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Subject: SPACE Digest V10 #93

SPACE Digest                                      Volume 10 : Issue 93

Today's Topics:
           Complete list of Hurricane Hugo pictures
               Liberty Bell 7 recovery
     Re: Galileo Jovian atmospheric probe -- is it sterilized???
     Re: Galileo Jovian atmospheric probe -- is it sterilized???
     Re: Galileo Jovian atmospheric probe -- is it sterilized???
NASA management after the revolving door closes (was Re: Jerry J. Fitts appointed ...)
               Re: Pluto meets Neptune
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 23 Sep 89 15:18:15 GMT
From: zodiac!IDA.ORG![e-mail]  (Eric Roskos)
Subject: Complete list of Hurricane Hugo pictures

The following is the updated list of all the Hurricane Hugo GIF
pictures.  Most of these are temporarily available on
WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL for a short time longer, but have to be deleted
because they are taking over 4MB of disk space.  They are in
PD3:<MISC.GIF>.  All times in the table below are EDT (E+1).  I've tried
to give a fairly critical description of the images so that if you are
only interested in a few of the pictures that look good, you can tell
which to skip and which to choose.  But I've included all of them even
if the signal was not too good, for the people interested in tracking
the hurricane based on the satellite pictures, or similar observations.

                    -- Eric Roskos
                       [e-mail]

(Please don't FTP to IDA.ORG trying to access these pictures.  We don't
have FTP service available here, so they aren't archived here.)

HUGO1.GIF    9/17    7:15AM    GOES IR
    Has some noise over the hurricane image due to HF propagation
    conditions.  HF conditions are currently only moderately good
    here for receiving the GOES pictures, so this tends to be a
    problem in a number of them (conditions were much better for
    the Hurricane Gabrielle pictures).

HUGO2.GIF    9/17    8:20AM    Meteor 3-2
    This is a picture from the Soviet Meteor satellite, before I
    modified my receiver to have a wider bandwidth.  You may want
    to skip this one unless you are really interested in having
    all of them.

HUGO3.GIF    9/17    11:00AM    Meteor 2-16
    This and subsequen Meteor pictures were recorded after I modified
    my receiver to have a 25 KHz bandwidth, so the picture quality
    is better.  (I'm still looking for a way to get a wider
    bandwidth, though.)

HUGO4.GIF    9/17    1:47PM    NOAA 11
    An enlargement of the hurricane as it approaches Puerto Rico
    and the Dominican Republic; the latter is visible in the picture.
    At this time the satellite was passing over the hurricane as it
    came over the horizon at my location, so the image emerges out
    of the background noise as the signal is acquired.

HUGO5.GIF    9/17    1:47PM    NOAA 11
    An unzoomed image of the above; I was testing the new IF filter
    in the radio at this time, so the quality of the picture varies.
    You may want to skip this one too.

HUGO6.GIF    9/17    7:15PM    GOES IR
    This is a fairly good GOES Infrared picture of the hurricane
    as it began to reach Puerto Rico.

HUGO7.GIF    9/17    7:15PM    GOES IR
    An enlargement of HUGO6.GIF.

HUGO8.GIF    9/18    8:00AM    Meteor 3-2
    Moderate picture of the hurricane from the Soviet satellite
    Monday morning.

HUGO9.GIF    9/18    7:00PM    GOES IR
    Also moderate quality due to HF conditions.  At this point the
    hurricane had "wobbled around" Puerto Rico and is slightly to
    the north of it.

HUGO10.GIF    9/18    7:00PM    GOES IR
    An enlargement of HUGO9.GIF.

HUGO11.GIF    9/19    7:00AM    GOES IR
    This picture is only of interest if you want to see the geographic
    location of the hurricane, since the HF conditions were even worse
    than usual.  You probably should skip this one unless you want to
    see the location of the hurricane as shown in HUGO13 and 14.

HUGO12.GIF    9/19    7:00AM    GOES IR
    Enlargement of HUGO11.  See comments above.

