Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V09_5/V9_525.TXT

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Subject: SPACE Digest V9 #525

SPACE Digest                                      Volume 9 : Issue 525

Today's Topics:
          Voyager 2 Status for 06/27/89 (Forwarded)
           Tanner to leave NASA (Forwarded)
         more on Discovery "alien spacecraft"
         Size limits for rotating Space Ship?
           Re: Satellite Images - at home!
               Apollo question
               private space companies
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 28 Jun 89 00:47:18 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Voyager 2 Status for 06/27/89 (Forwarded)


                  Voyager 2 Status Bulletin
                        June 27, 1989


     Voyager 2 this week received and began executing the
second load of commands of the observatory phase of the
Neptune encounter.  The five-week-long command load
continues imaging and periodic ultraviolet scans of Neptune.
In late July, the spacecraft cameras will begin photographic
searches for Neptune's uneven ring system and for new
Neptunian moons that would be undetectable from Earth.

     Efforts on Wednesday, June 28, will focus on a rehearsal
of radio science measurements associated with the
near-encounter period.  The operations readiness test
will involve antennas and other ground equipment at the Deep
Space Network complexes, the Very Large Array in Socorro, New
Mexico, Japan's Usuda Radio Telescope and Australia's Parkes
Radio Observatory.  Altogether, 38 antennas on four
continents will send or receive Voyager 2 telemetry or radio
science data during the Neptune encounter.

     Because the best radio "view" of Voyager and Neptune
is from Earth's southern hemisphere, the most critical Deep
Space Network tracking will occur at the Australian site.
Two of the three largest antennas (one 34-meter and one
70-meter dish) will be assisted in receiving Voyager's
signal by the 64-meter Parkes Radio Observatory about
200 miles away.  During the most important encounter
period, the huge, super-sensitive antennas will
simultaneously gather Voyager's faint transmissions, the
strength of which amounts to only one 10-quadrillionths
(1/10,000,000,000,000th) of a watt by the time the signal
strikes the 70-meter antenna surface.  An electronic digital
wristwatch operates at a power level 20 billion times
greater.



DISTANCE TO EARTH:   2,663,767,000 miles
DISTANCE TO NEPTUNE:     52,687,000 miles
HELIOCENTRIC VELOCITY:   42,209 mph

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

Date: 28 Jun 89 00:44:20 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Tanner to leave NASA (Forwarded)

Mark Hess
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                     June 27, 1989


RELEASE:  89-103


TANNER TO LEAVE NASA

     E. Ray Tanner, Deputy Director, Space Station Freedom
Program and Operations, announced today he plans to retire from
NASA effective July 15, 1989.

     Dr. William B. Lenoir, Associate Administrator for Space
Station named Jim Sisson as acting Deputy Director.  Sisson
currently serves as Deputy Program Manager for the Space Station
Freedom Program Office located in Reston, Va., a position he has
held since November 1986.

     Prior to coming to NASA Headquarters, Sisson held key
management posts at the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville,
Ala., where he was for 24 years, including Manager of the
Tethered Satellite System Project, Manager of the Shuttle
Projects Office's Engineering and Major Test Management Office
and Chief Engineer and later Manager of the Lunar Roving Vehicle
Project.  He received a bachelors degree in aeronautical
engineering in 1958 from Oklahoma University, and studied atomic
and nuclear physics at the University of Alabama.

     Tanner came to the Washington area last December to head the
Space Station Freedom Program Office in Reston, Va.  Prior to
that, Tanner was Manager of the Space Station Projects Office at
the Marshall Center which is one of four major work packages
involved in the design, test and operation of the Freedom Space
Station, a post he had held since August 1988.

     Tanner joined NASA and the Marshall center in 1960.  He held
various key management positions, including chief engineer for
the Spacelab program from 1979 until 1983, and Deputy Manager of
the Spacelab Program Office from 1983 until 1986.  He was named
Associate Director for Space Systems in the Science and
Engineering Directorate in December 1986.

     He was promoted to Deputy Director for Space Systems in that
directorate where he was responsible for assuring engineering
adequacy of the Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope, Advanced
X-Ray Astrophysics Facility, payloads integrated into the
Spacelab orbital laboratory and other payloads assigned to
Marshall.

     Prior to joining NASA, Tanner worked in the flight control
division, Army Ballistic Missile Agency, Redstone Arsenal.  He
was born in Decatur, Ala., in 1934 and received a bachelor of
science degree in mathematics from Athens College, Ala., in
1965.  He has received numerous NASA awards, including the NASA
Exceptional Service Medal in 1983.

     Tanner is married to the former Mary Zinsmeister of Cullman,
Ala.  They have three children.

