Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V10_1/V10_146.TXT

Internet Message Format | 1991-07-08 | 15KB

Return-path: <[e-mail]>
X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 7997;andrew.cmu.edu;Ted Anderson
Received: from beak.andrew.cmu.edu via trymail for +dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr11/tm2b/space/[e-mail] (->+dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr11/tm2b/space/space.dl) (->ota+space.digests)
          ID </afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr1/ota/Mailbox/AZEAuMS00VcJA8lE4A>;
          Sat, 21 Oct 89 16:16:25 -0400 (EDT)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Date: Sat, 21 Oct 89 16:16:02 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: SPACE Digest V10 #146

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 10 : Issue 146

Today's Topics:
         NASA Headline News for 10/10/89 (Forwarded)
            Galileo Luddite status
                Galileo Update
     Re: Galileo Jovian atmospheric probe -- is it sterilized???
           Re: What would we do WITHOUT 'Freedom'?
              space-based radar
Re: Geyser-like plume discovered on Neptune's moon Triton (Forwarded)
              Re: Galileo Luddite status
         Re: Titius Series / Quantum orbits?
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 10 Oct 89 21:10:02 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: NASA Headline News for 10/10/89 (Forwarded)

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, Oct. 10, 1989                       Audio:  202/755-1788
-----------------------------------------------------------------

This is NASA Headline News for Tuesday, October 10th......

Technicians at Kennedy Space Center are accessing a possible
problem with one of the main engine controllers on the space
shuttle Atlantis.  It is not known at this time whether the
computer for Atlantis's no. 2 engine will have to be changed, and
if so what effect that would have on the scheduled Oct. 12 launch
date.

Meanwhile, attorney's for NASA and three anti-nuclear groups are
in U.S. District Court this morning for a hearing on the safety
of the nuclear powered generators which provide electricity for
the Galileo spacecraft.  The three citizens' groups are seeking
an injunction to block the launch.

The Magellan/Venus spacecraft has weathered two major solar
storms on August 12th and September 29th.  The last occurrence of
a storm of comparable magnitude was in 1972.  The two storms have
resulted in permanent, minor reductions of solar panel power
output.  They have also caused large amounts of spurious star
scanner outputs preventing full attitude updates for several days
following the storms.  for mapping, software filters are being
installed which will lessen the effects from the storms.
Magellan is now more than 57 million miles from Earth.

The Hubble Space Telescope, scheduled for launch aboard the
shuttle Discovery in March, arrived at Kennedy Space Center last
week for pre-flight tests and inspections.  The telescope was
shipped from Sunnyvale, Calif., aboard an air force C-5A
transport jet inside a special container built for large
satellites.  It has been taken to the Vertical Processing
Facility at KSC.









                          **********









-----------------------------------------------------------------
Here's the broadcast schedule for public affairs events on NASA
Select television.  All times are Eastern.

Wednesday, Oct. 11.....

     9:00 A.M.        Countdown status report

    11:00 A.M.        The Jovian system

     1:00 P.M.        Pre-launch news conference

All events and times are subject to change without notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
These reports are filed daily, Monday through Friday, at 12 noon,
Eastern time.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A service of the Internal Communications Branch (LPC), NASA
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

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

Date: 10 Oct 89 22:56:50 GMT
From: aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu![e-mail]  (Steve Masticola)
Subject: Galileo Luddite status

Has anyone heard what the court decision was on the Galileo launch? I
listened to NPR tonight, heard nothing.

Of course, if the judge delays until after Atlantis lifts off, it's
all academic...

- Steve ([e-mail])

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

Date: 10 Oct 89 21:35:55 GMT
From: usc!henry.jpl.nasa.gov!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Galileo Update


                    GALILEO DAILY REPORT
                         10 OCTOBER 1989

                             General

Spacecraft

     The spacecraft is in is launch ready state as previously
reported.
     The spacecraft continues to be monitored 24 hours a day
both at KSC and at Pasadena.  There have been no problems to
date.

