Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V10_0/V10_053.TXT

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Date: Sun, 17 Sep 89 20:25:51 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: SPACE Digest V10 #53

SPACE Digest                                      Volume 10 : Issue 53

Today's Topics:
           Re: U.S. commemorative stamp of VOYAGER?
        Re: Printing On a LaserWriter -- hints
          Re: Corporate Space Administration
           MPC Model Rocket Motors - Safety Alert!
             Re: Message on Mars
              Re: Neptune fly-by
            Book Review -Monuments of Mars
      Re: Was Voyager another damaging Apollo one-shot?
               Mars face online
     Re: Galileo Jovian atmospheric probe -- is it sterilized???
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 6 Sep 89 11:53:20 GMT
From: ncspm![e-mail]  (Jay C. Smith)
Subject: Re: U.S. commemorative stamp of VOYAGER?

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jeff Goldader)
writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jay C. Smith) writes:
>>Voyager has already been featured on a stamp.
>>There was a space achievements issue in 1981....
>
>I believe Pioneer was on those stamps....

And Jeff is absolutely right.  I went home and looked at those stamps and was
amazed at how ignorant I was in 1981.  It is indeed Pioneer 11 (or Pioneer
Saturn), but I guess the fact that Voyager was encountering Saturn at about
the time those stamps were issued must have been influencing me (also, it isn't
indicated on the stamp -- one must look closely at the illustration).  I
mentioned a communications or weather satellite featured on one of the stamps
in the block -- it's actually the Hubble Space Telescope, but I really didn't
know what it looked like in '81.

Perhaps a future Voyager issue will be a block of four featuring Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

--
"Good.  For a minute I thought we were in trouble."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Jay C. Smith                      uucp:     ...!mcnc!ncsuvx!ncspm!jay
Domain: [e-mail]        internet: [e-mail]

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

Date: 6 Sep 89 18:02:52 GMT
From: apple.com![e-mail]  (David Casseres)
Subject: Re: Printing On a LaserWriter -- hints

Just thought I'd clarify something here.  Laura Lemay's hints are correct
but the reasons she gives aren't exactly right.  Two kinds of reformatting
can happen when you print on a LaserWriter.  There is gross reformatting
where line breaks and page breaks are not in the same places as they were
on the screen; let's call this "document reformatting."  Then there is
subtle reformatting where the spacing of characters and words _within a
line_ is different; call this "line layout adjustment."

Document reformatting happens when you create your document with one type
of printer chosen and print it with another type of printer.  It has
nothing to do with fonts or Postscript; rather, it is caused by different
dimensions of the printable area of the page for each printer.  The
application gets these dimensions from the driver software and places line
and page breaks accordingly; if the type of printer changes, the
application has to change these line and page breaks.

Line layout adjustment happens whenever the printing resolution is not 72
dots/inch.  When this is the case a different font must be used (either
Postscript or bitmap) and the character widths are not exactly in the same
proportions as the ones on the screen.  The driver makes adjustments in
the spacing between words and between characters within each line so as to
make both ends of the line come out in the right places.  Generally the
adjustments are small and it takes a trained eye to see them (especially
the character-spacing adjustments within words).

If you use Adobe's screen fonts for Times and Helvetica, instead of
Apple's, the amount of line layout adjustment is minimized because the
character widths are more nearly in proportion to the ones in the
Postscript fonts.  But watch out!  If you have a document that was created
and formatted with Apple's screen fonts and you switch to the Adobe screen
fonts, the document will get reformatted just as if you changed it to a
different font altogether.

Finally, a word on automatic font substitution.  If you use Geneva on the
screen (Apple's default), it will be printed with Helvetica on a
Postscript printer.  Likewise New York is converted to Times and Monaco to
Courier.  In these cases the character widths match very poorly indeed and
the result is an ugly-looking document.  It's too bad because Geneva, New
York, and Monaco are more readable _on the screen_ than Times, Monaco, and
Courier, which are more readable on paper at 300 dpi.  A classic example
of the problem of converting from one medium to another, and a real thorn
in the side of WYSIWYG.

David Casseres

Exclaimer:  Hey!

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

Date: 6 Sep 89 19:29:32 GMT
From: ibmpa![e-mail]  (nick szabo)
Subject: Re: Corporate Space Administration

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Dan Pezely) writes:
>
>As I promised a few weeks ago, I will be starting an organization whose
>goal will be to unite all of the space contractors and other space
>organizations into one corporate space administration.
>...
>At the present time, this organization has no official name.
>...
>As far as overall goals go, how does having a single, non-NASA space
>agency with its own launch vehicles, space station, permanent station
>crew, and administration sound?

If these are going to be your goals, call yourselves YAWN (Yet Another
Wearisome NASA).