HUGO13.GIF    9/19    7:40AM    Meteor 3-2
    The best picture thus far of the hurricane.  It is illuminated
    obliquely by the recently-risen sun to the East, so some shadow
    detail is visible, including the small "eye" feature.  Since
    the hurricane had moved North some by this time, and since Meteor
    3-2 gives a strong signal and is higher than the NOAA and Meteor 2
    satellites, the quality of the signal was better than in previous
    pictures.  Note the length of the shadows to the left of some of
    the isolated clouds to the left of the hurricane, and the sea-glint
    from the sun reflecting off the ocean to the right.

HUGO14.GIF    9/19    7:40AM    Meteor 3-2
    An enlargement of HUGO13.GIF.  If you only want to get one picture
    from the Hugo images thus far, this is the best one.  The very
    delicate fringe of clouds to the South of the hurricane is clearly
    visible, as well as the raised center and very small eye.

HUGO15.GIF    9/19    7:00PM    GOES IR
    HF propagation conditions were very good for most of this image
    (they steadily improved throughout the image), but the subcarrier seemed
    to be modulated by a fairly high-frequency (AF-range) signal at
    the transmitter, with the result that the image is greyish and
    mottled.  It gives a good view of the position of the hurricane
    a few hours ago this evening, as it heads towards the US, but
    the quality is not very good due to the above problem.
    Iris is also now clearly visible as distinct from Hugo (though
    it is also visible in some of the earlier images), following
    the path Hugo took a few days ago.

HUGO16.GIF    9/20    7:20AM    Meteor 3-2
    This is a very clear picture of the hurricane, although it is
    partly off the left (West) edge of the image.  Vertical doubling
    of scan lines was used in this picture to make the aspect ratio
    closer to square, since the Soviet satellites tend to stretch
    the image horizontally.  Most of the other Meteor pictures are
    not displayed with doubling of scan lines, so you can see more
    of the image on the screen, but it looks slightly "squashed"
    along the vertical axis.

HUGO17.GIF    7/20    7:20AM    Meteor 3-2
    An enlargement of the original, un-doubled image used to produce
    HUGO16.GIF.  This is a very high-quality image of the hurricane.

HUGO18.GIF    9/20    8:30AM    NOAA 10
    Picture from the US TIROS-N NOAA 10 satellite, showing the entire
    East coast of the US, with the hurricane off the coast of Florida.
    This is an excellent-quality image.

HUGO19.GIF    9/20    8:30AM    NOAA 10
    Enlargement of the hurricane from HUGO18.GIF.

HUGO20.GIF    9/20    7:00PM    GOES IR
    Good infrared image, with the hurricane halfway between Puerto Rico
    and the US.  When looking at the GOES IR pictures, bear in mind that the
    coldest (usually the highest) clouds appear whitest in the image.
    You can also sometimes tell very general relative temperatures of
    areas of sea and land, as well.

HUGO21.GIF    9/20    7:00PM    GOES IR
    Enlargement of HUGO20.GIF.

HUGO22.GIF    9/21    7:05AM    Meteor 3-2
    The hurricane is not visible in this picture; it is to the West of
    the satellite, just out of range.  The trail of clouds left behind
    by the passing hurricane is visible, however.

HUGO23.GIF    9/21    8:05AM    NOAA 10
    The eye is clearly visible for the first time in this image.  The
    hurricane is beginning to approach the coast of the US.

HUGO24.GIF    9/21    8:05AM    NOAA 10
    An enlargement of HUGO23.GIF.

HUGO25.GIF    9/21    2:50PM    NOAA 10
    An early afternoon image of the hurricane; the sun is directly overhead,
    so not much shadow detail is visible.  There are also some noise bars
    over the hurricane image because of the satellite passing between the
    antenna and the roof of a building, so this picture is of limited
    quality.  However, it is possible to see that the rain bands of the
    hurricane have reached land at this time.

HUGO26.GIF    9/21    2:50PM    NOAA 10
    Enlargement of HUGO25.GIF.

HUGO27.GIF    9/21    7:01PM    GOES IR
    Excellent infrared image; the hurricane is off the coast of South
    Carolina, approaching land.  The outer edges of the hurricane have
    crossed inland and are causing rain throughout the coastal areas.