LCET

     LCET #1 was returned to the VPF (Vehicle Processing
Facility) area on 9 October.  All communications, power, and
power cables have been installed.
     LCET #1 is now operational and monitoring the spacecraft
telemetry derived from the composite telemetry through the T-0
cabling.  Telemetry alarms matching those of the MTS have been
inserted and are operational.  This provides a backup capability
in case the lines to JPL become inoperative.

               Schedule Discussion and Assessment

     The launch at this time is still scheduled for
12 October at 1:29 p.m. EDT.


             Ron Baalke                        [phone]
             Jet Propulsion Lab  M/S 301-355
             4800 Oak Grove Dr.
             Pasadena, CA 91109

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

Date: 10 Oct 89 02:40:08 GMT
From: munnari.oz.au!csc!ccadfa!usage!basser!cluster![e-mail]  (Andrew Taylor)
Subject: Re: Galileo Jovian atmospheric probe -- is it sterilized???

>... and yet when the isthmus of Panama
>formed (quite recently geologically speaking) the North American mammals
>almost _immediately_ spread South and _totally wiped out_ all the native
>South American mammals.

Wrong, quite a few marsupials and "South American" placental mammals remain.

>I know of only one South American mammal that managed to make the trip
>the other direction --- the Opossum.

At least one Armadillo species has.

Andrew

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

Date: 9 Oct 89 19:07:54 GMT
From: ibmpa![e-mail]  (nick szabo)
Subject: Re: What would we do WITHOUT 'Freedom'?

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Al Viall) writes:
>And this is probably
>the last chance for a long time that we will have the opportunity to see such
>a thing accomplished considering that it takes 20 years just to cut
>through federal red tape and another 10 years for congressional approval.

It takes twenty years to build something monstrous like the Station.
Small unmanned efforts can be mounted within 5-10 years of proposal.

Our real space efforts--planetary exploration, new technology, microgravity
research, privatization, etc. etc.--do not at all rely on the Station.

>As it is, we will be lucky to have ANY other country (i.e. ESA, Japan)
>doing space business with us in the future anyway. Nasa will have to cut
>back on the station anyways, which will directly affect the planned modules
>of the ESA and Japan, showing once again that they can't trust the US
>space industry; agreement or NOT. Blah!
>

NASA has basically promised Europe and Japan a free ride on our Station.
We spend the $30 billion, and they do the research.  Blah to that!


>As a potent launching pad for interplanetary journeys, whether manned or not,
>we can't afford NOT to get the Station up there.

The Station is useless as a platform for interplanetary journeys.
nobody has even pretended it is useful for unmanned interplanetary craft.

"Quick is beautiful"
    Freeman Dyson

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

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

Date: 10 Oct 89 14:03:58 GMT
From: attcan!lsuc!maccs![e-mail]  (Stripper)
Subject: space-based radar

I am not really sure which newsgroup to post this to, so I'll start this
query by saying that if anyone knows of a more appropriate newsgroup to
put this in, flame me, and then tell me where to put it!

Here's the problem :

I am currently doing a thesis on the merits of "Digitally Adaptive Beamforming
in a Space-Based Radar".  What I plan on doing is simulating a DAB system in
space, and then test different configurations of the system with a computer
model.

The possible variations of the system include :

a) varying the number of satellites (global coverage) which trades off
    cost with detail

b) varying the size of the receiver/transmitter

c) whether any processing of the signal should be done at the satellite
    or on the ground

d) more simple parameters such as the band the system should use, etc..

If anyone has any ideas on this project, or know of someone that would,
could you please e-mail me?! :-)  If I get some response, I'll summarize
and post it to the net.

Thanx

John Clarke
McMaster U.
Hamilton, ON
Canada


e-mail : [e-mail]

or     : [e-mail]
         [e-mail]
         [e-mail]

Thanx again!

