Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V10_2/V10_281.TXT

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Subject: SPACE Digest V10 #281

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 10 : Issue 281

Today's Topics:
   Re: Problems with D module launched to USSR's Mir space station
       And when I see Moon globes/Way up in the blue...
        Information wanted urgently on Shuttle mission
         NASA Headline News for 11/27/89 (Forwarded)
   Re: Problems with D module launched to USSR's Mir space station
    Request for solar system-stellar distances comparison slides.
            Re: Antimatter Drives.
   Re: Problems with D module launched to USSR's Mir space station
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 27 Nov 89 10:24:48 GMT
From: mcsun!ukc!icdoc!syma![e-mail]  (Nick Watkins)
Subject: Re: Problems with D module launched to USSR's Mir space station

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Glenn Chapman) writes:
>

>     Skylab had both panels fail to deploy and men saved that.  Salyut 7
Skylab lost one panel completely. The crew did indeed deploy the other
one in a brilliant repair operation, but I wonder if Skylab would have
been usable at all in the interim without the panels on the ATM?

Nick




--
Nick Watkins, Space & Plasma Physics Group, School of Mathematical
& Physical Sciences, Univ. of Sussex, Brighton, E.Sussex, BN1 9QH, ENGLAND
JANET: [e-mail]   BITNET: [e-mail]

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

Date:     Mon, 27 Nov 89 18:22 CST
From: Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey <[e-mail]>
Subject:  And when I see Moon globes/Way up in the blue...
Original_To:  SPACE

Sorry this is so late.  On 27 October Bill Davidsen posted a message asking for
sources of Moon and Mars globes.  I thought this might be of general interest.

One source of Moon globes and celestial spheres is

Black Forest Observatory
12815 Porcupine Lane
Colorado Springs, CO 80908
[phone]

I've seen them advertise in *Final Frontier*; they cater to astronomy and
science educators.  They carry the Replogle line of globes, which includes a
12-inch Moon for $39.95 and a 12-inch (opaque) celestial sphere for the same
price.  They also have Starship Earth transparent celestial spheres for big
bucks.

Other science-teaching supply houses carry such things, too.  Hmm, I wonder if
scanning ads in *The Physics Teacher* or *American Journal of Physics* would
turn up more leads?

Replogle made some Mars and Venus globes of about 12 inches or more, which I
have seen at JPL, Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, and such places.  I
am told that it was a limited run, and they don't make 'em anymore.  Maybe you
should call Replogle and confirm that.  I find this very disappointing, though I
probably couldn't afford them anyway.

I have also seen some 5-inch Mars globes, but they're pretty much toys.  Don't
know who makes them.

A company in Germany makes a Phobos globe, which looks like a lump of coal the
size of a watermelon.  Five hundred bucks.  Now *that* is a status symbol.  It
would be impossibly cool-looking in my office.  People with my name on your
Christmas lists, take note.  (To find the name of the manufacturer, I would call
LPI's image center. They've got one sitting on top of a cabinet.)

                        ///        Bill Higgins
   E                   ///
  |8D:O:          occc))))<))      Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
   E                 ///
                    ///            Bitnet: [e-mail]

Bumper sticker seen on a Soyuz:    SPAN/Hepnet/Physnet: 43011::HIGGINS

 DON'T LAUGH-- IT'S PAID FOR       Internet: [e-mail]

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

Date: 23 Nov 89 16:16:03 GMT
From: mcsun!ukc!tcdcs!csvax1.cs.tcd.ie!swift.cs.tcd.ie!vms.eurokom.ie!ccvax.ucd.ie![e-mail]
Subject: Information wanted urgently on Shuttle mission

Hi there.

I understand that the US shuttle is currently in orbit. I am trying urgently
to find some definite information on the orbit to enable the Irish Astronomical
Society to publish details to allow the general public observe the shuttl as
it passes overhead.