HUGO28.GIF    9/21    7:01PM    GOES IR
    Enlargement of HUGO27.GIF.

HUGO29.GIF    9/22    1:01AM    GOES IR
    About an hour after the hurricane reached Charleston, SC.  The eye
    of the hurricane is visible, having already moved a good distance
    inland.  The picture has noise in it due to the limited propagation
    conditions at this time of night, but the picture is of historical
    interest.  The roof of the National Weather Service headquarters
    in Charleston was blown off by the portion of the hurricane that
    is over Charleston in this image.

HUGO30.GIF    9/22    1:01AM    GOES IR
    Enlargement of HUGO29.GIF.

HUGO31.GIF    9/22    2:43PM    NOAA 11
    Remnants of Tropical Storm Hugo are now far inland; the sky had
    begun to clear at the antenna site, in fact, by this time.  (Note
    that this file is chronologically out of sequence; it should go
    where the missing HUGO34.GIF file is, after the 9/22 8:40AM
    images.)

HUGO32.GIF    9/22    8:40AM    Meteor 3-2
    An excellent picture of the hurricane inland over Hickory, NC the
    morning (about 8 hours) after it reached land.  The storm is still
    fairly dense and well-organized, with a recognizable center.  Wind
    speeds were reported at around 75 mi/hr at this time in Hickory.

HUGO33.GIF    9/22    8:40AM    Meteor 3-2
    Same image as HUGO32.GIF, but shifted further Northward to show
    structure of clouds in front of advancing hurricane.

HUGO34.GIF    (No file with this name exists.)

HUGO35.GIF    9/23    8:30AM    Meteor 3-2
    About 32 hours after the hurricane reached land, some remnants of it
    are still visible far to the North, over the northeastern United
    States and Newfoundland.  The principal weather feature visible in
    this picture, however, is the very highly visible cold front moving
    to the Southeast over the Appalachian mountains.  Compare this
    picture with HUGO36.GIF to identify the location of various objects
    in the picture; HUGO36.GIF was received from the US NOAA 10 satellite,
    which resolves the boundary between land and water better, so it is
    possible to see the continent outline and the great lakes better in
    that image, although the Soviet Meteor 3-2 gives a larger and
    higher-contrast image, so some better cloud detail is visible in
    HUGO35.GIF.

HUGO36.GIF    9/23    9:00AM    NOAA 10
    This picture was recorded about 1/2 hour after HUGO35.GIF, from the
    US NOAA-10 (TIROS-N) spacecraft.  The entire East Coast of the US
    is clearly visible.  This image is centered somewhat to the South
    of HUGO35.GIF, since Meteor 3-2 is higher and seems to have a stronger
    transmitter, and thus continued to be received until it reached the
    coast of Greenland.  The Channel 3 Infrared image from NOAA 10 is
    in the right half of the picture.
--
Eric Roskos ([e-mail] or [e-mail])

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

Date: 22 Sep 89 04:34:00 GMT
From: sun-barr!texsun!texbell!merch!cpe!hal6000![e-mail]
Subject: Liberty Bell 7 recovery


Here's a news item out of a scuba diving newspaper that should be
of interest to all..

Apparently, NASA has given the go ahead for a group based in Ft. Worth, Tx.
to recover Gus Grissom's Liberty Bell 7.  According to the article, the
new submersible technologies make such a recovery possible.
There's a toll free number for more information:  800-752-3557.
Or you can call/write the group at:  Foundation Headquarters
                                     8818 Azle Ave.
                                     Ft. Worth, Tx.  76135
                                     [phone]


******************************************************************************
George Tahu                     Domain: [e-mail]
Tandy Electronics          UUCP: ...!texbell!letni!trsvax!jack
Fort Worth, Texas                   or: ...!decvax!microsoft!trsvax!jack
******************************************************************************
 Diplomacy : The art of saying "nice doggy", until you can find a big rock.
 Disclaimer: As usual, Tandy Electronics has nothing to do with my opinions..
******************************************************************************

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

Date: 22 Sep 89 22:45:55 GMT
From: bfmny0![e-mail]  (Tom Neff)
Subject: Re: Galileo Jovian atmospheric probe -- is it sterilized???

