Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V09_5/V9_576.TXT

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Subject: SPACE Digest V9 #576

SPACE Digest                                      Volume 9 : Issue 576

Today's Topics:
             A&E channel coverage
               Re: Space Quest
        Re: Catch-A-Planet (was:Re:Curiosity)
            Re: Questions about Apollo 11
                NASA Select TV
             It was 20 years ago today...
              Re: Apollo Ascent Modules
        Re: Catch-A-Planet (was:Re:Curiosity)
                Re: Apollo 10
                Re: Apollo 10
                 Re: Spinoffs
              Re: Anniversaries
               Re: latest Quayle gaffe
              Re: Impossible Space Goals
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 21 Jul 89 03:48:15 GMT
From: asuvax!enuxha![e-mail]  (Norman C. Kluksdahl)
Subject: A&E channel coverage

Would any of you who happened to tape the A&E coverage of the apollo 11
stuff please, please let me know if I could manage to get a copy?

(Our cable is an iffy thing--and consequently, we don't get it when we
need it.)
Thanks in advance.

**********************************************************************
Norman Kluksdahl              Arizona State University
            ..ncar!noao!asuvax!enuxha!kluksdah
alternate:   [e-mail]

standard disclaimer implied

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

Date: 21 Jul 89 17:01:08 GMT
From: [e-mail]  (Dan Pezely)
Subject: Re: Space Quest

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Fred Walter) writes:
>I don't see what benefit the space contractors would get out of it. They'd
>be giving up something (whatever they gave you); in return they'd get more
>people telling them what to do - people who don't have any money to pay
>for putting payloads in space.

Hopefully, they would be telling themselves what to do.  The Space Quest
Foundation will be there just to setup up the whole thing.  The actual
adminestrative corporation would be formed by the contractors.  We might
help with personnel placement, facilities, etc, but it will be entirely
within their control.

>I'm interested in doing something, but I don't see the above ever happening.
>No company interested in turning a profit will give up something just to get
>more administration. If I've misinterpreted something, please let me know.

It will definitely never happen unless we try.  This is a start point.
I plan on doing something, and I think big.  If enough corporations are
asked, then maybe something will happen.

>However, the above does give me some ideas...

That's one of the purposes of Space Quest!

- Daniel

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

Date: 21 Jul 89 21:33:06 GMT
From: unmvax!aplcen![e-mail]  (Ken Arromdee)
Subject: Re: Catch-A-Planet (was:Re:Curiosity)

> Off-the-wall observation here, which probably belongs in
> talk.religion.newage:  the Dogon tribe, among others in Africa, have rather
> precise astronomical information on the period of Sirius B, the white
> dwarf companion of Sirius.  It can't be seen by the naked eye (by a long
> shot), yet this knowledge is thousands of years old.  When asked how they
> know this, the shamans answer that they just speak to the inhabitants of
> a planet orbiting around there.  Dialogs with the "Sirius beings" are
> very old, dating to at least pre-pyramid Egypt.

Sigh.  I suppose this _should_ belong in sci.skeptic, if that group ever
gets created.  The people in question had ample contact with Europeans to
have gotten the information.

If you could give me a source for your claims that dialogs date to "pre-pyramid
Egypt", I'd like to see it.
--
"The fact is self evident from the text and requires no supporting argument."
  --Tim Maroney

Kenneth Arromdee (UUCP: ....!jhunix!ins_akaa; BITNET: g49i0188@jhuvm;
     INTERNET: [e-mail]) (please, no mail to arrom@aplcen)

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

Date: 21 Jul 89 14:58:17 GMT
From: cica!ctrsol!uakari!larry![e-mail]  (Jeffrey W Percival)
Subject: Re: Questions about Apollo 11

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Wayne D. T. Johnson) writes:
>The one thing that stuck me was the pictures of the LEM lifting off.  And
>in color at that.  If I remember right, the first color TV camera was on
>Apollo 12, and I thing this was also the first time that they left the
>camera on for lift off.

Yeah, and sound too.  The journalistic equivalence of colorizing.

I was surprised and offended by this, coming from an organization
that takes out full page advertisements in the Times slobbering
about excellence in news and reporting.  I next expected them
to superimpose pictures of Michael Jackson over the LEM.  Bah.
--
Jeff Percival ([e-mail])

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

Date: 19 Jul 89 14:25:17 GMT
From: att!chinet![e-mail]  (John Mundt)
Subject: NASA Select TV

I need to know the frequency of NASA's Select TV which will be
showing the Voyager flyby of Neptune in August.  I have it on
SATCOM F2R, transponder 13, but the cable people need frequency
and whether it is KU or CARS (?).  A schedule of broadcast hours
would be nice too :-).  Thanks
--
---------------------
John Mundt   Teachers' Aide, Inc.  P.O. Box 1666  Highland Park, IL
[e-mail]
[phone] (Day voice) || -432-8860 (Answer Mach) && -432-5386 Modem

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

Date: 20 Jul 89 15:44:24 GMT
From: iris![e-mail]  (Todd)
Subject: It was 20 years ago today...