Query : Would any of you have either orbital elements,or alternatively a phone
or fax number for Nasa or any other source of info ? If so, could you please
send me details as soon as possible. It would be very much appreciated !

Happy watching !

-- bjh

Bitnet   : [e-mail]
Internet : [e-mail]
UUCP     : mcvax![e-mail]
         : mcvax!irlearn.bitnet!haughd88
Arpa     : [e-mail]

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

Date: 28 Nov 89 01:42:57 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: NASA Headline News for 11/27/89 (Forwarded)

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, November 27, 1989                     Audio: 202/755-1788
-----------------------------------------------------------------

This is NASA Headline News for Monday, November 27....


The space shuttle orbiter Discovery returns to Earth, today, with
a landing at Edwards Air Force Base scheduled for 5:52 P.M.,
Eastern time.  High winds at the California landing site
yesterday forced mission planners to delay the return by one day.
The five member crew of Fredrick Gregory, John Blaha, Manley
Carter, Story Musgrave and Kathryn Thornton were launched last
Wednesday evening on their classified Department of Defense
mission.

Meanwhile, the orbiter Columbia begins its rollout to the launch
pad at 1 minute after midnight in preparation for the STS-32
flight in late December.


The demise of the Solar Maximum scientific satellite is near.
Spacecraft controllers at Goddard Space Flight Center fired
explosive bolts friday to jettison the solar panels.  Last
Wednesday the satellite's high gain antenna was separated from
the main body of the spacecraft.   Now that Solar Max is no
longer sending telemetry data back to Earth, it's flight is being
watched by the North American Aerospace Defense Command.  NORAD
is now predicting that the solar max will enter the atmosphere
and burn up about December 2.  Solar Max has carried out a nearly
10-year study of the sun.


The Galileo spacecraft is operatng in a satisfactory manner as it
continues on its way to a gravity-assist rendezvous with the
planet Venus in February.  Since launch, the spacecraft has
traveled 50 million miles of the 185 million miles around the Sun
before it reaches Venus.  Straight-line distance from earth is
seven million miles.  The RTGs continue to deliver about 570
watts of electrical power and temperatures aboard the spacecraft
are normal.


The Soviet Union has launched a module into Earth orbit that
attaches to the Mir space station.  Tass news agency reported,
however, that one of two solar panels did not fully deploy.
Controllers are studying the situation.  The module contains a
shower and sink, an air lock for space walks, an incubator for an
egg experiment and what they term....a space motorcycle....or eva
device.


             *           *          *          *



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


Today....

       4:30 P.M.    Coverage begins of Discovery landing at
                    Edwards Air Force Base.  Touchcdown is
                    scheduled for 5:52 P.M., EST.


Tuesday, November 28....

        7:00 A.M.   Two-hour video tape replay of STS-32 rollout
                    highlights from Kennedy Space Center.


Thursday, November 30....

       11:30 A.M.   NASA Update will be transmitted.


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: 27 Nov 89 13:40:40 GMT
From: bfmny0![e-mail]  (Tom Neff)
Subject: Re: Problems with D module launched to USSR's Mir space station

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Glenn Chapman) writes:
>    The Soviets have just announced that the D expansion module for
>the Mir space station has developed a problem.  ... one of the two
>solar planes for the module had failed to deploy. ... This may mean that
>shortly after docking the cosmonauts will need to do a space walk to
>try and repair the damage.

They have lots of experience at this, and I am confident they will finish
the deploy by hand if needed.

>                           If true this will mean that again a major
>expansion of the station has required man to save the day with repairs.

Oh puleez... if you're building a MANNED station to begin with, what
does it prove that you need manned missions to fix it.  Without the
manned program, there would be no deployment failure in the first place.

>                                                  It appears that if
>we want to build something as big and complex as space stations then
>you need to have humans there to repair them.

