Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V11_2/V11_221.TXT

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Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #221

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 11 : Issue 221

Today's Topics:
             Public viewing of HST images
           Re: Public viewing of HST images
          Re: Will we lose another orbiter?
      Re: What does it cost to push a pound into orbit?
               Re: Velikovsky's Theory
              Re: Ejection seats
             Re: Discovery's spin
                Pegasus scrub
              Galileo Update - 04/04/90
       Re: NASA Headline News for 03/29/90 (Forwarded)
      Re: Seeing the Jupiter picture (Was Re: HST Image Status)
     Re: Quick launches ( was: Intelsat / Titan Failure )
    Seeing the Jupiter picture (Was Re: HST Image Status)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 4 Apr 90 15:28:20 GMT
From: hadron!inco![e-mail]  (Tod Fontana)
Subject: Public viewing of HST images

Has any schedule or agenda been released indicating what images will be
released to the public, when and where we can see it?  I heard there was
some argument over pointing it first at more scientifically (sic?)
important but probably more "boring" areas and pointing it at something
more flashy like a planet or nebula.

And by the way, is the tv show Nova working on a show about the Neptune
flyby?  I enjoyed their presentations of the other planets, but have not
seen anything on Neptune yet.  They should have a good show after HST goes
up to.

I seem to have trouble getting response postings to my queries to the net,
so email me any info you may have.

Thanx!

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

Date: 5 Apr 90 01:59:56 GMT
From: agate!headcrash.Berkeley.EDU![e-mail]  (George William Herbert)
Subject: Re: Public viewing of HST images

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Tod Fontana) writes:
>Has any schedule or agenda been released indicating what images will be
>released to the public, when and where we can see it?  I heard there was
>some argument over pointing it first at more scientifically (sic?)
>important but probably more "boring" areas and pointing it at something
>more flashy like a planet or nebula.

Monday afternoon I was fortunate to attend a press information session here
at UCB, where three newspaper journalists talked to three UC professors who
are getting Hubble time in the first year.  One of the points that was very
clearly brought up was priority.  Prof. Ivan King explained that the images
that are from individual researchers or group's time on the HST will be
exclusive property for eighteen months.  While some random images will be
available for the press, the vast majority of the images are reserved for the
particular investigators with HST time, until they have a chance to analyze
them and publish.


*******************************************************************************
George William Herbert     JOAT For Hire: Anything, Anywhere: My Price
UCB Naval Architecture undergrad: Engineering with a Bouyant Attitude :-)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[e-mail] <= prefered [also [e-mail].. and [e-mail]..]
    Give me a billion dollars and two years and I'll build you a space
    station you'll never forget.
"Pull up!   NO, NOT THAT UP!" CRUNCH

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

Date: 4 Apr 90 17:51:18 GMT
From: rochester![e-mail]  (Paul Dietz)
Subject: Re: Will we lose another orbiter?

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

>>This is false.  The alternative was waiting until April ("My god,
>>Thiokol,..."), when the weather would be warm enough to not be out of
>>the range of previous experience.  If they had held, they would have
>>had to have held for months, not days.  More broadly, NASA had been
>>...(Paul)
>
>    Maybe if you launch from Cape Cod you'd have to wait till April, but
>at Cape Canaveral,  you don't generally get winter more than a few days at
>a time.
>    Just nitpicking.

Dale,

   The Thiokol engineers, the night before the accident, had said they
would not recommend a launch at a (joint?) temperature below 53 F.
This was the calculated joint temperature for 51-C, a launch on
1/24/85 that suffered severe blow-by of a primary O-ring (the air
temperature at launch time was 66 F, by the way).  Upon hearing this,
Mulloy retorted "My God, Thiokol, when do you want me to launch --
next April?"

   In retrospect, even 53 F was probably too low.  All four shuttle
flights before 51-L with O ring temperatures below 63 F showed
O ring thermal distress, vs 3 out of 20 at temperatures above 66 F.

    Paul F. Dietz
    [e-mail]

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

Date: 4 Apr 90 11:13:46 GMT
From: dasys1![e-mail]  (Tom Betz)
Subject: Re: What does it cost to push a pound into orbit?

Quoth [e-mail] (Henry Spencer) in <[e-mail]>:
|In article <[e-mail]> dbm0000@DOMAIN_2.lerc.nasa.gov (Dave McKissock) writes:
|>>Shuttle     $300 mil          50,000 (LEO)        $6,000          [1]
|>
|>Here at NASA Lewis Research Center, when we perform Life Cycle Cost
|>calculations for Space Station we use $3000 / lb for Shuttle
|>launch costs.
|
|Asking the price of a shuttle launch is like asking the price of an F-15.

