begins investigation into last year's award of
$360k to establish an industry association for commercial space firms.
This is a large lump by normal NASA educational/nonprofit grant standards,
and ex-NASA people are involved.  A lot of questions are being asked.

Final pre-launch SRB test was run Aug 18, successful at first glance.

West German commercial crystal-growth experiment, flown as a secondary
payload on a Chinese satellite, is recovered and returned to Germany.
Initial results look good.

Several articles on recent SDI technology work.

NASA studying yet another possible shuttle hazard:  noctilucent clouds,
high-altitude ice-crystal clouds which are not uncommon at high latitudes
in summer.  The problem is what happens if a reentering shuttle goes
through one:  they occur at altitudes where the shuttle is still at
near-orbital velocities.  Simulations suggest that the shuttle might
"skip" on the cloud layer, producing large navigational errors and
attitude changes, and it is possible that the crystals might erode the
shuttle tiles.  Three studies are underway:  one aimed at understanding
the clouds better (not a lot is known about them, and one major unknown
is whether the ice crystals are big enough to get through the shuttle's
shock wave without vaporizing), one studying the effects of substantial
tile erosion during reentry, and one looking at the operational impact
of using only low-latitude reentry tracks.  The latter would be a nuisance
because for high-inclination missions, reentry windows for low-latitude
tracks generally occur in the middle of the crews' sleep period.  Another
issue is that nobody is *certain* that noctilucent clouds don't occur at
low latitudes or in winter.  That aside, the clouds are not an issue for
STS-26, which will be in a low-inclination orbit.

It looks like automated production technology will be a major issue in
the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor competition, if NASA's proposed specs
for quality and reliability are to be met while staying within cost and
performance targets.  [This sounds ominously like NASA is pushing a bit
too hard.]  The definitive ASRM RFP, expected mid-July, has not come out
as of mid-August; Congressional funding battles are believed to be the
reason.

Morton Thiokol has officially withdrawn from ASRM, but NASA still classes
them as a potential bidder.  There is speculation that MT may try to use
lobbying and its Congressional allies to kill ASRM, by proposing a less
ambitious souped-up version of the current SRB at lower cost.

ASRM will be [sigh] a segmented design, due to the development risks
involved in casting million-pound quantities of propellant in one go.
[Yet another case of NASA telling the contractors how to do their jobs,
instead of setting performance specs and watching how well the jobs
are done.  And a silly one, too:  one-piece big motors have been built
and fired successfully.  (Under NASA contract, yet.)]  The casing will
be lighter and the propellant more powerful than the current SRB, with
a "saddle" in the thrust profile to eliminate the need to throttle
back the main engines during the period of maximum aerodynamic pressure.
(NASA engineers would like to see the main engines messed with as little
as possible early in flight, when safe aborts in the event of major engine
trouble are tricky.)  Better production controls will reduce variation in
performance between boosters.  The proposed government-owned site, at
Yellow Creek, Miss., has caused some concern because it is in a remote
area that will be unattractive to workers; at least one of the bidders
is proposing an alternate site as a hedge against practical or political
problems with Yellow Creek.  (In particular, Congress is lukewarm about
the idea of making the plant government-owned.)

Israel Aircraft Industries reserves 1993 Ariane launch slot for the
first of two Amos domestic comsats to be built in Israel.  The go-ahead
for Amos is awaiting a decision from the Israeli government:  funding
and management are commercial but the Communications Ministry is a
crucial customer.
--
NASA is into artificial        |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
stupidity.  - Jerry Pournelle  | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry [e-mail]

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

Date: 12 Sep 88 16:06:11 GMT
From: mtwain.dec.com![e-mail]  (CUP/ML, MLO5-2/G1 8A, 223-3283)
Subject: China launches first weather satellite; ESA launches US satellites.


        The following is from the Thursday, September 8, 1988 edition
    of THE BOSTON GLOBE:

        "China launches weather satellite"

        Beijing - China yesterday [September 7] launched its first
    experimental weather satellite, THE WIND AND CLOUD NO. 1, the official
    Xinhua news agency said.  The satellite was launched by a LONG MARCH
    4 rocket from a space [center] in Taiyuan, north-central China,
    Xinhua said.  It will transmit information on clouds, Earth's surface,
    marine water color, vegetation growth, ocean surface temperatures,
    and ice and snow to satellite ground stations worldwide, the news
    agency said (AP).