Again, circular.  If you didn't need to man rate everything it wouldn't
be so big, fragile and complex in the first place.  Not that a research
station isn't a good thing for someone to have up there, but leave us
not pat ourselves on the back overmuch simply for being able to patch up
problems our presence itself created.
--
"How can a man of integrity get along    ///  Tom Neff
in Washington?" -- Richard Feynman      ///   [e-mail]

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

Date: 27 Nov 89 16:18:04 GMT
From: wrksys.dec.com![e-mail]  (CUP/ASG, MLO5-2/G1 6A, 223-3283 27-Nov-1989 1114)
Subject: Request for solar system-stellar distances comparison slides.


        I would like to make a request to the net for information on
    any slide sets which depict relative distances between the planets
    in our solar system and the nearest stars in the Milky Way Galaxy.
    I am referring to the comparisons such as "If the Sun were the size
    of a baseball, then Mercury would be a pea five feet away, etc."

        If anyone knows where I can find a slide set which shows such
    comparisons, please let me know either on the net or through e-mail.
    I would need to know the name, address, and price of the distributors
    of such a kit, along with a brief description of how they present the
    scale setup.

        Also, if anyone can give me a number of different comparative
    sizes such as I have written above - out to the nearest stars - I
    would greatly appreciate it.  Please list your sources for this
    information as well.

        Thank you very much.

        Larry Klaes  [e-mail]
             or - ...!decwrl!wrksys.dec.com!klaes
                 or - [e-mail]
                     or - [e-mail]

        EJASA Editor, Astronomical Society of the Atlantic

             N = R*fgfpneflfifaL

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

Date: 27 Nov 89 02:11:11 GMT
From: rochester![e-mail]  (Paul Dietz)
Subject: Re: Antimatter Drives.

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Henry Spencer) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> paj@mrcu (Paul Johnson) writes:
>>A couple of months ago I read Robert Forward's book "Mirror Matter" in
>>which he suggests that the practical use of antimatter is now
>>possible.  Are his ideas impractical?  If not, what is being done
>>about them?
>
>They appear to be practical, but nobody is putting big bucks into making
>them real and finding out how well they work.

Forward gave a talk at the Rochester Conference last year.  He
mentioned that he's been approached by venture capitalists about a
private antiproton source (he turned them down, I believe).
Apparently, antiprotons are dandy for medical imaging -- they lose
energy in matter at a predictable rate, so you can estimate the
density of matter along their trajectory by knowing the initial energy
and the location of the annihilation point.  The scheme would be to
make antiprotons at a private facility and transport them in small
Penning traps.  Very few would be needed for imaging, since one could
detect individual annihilation events.  X rays emitted as the
antiprotons drop into orbits around nuclei might also be used to get
information about atomic composition inside the body.

Somewhat larger quantities of antiprotons could be used for cancer
treatment -- inject them with just the right energy so they stop
(and annihilate) in the tumor.  If they annihilate in a large nucleus,
some of the energy goes into the nuclear fragments, which deposit
energy locally.

    Paul F. Dietz
    [e-mail]

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

Date: 27 Nov 89 17:41:05 GMT
From: samsung!cs.utexas.edu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!ists!yunexus!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Problems with D module launched to USSR's Mir space station

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Tom Neff) writes:
>> ... one of the two
>>solar planes for the module had failed to deploy. ... This may mean that
>>shortly after docking the cosmonauts will need to do a space walk to
>>try and repair the damage.
>
>... Without the
>manned program, there would be no deployment failure in the first place.

Tell it to the owners of TVSat 1, who had exactly the same problem --
one solar array failed to deploy.  TVSat 1 is a very expensive writeoff;
the only useful thing that came out of that mission was the discovery of
the defects in the Galileo thruster design, and that was fortuitous.
Deployment failures happen all the time.  *This* one will be fixed.
--
That's not a joke, that's      |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
NASA.  -Nick Szabo             | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry [e-mail]

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

End of SPACE Digest V10 #281
*******************