                                        1/2 :-)

"Know what everything costs."
                Donald Trump


--
--------------------------------------------
Nick Szabo
uunet!ibmsupt!szabonj
These opinions are not related to Big Blue's

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

Date: 6 Sep 89 19:50:22 GMT
From: att!cbnewsd![e-mail]  (R. M. Jungclas)
Subject: MPC Model Rocket Motors - Safety Alert!


Reprinted without permission from an article by Michael A. Banks
on Compuserve model.net dated August 31, 1989.

>(((PORTED FROM BIX, WITH PERMISSION FROM G. HARRY STINE)))
>TITLE: WARNING! BAD MOTOR ALERT! Within the past 30 days,
>numerous model rocket motors have appeared on the market in
>shops and stores in blister packs bearing the trademark of
>MPC (Model Products Division) of General Mills. These are 13 mm.
>and 18mm. A3-, B3-, B6- and C6 motors.  The packages bear the
>statement that the motors are Safety Certified by the NAR.

>These motors are no longer safety certified by the NAR!

>These motors were manufactured in 1971. They have been stored in
>warehouses in Wisconsin since that date. These warehouses have
>not had any climate control.  Hence, these motors have been
>temperature cycled through 18 summers and winters.

>MPC went out of business in 1971 and its follow-on company,
>AVI, went out in about 1975.

>NAR certification of these motors was withdrawn in about 1975.
>Hence, they are no longer certified and cannot be legally sold
>in any state whose laws and regulations follow NFPA 1122 Code
>for Unmanned Rockets, which is about 48 of the states.  They
>cannot be sold or used in the state of California, either, even
>though the packages bear the seal of the California Fire Marshal.

>We don't know at this time who brought these motors from the
>man who ran AVI and kept them warehoused all these years. We
>think we know.  In the meantime, the NAR is notifying the Fire
>Marshals Association of North America, the National Fire
>Protection Association, and any state public safety authority
>in whose state the motors are detected being sold.

>If you have purchased any of these model rocket motors, please
>do not use them.  There is no way of knowing at this point
>whether or not they're good or just a big firecracker. If you've
>bought some, take them back and get your money refunded.


I have some additional information.  MPC model rocket stuff has
been surfacing all over the country since last April. The known
list of states in which the stuff has been sold is California,
Nevada, Ohio, Virginia, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
The SAFETY ALERT applies only to the model rocket engines; the
MPC kits are usable.

Old MPC motors when properly stored are notorious for their
failures.  I have been told that there are 800,000 motor involved
and the current knowledge has the MPC stuff stored in tractor
trailers instead of warehouses.

It is rumored the the NAR is looking into legal action requiring
anyone found selling these engine to remove ALL references (both
exterior and interior) to the NAR certification.  It is believe
that this action will effectively prevent their sale to the
unsuspecting.

For more information, or if you have seen these motors being
sold please send me email.  I will forward the information
anonymously to the proper people in the NAR. Thanks!

R. Michael Jungclas                    UUCP:      att!ihlpb!rjungcla
AT&T Bell Labs - Naperville, IL.       Internet:  [e-mail]

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

Date: 6 Sep 89 13:39:02 GMT
From: ginosko!aplcen!stdb.jhuapl.edu![e-mail]  (Jim Meritt)
Subject: Re: Message on Mars

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Zev Sero) writes:
}In article <> [e-mail] (William Baxter) writes:
}
}> I have before me a post card which bears the profile of John F. Kennedy.
}> The startling likeness is a rock formation on the island of Maui,
}> Hawaii.
}
}How about Murphy's Nebula (or something to that effect) which was
}named for its striking resemblance to the cartoon caricature image
}of the late Lionel Murphy (Australian ex-Attorney General and High
}Court judge).  This is from recollection of a newspaper report about
}10 years ago, so I may have it all wrong.

THAT'S IT!!!

The Horsehead Nebula was built by Elvis!!!


Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily
represent those opinions of this or any other organization.  The facts,
however, simply are and do not "belong" to anyone.
[e-mail]  - or - [e-mail]  - or - meritt%aplvm.BITNET

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

Date: 5 Sep 89 05:21:41 GMT
From: uhccux!munnari.oz.au!murtoa.cs.mu.oz.au!otc!metro!basser!cluster![e-mail]  (James Ashton)
Subject: Re: Neptune fly-by

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jon Monsarrat "Dr. Who") writes:
>Could someone explain the reasoning behind having Voyager 2 fly off
>out of the solar system? ... This would have been possible with enough
>"braking" around Neptune, am I wrong?

Yes.  The only way to manage enough braking would be to use aerobraking
with Neptune's atmosphere.  Since the exact extent and composition of the
atmosphere is not known even now and certainly wasn't before the fly-by,
there was no way to accurately target the spacecraft.

                        James Ashton.

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

Date: 6 Sep 89 00:08:26 GMT
From: agate!bionet!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!hutto![e-mail]  (Henry Melton)
Subject: Book Review -Monuments of Mars


Book Review:
    The Monuments of Mars
    A City on the Edge of Forever
    by Richard C. Hoagland
    $14.95 North Atlantic Books  ISBN 0-938190-78-4

This is a flawed book.  It is one of those irritating cases when the
author _delivers_ in the first few chapters, and then _blows_ it in the
later chapters when he doesn't know when to quit.