Need I say anymore?

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

Date: 20 Jul 89 17:00:44 GMT
From: bfmny0![e-mail]  (Tom Neff)
Subject: Re: Apollo Ascent Modules

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Bill Chiarchiaro) writes:
>I checked the NASA Satellite Situation Report, Vol. 28, No. 4, Dec.
>31, 1988 for non-booster Apollo items still in orbit.  Here's what I
>found:
>
>Int'l Desig.    Catalog #    Name        Orbit        Mission
>
>1969 043C    3948        LM/DESCENT    Selenocentric    Apollo 10
 ...
>1969 059C    4041        LUNAR MODULE    Selenocentric    Apollo 11
 ...
>1972 031C    6005        LUNAR MODULE    Selenocentric    Apollo 16

If 10's descent module was severed before the crew boosted back to high
orbit from something with ~ 10km perilune, does this mean that the LM/D
is supposed to still be swooping down to 10km AGL several times a day?
That would be exciting if true.  However I don't believe it.

There may be little atmospheric drag to deal with, but those MASCONS
discovered from Lunar Orbiter onward must play merry hell with anything
in a low orbit.  10's LM/D is splashed.  It'd be interesting to know
where.  Some day a 3-meter Lunar mapping project will come across all
the Apollo hardware, I'm sure, plus assorted Zonds and Rangers and
Lunar Orbiters[?] and whatnot.
--
"My God, Thiokol, when do you     \\    Tom Neff
want me to launch -- next April?"  \\    uunet!bfmny0!tneff

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

Date: 19 Jul 89 16:54:00 GMT
From: ssc-vax!shuksan!tahoma![e-mail]  (James P. Galasyn)
Subject: Re: Catch-A-Planet (was:Re:Curiosity)

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] writes:

>   You see, the chances of detection will strongly depend on the method of
> observation. In most cases we are far from having the appropriate tech-
> nology, but in other cases we are pretty close.

[stuff on detecting terrestrial planets around other stars deleted]

> * by contacting people in those planets. Self-explanatory.

 Off-the-wall observation here, which probably belongs in
 talk.religion.newage:  the Dogon tribe, among others in Africa, have rather
 precise astronomical information on the period of Sirius B, the white
 dwarf companion of Sirius.  It can't be seen by the naked eye (by a long
 shot), yet this knowledge is thousands of years old.  When asked how they
 know this, the shamans answer that they just speak to the inhabitants of
 a planet orbiting around there.  Dialogs with the "Sirius beings" are
 very old, dating to at least pre-pyramid Egypt.

 Now, I wouldn't want to be living next to any blue-white giants like
 Sirius, but maybe somebody can.  Maybe we're going about this SETI thing
 the wrong way.  We should be hiring shamans from Africa to search through
 the nearest stars...

 Only half-joking,


                  .                      I've seen things you people wouldn't
    DEATH       .  ..                    believe.  Attack ships on fire off
              .     . .                  the shoulder of Orion.  I've  watched
      .     .        .  .                sea-beams glitter in the dark by the
    .  .. .           .   .   .          Tannhauser gate.  All these moments
  .     . .            .    .  ..        will be lost in time, like tears
.        .  .           .     . . .      in rain.   Time to die.   - Roy Baty

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

Date: 20 Jul 89 17:07:42 GMT
From: [e-mail]  (Eugene Miya)
Subject: Re: Apollo 10

Gees, a bunch of romantics 8).

This is one of the reasons why they selected military test pilots (ability
to follow some orders 8).  To quote a Commander who will go unnamed,
this is why you select officers out.  To get to that level you have
weeded out the people who would consider things like that.  It has
advantages and disadvantages, and they have been considered thru the
years.  But if you ever apply for such a job in the near future, and
you get a what-if question like this, you had best consider your
answer carefully, and the consequences of lying 8).

In a different vein.  I just heard GB's space speech this morning.
Totally uninspired.  Just seeking media attention.  Next week it
will be something else.  Wanting cake and eating it, too.  Maybe
we need an Alpha Centari initiative 8).  Take us away from B-2s.

Another gross generalization from

--eugene miya, NASA Ames Research Center, [e-mail]
  resident cynic at the Rock of Ages Home for Retired Hackers:
  "You trust the `reply' command with all those different mailers out there?"
  "If my mail does not reach you, please accept my apology."
  {ncar,decwrl,hplabs,uunet}!ames!eugene
                  Live free or die.