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

Date: 27 Jun 89 22:43:44 GMT
From: zephyr!tektronix!orca!tolkien.WV.TEK.COM![e-mail]
Subject: more on Discovery "alien spacecraft"

The Quarterly Report (1st Quarter 1989) of the Fund for UFO
Research includes this item:

"In mid-March, the Executive Committee was informed that a
Baltimore resident had recorded a very provocative statement made
during a 'ham' radio rebroadcast of the communications between the
space shuttle Discovery and Houston ground control.  The statement
as recorded was as follows: 'Uh, Houston, this is Discovery.  We still
have that alien spacecraft under (observance?).'  To this there was
no response from Houston.  (The last word is a bit ambiguous, but the
other words -- including 'alien spacecraft' are completely clear.)
Subsequent investigations showed that the hams were
rebroadcasting 'raw' communications from the spacecraft, rather
than communications which had been passed first through Houston
control.  The so-called 'NASA select' audio channel, which was
transmitted by Houston to the Press and other interested news
media, *does not include this statement*.

This audio tape initiated a search for confirmation that it had, in
fact, come from the spacecraft [Discovery, of course, :-)] and was
not some bizarre hoax by a ham radio operator who transmitted on
the same frequency as the Goddard ham station (WA3NAN).  The Fund
immediately arranged for a voice analysis to determine if the
transmission was authentic and if so, which astronaut made the
statement.  At this writing, the analysis was inconclusive."

If anyone on the net can add any substantive information to help us
get to the bottom of this probable hoax, please email or post to the net.
(CSICOPers and fanatic skeptics: please don't waste net bandwidth
with more gratuitous UFO ridicule, which only confirms your
ignorance of the UFO literature.)

Thanks in advance for any substantive responses.


-Keith Rowell, Tektronix, Wilsonville, OR   [e-mail]

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

Date: 27 Jun 89 06:39:15 GMT
From: uhccux!munnari.oz.au!wcc![e-mail]  (Tom Evans)
Subject: Size limits for rotating Space Ship?

At a lecture I went to a year ago, a graph was shown giving the size
limits for a space station providing artificial gravity by rotation.
The max. size limit is due to material strength (two capsules on a
rope).  The min. size limit is due to coriolis effects in the inner ear.

There were other limits (the graph looked like a metallurgical phase
diagram). Does anybody know the real figures please?

Please post or Cc: me - this group is too popular.

                ---------
Tom Evans  [e-mail]        |
Webster Computer Corp P/L    | "The concept of my
1270 Ferntree Gully Rd        |  existence is an
Scoresby VIC 3179    Australia    |  approximation"
Australia            |
61-3-764-1100  FAX ...[phone]    |      D. Conway

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

Date: 26 Jun 89 12:09:31 GMT
From: mcvax!euroies!kom![e-mail]
Subject: Re: Satellite Images - at home!

In article <53*[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Kerry Stevenson) writes:
> Recently, I read a book about amateur radio which told me all about radio, and
> mentioned briefly the concept of listening in on signals transmitted from
> various type of earth orbiting satellites.  Although this in itself is not too
> difficult, the book mentioned that some individuals have managed to capture
> video signals, from weather satellites for example, and using their home
> computer systems have actually printed out images.  Also, a recent article in
> Spaceflight detailed the impressive setup owned by a Briton, who had managed
> to print out oceanic images from the Soviet Okean satellite.  This topic is
> of some interest to me and I have the following questions:
>
> - Is this a common activity, or is it done by just a few deranged people?
> - What types of satellites are popular for capturing images?
> - What equipment (other than computing hardware) is required?
> - Are there legalities involved? e.g. are SPOT images encoded?
> - Most importantly, are there any referenes, official or otherwise which
>   can be used to find out more detail?
>

I won't say its a common hobby, but quite a few people do pursue it. I am
actually in Dublin (Ireland), and I know of only three or four others in the
country who can receive pictures from weather satellites. It is more common in
the UK.

The most popular satellites are NOAA 9, 10 and 11 (USA); the Meteor, Cosmos and
Okean series (USSR), and the Meteosat series of geosynchronous satellites.
The NOAAs transmit visible-light and infra-red pictures, and the Meteors
transmit visible-light pictures. The Okean satellite sometimes transmits radar
images, but tends to be somewhat intermittent. Meteosat transmits regularly
once an hour, but the picture format changes. Visible-light and infra-red
images of the helisphere below the satellite, or selected sections are
broadcast at various times during the day. The meteosat images are the only
ones which have continental outlines superimposed on the images.

To receive images from satellites, the first piece of equipment you require is
a radio receiver which can receive in the 136-138MHz range. Next you need some
form of decoder which feeds the signal into either a framestore or a computer
for subsequent storage/display. A simple crossed-dipole aerial is all you need
to catch the signal. This basic setup allows you to receive transmissions from
the polar orbiting satellites, but not Meteosat. Since Meteosat transmits at
1690GHz, a downconverter is needed along with a dish aerial and a pre-amp to
boost the signal.