Without wishing to sound too Luddite or holistic, I think it's true that
if we screw up the pristine surfaces of other planets with biological
infections or massive "industrial" projects designed to save a few bucks
over a few decades or centuries, future generations will curse our names.
Recent world history is a litany of 'oops' situations where we realize
too late that we've aced something precious.  Better we should practice
on asteroids -- you can always find more.  (Just like passenger pigeons,
right? :-) )
--
"My God, Thiokol, when do you      \\    Tom Neff
want me to launch?  Next April?"   \\    [e-mail]

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

Date: 22 Sep 89 23:30:40 GMT
From: rochester![e-mail]  (Paul Dietz)
Subject: Re: Galileo Jovian atmospheric probe -- is it sterilized???

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Tom Neff) writes:

>Without wishing to sound too Luddite or holistic, I think it's true that
>if we screw up the pristine surfaces of other planets with biological
>infections or massive "industrial" projects designed to save a few bucks
>over a few decades or centuries, future generations will curse our names.

I think most people in the future won't care.  The current generation,
by and large, doesn't care much about past extinctions, or even
current extinctions (unless the animal is especially cuddly).

I predict that any impact our activities have is going to be
peanuts compared to that of future generations.

    Paul F. Dietz
    [e-mail]

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

Date: 23 Sep 89 02:11:21 GMT
From: rochester![e-mail]  (Paul Dietz)
Subject: Re: Galileo Jovian atmospheric probe -- is it sterilized???

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Tom Neff) writes:

>>I predict that any impact our activities have is going to be
>>peanuts compared to that of future generations.
>
> 1) Only if future generations are as dumb as us.  Quite possible!

"Dumb" is a loaded word that I take to mean "does things I don't like."
If your goal is to preserve a pristine environment, then, yes, current
actions are "dumb".  But do not assume this goal is widely held, or
even correct (or incorrect) in any absolute sense.

    Paul F. Dietz
    [e-mail]

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

Date: 22 Sep 89 20:58:48 GMT
From: bfmny0![e-mail]  (Tom Neff)
Subject: NASA management after the revolving door closes (was Re: Jerry J. Fitts appointed ...)

As the Brain Drain of 88-89 is slowly restocked, often from within,
I find myself wondering a couple of things.

  1. Do these new guys really not care about the nice contractor jobs
     they can no longer have after their stints at HQ? Do they love the
     program more than their financial well-being?

  2. Or do they figure Congress will have repealed the revolving door
     law by the time they're ready to walk through?

  3. If (1) is true, will NASA be managed differently? If (2) is true?

--
"UNIX should be used          ::   Tom Neff <[e-mail]> or
 as an adjective." -- AT&T   ::    ...uunet!bfmny0!tneff (UUCP only)

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

Date: 23 Sep 89 14:26:17 GMT
From: sun-barr!cs.utexas.edu!mailrus!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!db.toronto.edu![e-mail]  (John Hogg)
Subject: Re: Pluto meets Neptune

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Laurence Larry Sheldon) writes:
>Some times Pluto is closer to the Sun, sometimes Neptune is, right?
>
>To a non-astronomer (me) it would appear that (given common centers, the
>Sun) at some time the orbital "discs" must intersect, and would thus
>provide for a collision.  What am I missing?

A number of people seem to have trouble visualizing this.  Two points
to remember: (1) the orbits aren't circular; (2) they're not coplanar,
either.

Take two wire coathangers.  Bend one into a circle.  Bend the other one
into an ellipse with major and minor diameters respectively greater and
smaller than that of the circle.  Now slide the ellipse (modelling
Pluto's orbit) at an angle through the circle (modelling Neptune's
orbit) so that they have a common centre, but do not touch.  It's
simple, in 3D.

Mind you, given the orbital velocities of the two planets, it's not at
all obvious that a collision would occur over the life of the solar
system, even if the two orbits did intersect.  (And we'll ignore
perturbations from Jupiter & friends.)  Space is big.  Really big...
--
John Hogg            [e-mail]
Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto

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

End of SPACE Digest V10 #93
*******************