I appreciate your responses wrt LEO launches.  However, nobody
said anything about the other targets:

Geostationary
L[1-5]
Lunar Landing
Solar "Landing" (into the Sun)
Other interesting targets...

Can anyone point me at useful references for such information?

Thanks.
--
"I don't run - I tend to black my eyes." - D.Parton | hombre!marob!upaya!tbetz
----------------------------------------------------|    [e-mail]
"The conventional view serves to protect us         |      Tom Betz - GBS
from the painful job of thinking." - J.K. Galbraith |      [phone]

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

Date: 4 Apr 90 05:20:15 GMT
From: cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!qucdn![e-mail]  (Arnold G. Gill)
Subject: Re: Velikovsky's Theory

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Henry Spencer)
says:
>
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Steve Hosgood) writes:
>>Has Velikovsky's theory held up under attack from supercomputer simulations
>>in recent years? ...
>
>Nobody with any real understanding of physics takes Velikovsky seriously.
>Attacking his theories with supercomputer simulations would be like attacking
>a gnat with a sledgehammer.  Attacking them with a physics textbook suffices.
     Maybe, but people are doing the supercomputer simulations anyway, for
their own research.  People like Scott Tremaine at CITA (UToronto), Martin
Duncan and Brett Gladman at Queen's.  They all show that the planets have been
in their current orbits for millions of years, and that if they had strayed
from their circular orbits, they would have been ejected from the Solar
System by encounters with Jupiter.

     If you are talking about the origin of comets, Brett's thesis (currently
writing) shows that they cannot originate anywhere inside the orbit of
Neptune, but that there seems to be quasi-stable orbits at around 40 AU (this
is being currently checked).  It seems that current work discounts the Oort
Cloud hypothesis, but is looking at something called the Kuiper Belt
hypothesis instead.  Hopefully these people's super computer results will tie
down a bit better just where this Belt could reasonably exist.
-------
 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
|  Arnold Gill                        |                                     |
|  Queen's University at Kingston     |     If I hadn't wanted it heard,    |
|  BITNET   : gilla@qucdn             |       I wouldn't have said it.      |
|  X-400    : [e-mail]  |                                     |
|  INTERNET : [e-mail]  |                                     |
 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

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

Date: 4 Apr 90 16:00:46 GMT
From: cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Ejection seats

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Steve Friedl) writes:
>> Your 25g estimate is in the ballpark.  Older seats generated up to 40g
>> and had consequent higher injury rates.
>
>So what causes these injuries?  Hitting the ground?  Hitting the
>canopy?  Getting arms caught on something?  Sheer acceleration?

Sheer acceleration.  Ejection is a very violent process, near the limit
of human tolerance, useful only when the alternative is worse.

Getting arms caught, hitting debris, etc. are additional hazards which
sometimes cause injury, but even without them, ejection is hazardous to
your health.
--
Apollo @ 8yrs: one small step.|     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
Space station @ 8yrs:        .| uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry [e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 4 Apr 90 20:05:02 EDT
From: John Roberts <[e-mail]>
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of the sender
    and do not reflect NIST policy or agreement.
Subject: Re: Discovery's spin


>Subject: Re: Discovery's Spin in 2010 (Was Re: Artificial gravity)

>   Let's assume that the angular momentum vector of the Discovery is
>aligned along the long axis of the ship during its normal operation. Say
>that the Discovery is pointed directly at, say, the moon. Now, let the
>bearings on the carousel seize up. The ship will start to spin about its

> Christopher Neufeld....Just a graduate student  | "You are looking at,
> [e-mail]              | ze virld's FIRST,
> [e-mail]          Ad astra! | nuclear - magnet!"
> "Don't edit reality for the sake of simplicity" |  Siegfried of KAOS

Several postings have mentioned the bearings "seizing up". To me, that
implies that they suddenly lock in position, transferring angular momentum
to the rest of the craft with a sudden jerk. I don't think this would be
necessary. Over a long period of time with no power applied, the bearings
could gradually transfer momentum through friction until the carousel and
the rest of the craft are spinning at the same rate.
                John Roberts
                cmr.ncsl.nist.gov

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

Date: 4 Apr 90 18:29:54 GMT
From: att!cbnewsh![e-mail]  (benjamin.reytblat)
Subject: Pegasus scrub

I just heard that todays launch of Pegasus was scrubbed because of the weather.
Does anyone know when the next attempt is scheduled?

Ben Reytblat
[e-mail]

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

Date: 4 Apr 90 20:21:57 GMT
From: pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Galileo Update - 04/04/90



                   GALILEO MISSION STATUS
                        April 4, 1990

          Today the Galileo spacecraft is almost 128 million
miles from Earth, and about 75 million miles from the Sun.
Its heliocentric speed is just under 55,000 mph, and it has
traveled almost 299 million miles in space since its launch
last October.