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

Date: 20 Jul 89 18:19:45 GMT
From: gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!ginosko!aplcen!stda.jhuapl.edu![e-mail]  (Jim Meritt)
Subject: Re: Apollo 10

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Eugene Miya) writes:
}Gees, a bunch of romantics 8).
}
}This is one of the reasons why they selected military test pilots (ability
}to follow some orders 8).


I sort of thought the CBS version sounded good...

Since the entire flight was going to be done on an open mike, you wanted
people that could, if necessary, die well.    :-(  (bummer!)

Sounds like military test pilots to me...


"In these matters the only certainty is that nothing is certain"
                    - Pliny the Elder
These were the opinions of :
[e-mail]  - or - [e-mail]  - or - meritt%aplvm.BITNET

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

Date: 20 Jul 89 18:02:09 GMT
From: cwjcc!hal!nic.MR.NET!ns![e-mail]  (John Logajan)
Subject: Re: Spinoffs

[e-mail] (Jim Meritt) writes:
> Thousands, perhaps millions, of people owe their lives to something that
> you can only do with a space program.

Pardon my late entry into the spinoff debate -- but one must always remember
that resources that went to the space program were therefore not available
to go toward other uses.  We cannot know what advances would have resulted
if those resources were not in fact diverted toward space.  A good guess would
be that the advances would have been different -- but not necessarily less
important.  The possibility always exists that in diverting resources toward
space, we have actually harvested less important spinoffs than we might
otherwise have gotten.

Since this we obviously cannot predict such matters, the spinoff argument
becomes pointless.  The best we can do is leave such matters up to the choice
of individuals in the form of the free-market.

--
- John M. Logajan @ Network Systems; 7600 Boone Ave; Brooklyn Park, MN 55428  -
- [e-mail] / ...rutgers!umn-cs!ns!logajan / [e-mail] -

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

Date: 20 Jul 89 19:46:16 GMT
From: [e-mail]  (Eugene Miya)
Subject: Re: Anniversaries

Mike points out dates of the atomic bomb and Apollo.
This is more than just coincidence, but it somewhat political.
In all cases, and also note Viking Lander as well.  There was
some deliberate attempt to shoot (pun not intended) for July 4.
Subject of available technology, etc. of course, but you will
find writings in all these projects which note awareness of these
dates.  Certainly there was no longer term planning for this to take
place, but nearer term, sure.  Note Viking's Bicentennial Logo.
The analogy with fireworks is pretty obvious in all cases.
But then Queen Elizabeth's corination occured about the same time as
the ascent of Mt. Everest.  This is getting away from space.

Another gross generalization from

--eugene miya, NASA Ames Research Center, [e-mail]
  resident cynic at the Rock of Ages Home for Retired Hackers:
  "You trust the `reply' command with all those different mailers out there?"
  "If my mail does not reach you, please accept my apology."
  {ncar,decwrl,hplabs,uunet}!ames!eugene
                  Live free or die.

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

Date: 20 Jul 89 22:26:16 GMT
From: vsi1!v7fs1![e-mail]  (Mike Van Pelt)
Subject: Re: latest Quayle gaffe

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jonathan Patrick Leech) writes:
>Perhaps this is a heretical thought, but it seems to me that
>Quayle is actually doing a *good job* as chairman of the NSC.

WHAT!!!  This statement shows a complete lack of POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
and you can expect a visit from the Thought Police very soon!

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Seriously, though, Quale looks to be one of those people whose
tongue is disengaged from his brain.  Gerald Ford is another.
It doesn't mean the man is an idiot.  You're right, he *does*
seem to be doing a good job as chairman of the NSC.
--
"Ain't nothin' in the middle                  Mike Van Pelt
o' the road, 'cept a yellow                   Headland Technology/Video 7
line and dead 'possums."                      ...ames!vsi1!v7fs1!mvp

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

Date: 21 Jul 89 00:09:37 GMT
From: bfmny0![e-mail]  (Tom Neff)
Subject: Re: Impossible Space Goals

>Whoa right back.  Ranger was indeed launched to answer this question.
>Rangers 3-5 had seismometers encased in balsa spheres, attached to
>retrorockets.  These packages were supposed to separate from the main
>spacecraft, brake to a stop 1100 feet altitude, jettison the retros,
>then fall from there.  After rolling to a stop, they were to transmit
>readings back.  If the balls sank into dust, the signals would reflect
>that.

Damn.  David's completely correct and I am a complete fool to have
forgotten the balsa breakaways.  I remember being fascinated by the
idea of WOOD on the moon at the time!

My public apologies.

Phone Tree Alert - Full Funding for Ranger Mark II!

--
10 news postings = 18 Neff-Minutes  |  John Q. American at Deere School
(NM's). -- The Pentagon             |  [e-mail]

--
"My God, Thiokol, when do you     \\    Tom Neff
want me to launch -- next April?"  \\    uunet!bfmny0!tneff

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

End of SPACE Digest V9 #576
*******************