There are two things to remember in reading this book.  One is that
there is a set of real data, two or three frames from the Viking
mission, that show interesting landforms on Mars.  The other is that
this book is a presentation on one man's thoughts on those landforms.

As a presentation of these landforms, chapters I through V are good
solid reading.  Hoagland presents the discovery and the reasons for
thinking that these objects are something other than geologically
created landforms in an easy to read and intelligent manner, showing a
proper respect for some skepticism and critical thinking.  I had access
to some of the picture data due to a welcome download in the sci.space
newsgroup of usenet, so I was able to read the book while looking at the
images on my Macintosh.  I could play with the image enhancement tools
on the Mac and actually see everything that Hoagland mentioned about the
Face.  These first chapters ride very close to the real data, and the
analysis is very convincing that if these are not artificial buildings
and monuments, then they are very interesting rocks indeed.

Chapters VI through XII are the tale of the interesting world of science
and its politics.  There are heroes and villains here.  If you like this
kind of story, told from the perspective of one of the participants,
then you will like these chapters as well.  From Hoagland's position, as
a science writer, a man with a reputation for a number of very good
ideas, but still a "writer" not a "scientist", it gives a feel for what
it is like to be "not a member of the club".

Chapters XIII through XV is where we go off the deep end.  If you like
Pyramidology and legends from ancient Egypt and Sumeria, then go ahead
and read them.  If not, then don't bother.  Here is where Hoagland makes
his worst error.  He stops investigating the primary mystery, accepts
the hypothesis of an artificial origin on faith and steps off into the
deep waters.  The Hoagland in the latter chapters does not even read
like the man in the early chapters.   At first we had a man looking at
data.  Now we have a man consumed by a theory.

My recommendation to Hoagland:  Follow the advise of your editor and
drop the chapters dealing with the terrestrial connection.  A paragraph
or two would do fine.  Wait for more real data.  If new data from Mars
makes the primary thesis stronger, you will have much less trouble
bucking the tide of skepticism then.  Spend more time in evaluating
competing theories.  Take a long hard look at geology and find every
natural mechanism available.  Find solid reasons why these are
impossible.

My recommendation to NASA:  Dedicate some imaging time of the Mars
Orbiter to these interesting landforms.  A very few high resolution
frames would go a long way.

My reading recommendations?  Read the book, at least parts of it.  The
early chapters and the picture section are worth looking at.  My only
regret is that there is little raw data to work from.  I certainly want
a closer look.  The sooner the better.


--
Henry Melton ...!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!hutto!henry
1-512-8463241 Rt.1 Box 274E Hutto,TX 78634

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

Date: 6 Sep 89 06:25:16 GMT
From: bungia!orbit!pnet51![e-mail]  (S Schaper)
Subject: Re: Was Voyager another damaging Apollo one-shot?

ACTUALLY, I HAVE HEARD A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT VOYAGER 2 AT
NENEPTUNE. THEY SEEM TO THINK THAT IT IS VERY PRETTY.


UUCP: {amdahl!bungia, uunet!rosevax, chinet, killer}!orbit!pnet51!schaper
ARPA: crash!orbit!pnet51![e-mail]
INET: [e-mail]

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

Date: 6 Sep 89 17:45:29 GMT
From: brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!wuarchive!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!pawl11.pawl.rpi.edu![e-mail]  (Jesse M. Mundis)
Subject: Mars face online

Can somebody out there help me?  I'm looking for a screenload-able ratster file
of the Martian Face.  Can anybody point me to an ftp site where I can find one?

Thanks in advance.

Jesse Mundis
[e-mail]

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

Date: 7 Sep 89 21:13:00 GMT
From: crdgw1!crdos1![e-mail]  (Wm E Davidsen Jr)
Subject: Re: Galileo Jovian atmospheric probe -- is it sterilized???

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (nick szabo) writes:

|  What about necessary proteins, minerals, vitamins, etc.?   What about
|  the updrafts/downdrafts and temperature extremes?   Have any experiments
|  performed or was this just a research paper?

  We are about to perform the experiment.
|
|  >Even if the microbes could not survive on their own, the Sagan
|  >paper suggests they could find a supportive environment inside
|  >native organisms on the planet.
|
|  This is, for all practical purposes, impossible (see below).

  Wait a minute, if microbes can feed on oil spills, I would not want to
bet that some of the compounds are not life supporting to little guys.
--
bill davidsen    ([e-mail] -or- uunet!crdgw1!crdos1!davidsen)
"The world is filled with fools. They blindly follow their so-called
'reason' in the face of the church and common sense. Any fool can see
that the world is flat!" - anon

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

End of SPACE Digest V10 #53
*******************