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

Date: 10 Oct 89 18:18:07 GMT
From: ibmpa![e-mail]  (nick szabo)
Subject: Re: Geyser-like plume discovered on Neptune's moon Triton (Forwarded)

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Peter E. Yee) writes:
>Charles Redmond
>     Voyager 2's working life among the planets may be at an end,
>but the spacecraft and its twin, Voyager 1, are expected to
>continue returning information about the various fields and
>particles they encounter while approaching and eventually
>crossing the boundary of our solar system.  The plutonium-based
>generators that provide electricity to the spacecraft are
>expected to keep alive the computers, science instruments and
>radio transmitter for up to 25 or 30 more years.
>
>     As of today, the long-lived project will be known as the
>Voyager Interstellar Mission.  The Voyager Project is managed for
>NASA's Office of Space Science And Applications by the Jet
>Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Speaking as a person experienced in the ins and outs of JPL beauracracy
(but not speaking _for_ anybody but myself, of course :-) I can't help
but wonder about the proposed scientific merits of this extended mission.

Voyager 1 and 2 have explored more planets and moons, and returned more
valuable data, than any other space probes, and I daresay, any other space
mission in history.  Their mission, carried out more than successfully, was
to give us data on the gas giant planets and moons.  But this mission has
ended.

The "Voyager Interstellar Mission" is a new twist.  There are a large
number of people working on Voyager right now, and quite naturally they
need something to do.

Meanwhile, we are launching the Galileo and Magellan missions.  These
projects plan to return at least an order of magnitude more data than
Voyager, and will put a high demand on the communications networks and
computational facilities.  In 1992 we will launch Mars Observer, and
later in the 90's CRAF and Cassini.  There are not enough resources to
support both these new missions and the "extended missions" of the Voyagers,
Pioneers, etc.  Both Voyagers, two of the Pioneers, and ICE all require the
use of our largest and rarest (70m) antennae.  Building a new 70m dish
would cost and estimated $2 billion: the price of a new space shuttle.
If we support the extended missions, we could lose valuable data from the
new planetary missions.

A question for astronomers and planetary scientists on the net: does
the "Voyager Interstellar Mission" have enough scientific merit to sacrifice
data from Galileo and Magellan?

If not, IMHO Voyager workers should be transferred to Galileo, Magellan or
wherever they want to go, and retrained as necessary.  They are heroes
and deserve our best.  We can let the Voyagers fly free, checking in
as schedules allow, content in the knowledge that they have completed our
greatest space mission ever.

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

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

Date: 11 Oct 89 16:44:56 GMT
From: oliveb!mipos3!td2cad![e-mail]  (John Reece )
Subject: Re: Galileo Luddite status

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Steve Masticola) writes:
>Has anyone heard what the court decision was on the Galileo launch? I
>listened to NPR tonight, heard nothing.

The judge refused to block the launch.  Along with the Bakker and Gabor
verdicts, this has reconfirmed my faith in the American justice system.
However, this morning they said they were going to try again with
the same judge.

By the way, has anyone noticed how reminiscent this debate has been of
that scene in "Rain Main" where Tom Cruise tries to convince Dustin
Hoffman that it's safe to fly?  Maybe if we got Quantas to launch
the mission instead of NASA these technophobes would be satisfied.

--

John Reece
[e-mail]

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

Date: 11 Oct 89 13:04:49 GMT
From: mcsun!ukc!dcl-cs!gdt!gdr![e-mail]  (J I L Gold)
Subject: Re: Titius Series / Quantum orbits?

>I used the series to show that like electron orbits, planetary orbits are
>stable - they will return to stable orbits if slightly displaced from them.
>This is, of course, the theory expounded in my book ...

I'm not sure if you refer to long-term or short-term stability. Of course,
planetary orbits are short-term stable or else we wouldn't be here. However,
the best theory and the most advanced computational work has failed to show
whether the solar system is stable over large epochs or not.
 Also, does the Titius (-Bode) rule account for elliptical orbits? If so,
presumably the figure is the semi-major axis. What then about the semi-minor
axis? There are infinite possibilities for this. If so, what weight can we
give to the rule. If the rule does *not* apply to elliptical orbits,then what
use is it anyway?
    J.Gold
    University of Bath
    England
    UK
    [e-mail]

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

End of SPACE Digest V10 #146
*******************