My current kit regularly receives/displays weather pictures from the NOAA
series of satellites. I will shortly be upgrading it so I can display images
from the Russian satellites. The equipment I assembled myself, from electronic
kits supplied by a UK company.

A license is required for receiving pictures from the NOAA satellites, but this
is a mere formality.

The only organisation I know of who are dedicated to weather satellite picture
reception are the Remote Imaging Group in the UK. They also supply a range of
equipment at reasonable prices. They can probably put you in touch with someone
closer to home. The person to contact is:

Phil Seaford, 14 Nevis Close, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire LU7 7XD, England.
(Phil is the Secretary of the Remote Imaging Group, and Editor of the groups
quarterly Newsletter.)

---------------------------+---------------------------------------------------
 Gary Nugent,              | Internet:   [e-mail]
 System Support Specialist,| EARN/Bitnet:[e-mail]
 EuroKom,                  | uucp:       [e-mail]
 University College Dublin,| EuroKom:    [e-mail]
 Dublin 4,                 | Janet:      [e-mail]-relay
 Ireland.                  | PSImail:    PSI%027243159000637::GNUGENT
---------------------------+
"Astronomers love watching | Phone:      [phone]
 heavenly bodies."         | Telex:      (0500) 91178 UCD EI
---------------------------+---------------------------------------------------

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

Date: 28 Jun 89 19:45:07 GMT
From: [e-mail]  (Phillip MacQueen)
Subject: Apollo question


  Did any of the astronauts ever see the Apollo command/service module while
they were on the lunar surface?  This was probably possible because of the
dark daytime sky, and the large size, high reflectivity and low altitude of
the orbiting spacecraft.

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

Date: 28 Jun 89 19:53:38 GMT
From: ccncsu!handel.colostate.edu![e-mail]  (Chris Bogart)
Subject: private space companies

I made the following request a while back:
>
>    I understand there are, or have been, several private corporations working
> on their own launch vehicles, under a loosening of restrictions on non-NASA
> launches.  Does anyone know if any of these comanies still exist?  Please
> reply by e-mail and I'll post a summary of responses I get.
>    I'm interested more in for-profit companies intending to put up
> communication satellites or whatever, than in futurist groups like the L-5
> society.  Thanks for your help,

Here are the (edited) responses I got:

-----
From: Dave Newkirk, att!ihlpm!dcn

AMROC  - has completed most of its testing and is preparing
         for its first paying customer launch in July.
Third Millenium - still in the design process
SSI - has already done some suborbital launches using readily available
      solid boosters, and is planning more.
Orbital Systems

-----
From: argosy![e-mail] (Kevin Van Horn)

Yes.  Here are the ones I know about.  They are all developing launchers for
small (~1000 lb.) payloads, though some of them plan to also do larger
launchers.

Pacific American Launch Systems
  Developing the Liberty I launcher.  They have been built and tested at least
  one of the stages, and the Air Force is purchasing their test data from
  them.

Space Services Inc.
  Recently launched a suborbital microgravity experiment for a paying customer.

E-Prime
  I believe they plan on adapting MX boosters for commercial use.

American Rocket Co.
  Developing a hybrid rocket (solid fuel with a liquid oxidizer).  Around
  December they had completed a series of tests culminating in a full-duration
  burn of their basic motor.

Hercules - Orbital Sciences Corp.
  These two established companies are collaborating to build the Pegasus,
  a small launcher which is launched by dropping it from an airplane.  It
  has small wings so that it can take off nearly horizontally, spending its
  effort on attaining orbital velocity instead of on just staying off the
  ground.  I believe they have a launch this summer.

-----
From: boulder!utah-cs!esunix![e-mail] (Bob Pendleton)

OSC/Hercules. Building the Pegasus air launched vehicle. First launch
should be in about 2 months. 2 of the 3 stages have been static test
fired.

-----
From: Sylvia Jacyno   BITNET:  SJACYNO@UGA

[E'Prime info:]
  To get business plan and buying info:  (approx 18 cents/shr in 3/89)
       Gregg Sprigg
       First Eagle Inc, Denver, Col.
       1-800-525-4348

  From glossy souvenir brochure of November 88 launch:
       E'Prime Aerospace Corp
       PO Box 792
       Titusville, Fl 32781-0792
       phone   [phone]

 people you might contact (brief biographies in business plan!)
      Jack Dowling      staff
      Jim Mizell        publicity
      Rosie Bracewell   secretary
      Ed Bretzius       tech services manager
      Philip Chien      computer services

-----
Thanks to all the people who responded!

Chris Bogart      [e-mail]

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

End of SPACE Digest V9 #525
*******************