          The spacecraft's health is excellent, and it is
transmitting telemetry data at 40 bits per second.  A week
ago, during a Galileo tracking pass, the Canberra tracking
station of the Deep Space Network experienced a massive power
failure and was "off the air" for about 5 hours.  A planned
memory readout of stored science data from the spacecraft
magnetometer, extreme ultraviolet sensor, and dust detector
was lost but recovered in a commanded replay the next day.
The spacecraft successfully executed a programmed sun-
pointing turn without flight team monitoring during the 5-
hour period.  When power was restored and the system came
back on line, the Canberra DSN crew re-acquired the
spacecraft signal, including telemetry indicating the
successful turn.

          Next week, starting Monday, Galileo will do a four-
day trajectory-correction maneuver designed to take the first
step in shaping the trajectory for the first Earth gravity-
assist flyby due December 8 this year.  The spacecraft will
thrust periodically as planned, with tiny ten-newton rocket
engines pulsing each time they rotate past the right
direction, for a period of more than 6 1/2 hours each of the
four days.  This will slow the spacecraft in its course by
about 6.2 meters per second or 14 mph each day for a total
velocity change of about 25 meters per second or 55 mph.
This in turn will bring the Earth distance at closest
approach from 2.4 million kilometers (1.5 million miles) in
the present Galileo orbit down to about one fifth that value.
Several more maneuvers will gradually reduce the distance to
the 950-kilometer altitude required for the Earth gravity
assist.  On April 17, ultraviolet spectrometer measurements
will be made on the star Lyman Alpha.

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

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

Date: 4 Apr 90 04:24:15 GMT
From: cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: NASA Headline News for 03/29/90 (Forwarded)

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Steve Friedl) writes:
>> It takes a million years and a zillion dollars to make a manipulator
>> arm, human controlled.
>
> ... only because it was built in Canada.
>     Steve  :-)

As Spar Aerospace, builders of the Canadarm, are fond of pointing out,
numerous similar nasty comments :-) were made by the US contractor who
wanted the job... the same company that went on to build that gem of low
cost and right-from-the-start reliability, the shuttle toilet.
--
Apollo @ 8yrs: one small step.|     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
Space station @ 8yrs:        .| uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry [e-mail]

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

Date: 4 Apr 90 21:12:51 GMT
From: pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!sp20.csrd.uiuc.edu![e-mail]  (James R. B. Davies)
Subject: Re: Seeing the Jupiter picture (Was Re: HST Image Status)


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Patty Winter) writes:
(printing instructions deleted)

|> ....Looks like Jupiter to me!

Me, too.  It's good to see that the second Equatorial Belt is back - it
was still faded last time I looked ;-)

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

Date: 4 Apr 90 18:25:09 GMT
From: mips!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!rex!rouge![e-mail]  (Fraering Philip)
Subject: Re: Quick launches ( was: Intelsat / Titan Failure )

Actually, this is in reply to noone in particular;
About quick launches: I thought the obstacle to fast launches on many of
these vehicles was the payload integration procedure.
For example: the Intelsat was installed wrong (or the wrong software was
used) on that Titan launch, and look what happened.
Is there any way to make this cheaper, more reliable, and faster? (While
we're at it, can it do windows? :-).

Philip Fraering
[e-mail]

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

Date: 4 Apr 90 19:47:41 GMT
From: [e-mail]  (Patty Winter)
Subject: Seeing the Jupiter picture (Was Re: HST Image Status)

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (David Hafken) writes:
>Hi. could someone tell me how to view the jupiter picture posted earlier on
>a macintosh? e.g. how to convert it and what prog. to use to view it.


David et al--

Here's how I did it.

Step 1. Saved the file (as "jupiter," but obviously the actual name
doesn't matter).

Step 2. From the Unix shell, typed "decode<jupiter". That left me
with a file called hst.nsv.401.Z.

Step 3. Again from the shell, typed "uncompress hst.nsv.401.Z". That
left me with a PostScript program called hst.nsv.401.

Step 4. Used macput (with the -u flag) to send the file to the Macintosh.
(Of course, you can use another file transfer utility of your choice.)

Step 5. Launched Microsoft Word, brought in the file, and applied the
style "PostScript" to all of it. (This is a style that comes with MS Word;
very handy!!)

Step 6. Printed the file to my LaserWriter. Looks like Jupiter to me!

You can, of course, skip the last few steps if you're on a Unix box
that has a printer. I'm at home and had to transfer the file from the
VAX to my Mac for printing.

Good luck!
Patty

--
*****************************************************************************
Patty Winter N6BIS                        INTERNET: [e-mail]
AMPR.ORG: [44.4.0.44]                     UUCP: {decwrl,nsc,sun}!apple!winter
*****************************************************************************

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

End of SPACE Digest V11 #221
*******************