        The following is from the Friday, September 9, 1988 edition
    of THE BOSTON GLOBE:

        "Europeans launch two US satellites"

        Kourou, French Guiana - An ARIANE rocket blasted into space
    yesterday [September 8], lifting into orbit two American satellites
    destined to upgrade telephone and television service in the United
    States.  Liftoff took place without a hitch from the European Space
    Agency's [ESA] launch site on the edge of the Guianian jungle, on
    the northeastern coast of South America.  The satellites belong to
    GTE-Spacenet and Satellite Transponder Leasing Corporation, a division
    of IBM (AP).

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

Date: Tue, 27 Sep 88 09:17:23 -0400 (EDT)
From: Ted Anderson <[e-mail]>
Subject: NASA Release marking 30th Anniversary

Peter Yee at NASA Ames has posted a NASA Release marking the October 1st
anniversary of NASA.  This is release 88-129 by Mary Sandy.  It reviews
NASA's history and current goals.  It runs about 650 lines so instead
of including it in the digest I'll make it available to anyone who requests
it.  Send a note to me or [e-mail] and I'll forward you
a copy.
    Ted Anderson

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

Date: 22 Sep 88 21:22:04 GMT
From: [e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Update on Radio Programs (Forwarded)

1.)  THIS IS AN UPDATE.
The October radio programs, the "Space Story & Frontiers" will be
aired on NASA Select, Mon. Sep. 26th at 1:30 p.m. Eastern.  There
may be more changes.

This month's shows feature:

AN ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

Four Weekly Programs, 4 min., 30 sec. each and Frontiers: four 90
second verisions of the Space Story.

#1292  Flying High for Thirty Years
(Feat.  Duncan McIver, Hdqts.)
USE:  09/26/88 THRU 10/02/88

#1293  An Inside Look on 30 Years of Manned Space Flight
(Feat.  Alan Aldrich, Hdqts.)
USE:  10/03/88 THRU 10/09/88

#1294  30 Years of Space Science and Applications
(Feat.  Samuel Keller, Hdqts.)
USE:  10/10/88 THRU 10/16/88

#1295  Planning the Next 30 Years
(Feat.  Alan Ladwig, Hdqts.)
USE:  10/17/88 THRU 10/23/88

2.) Broadcast News Service

This service provides the news media with astronaut actualities
up to 10 days prior to a shuttle mission, and is available Monday
through Friday from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm.  The correct phone
number for the Broadcast News Service is (XXX) YYY-ZZZZ.  The
press kit for STS-26 has the incorrect number on page 3.

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

Date: Fri, 23 Sep 88 08:45:28 -0400 (EDT)
From: Ted Anderson <[e-mail]>
X-Andrew-Message-Size: 454+0
Subject: Space station history article available
Cc: [e-mail],
        Space-Request <[e-mail]>

I have received a message from [e-mail] which includes the
text of an article published in Technology Review on the History of the Space
Station.  The article was written by Phillip D. Hattis and appeared in the July
1988 issue, pp. 28-40.  The text runs about 36Kbytes so I won't include it in
the digest but anyone who wants a copy should drop me (or
[e-mail]) a line and I'll forward it to them.
        Ted Anderson

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

Date: 24 Sep 88 19:16:25 GMT
From: nunki.usc.edu!castor.usc.edu![e-mail]  (Steven Magnani)
Subject: Grad programs in avionics?


Hello!

I have a friend who will soon be completing her BS in electrical
engineering. She is interested in doing graduate work in
electronic systems for space vehicles; I believe this is called
avionics. However, the programs she's looked at so far seem to
be for M.E.'s or Aero/Astro people -- they require lots of study of
aerodynamics, fluid dynamics, and the like.

Are there any schools that have graduate programs in avionics for
electrical engineers? i.e. the control theory and issues involved,
without getting too deeply into Aero/Astro or ME considerations? Is it
reasonable to expect that there is such a program? Or are space systems
so complicated that one must be well versed in the physical design of
space vehicles before one can work on the electrical design?

Thanks in advance!

   Steve

[Note: followups go to sci.electronics -- change this if appropriate!]
 Steven J. Magnani               "I claim this network for MARS!
                                  Earthling, return my space modulator!"

 With a domain server:  [e-mail]

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

End of SPACE Digest V8 #381
*******************