Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V11_2/V11_289.TXT

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Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #289

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 11 : Issue 289

Today's Topics:
              Re: Arecibo (sp?) message
         Re: Materials (Was: Re: Energy consumption)
       Re: Drake Equation (was Re: Interstellar travel)
      Re: Discovery's Spin in 2010 (Was Re: Artificial gravity)
               B70/B58 - Pegasus launch
                  Re: Reach
      Re: Discovery's Spin in 2010 (Was Re: Artificial gravity)
              Re: Decompression and 2001
              Re: Decompression and 2001
       Re: Drake Equation (was Re: Interstellar travel)
           Payload Status for 04/18/90 (Forwarded)
       Re: NASA Headline News for 04/13/90 (Forwarded)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 18 Apr 90 23:18:31 GMT
From: agate!shelby!neon![e-mail]  (John Kallen)
Subject: Re: Arecibo (sp?) message

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Matthew DeLuca) writes:
>From memory, I believe the picture included a stick-figure human, to indicate
>our basic physical structure, a very simple diagram of our solar system,
>with the third planet highlighted, and a simple image of the Arecibo dish.
>Also included was information on our chemical makeup, data on the dish, and
>some elementary information on our solar system.

I recall seeing the height of the stick figure specified in 20-cm units
(the wavelength of the band used for transmitting the image), and a
head count of the Earth's population (hopelessly outdated by now! :-)
_______________________________________________________________________________
 | |   |   |    |\ | |   /|\ | John Kallen       "The light works. The gravity
 | |\ \|/ \|  * |/ | |/|  |  | PoBox 11215        works. Anything else we must
 | |\ /|\  |\ * |\ |   |  |  | Stanford CA 94309  take our chances with."
_|_|___|___|____|_\|___|__|__|[e-mail]__________________________

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

Date: 19 Apr 90 03:23:22 GMT
From: mnetor!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Materials (Was: Re: Energy consumption)

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (George William Herbert) writes:
>>titanium like the shuttle...
>
>The shuttle is good ole Aluminum alloys, much of it garden variety 2024 and
>7075 ...

Hm.  Don't know where I got the idea that it was titanium.  The usual
references confirm the bulk of the structure is aluminum, with bits of
titanium and composites here and there.
--
With features like this,      |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
who needs bugs?               | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry [e-mail]

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

Date: 19 Apr 90 06:03:22 GMT
From: munnari.oz.au!goanna!minyos![e-mail]  (Andrew Pettifer)
Subject: Re: Drake Equation (was Re: Interstellar travel)


What about all those 50Hz power grids?
They would cause some beat frequencies, and i'm sure that the phase
relationships are drifting all the time, which would help to make the signal(?)
seem more random.

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

Date: 18 Apr 90 15:25:56 GMT
From: mcsun!ukc!icdoc!syma![e-mail]  (Nick Watkins)
Subject: Re: Discovery's Spin in 2010 (Was Re: Artificial gravity)

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Nathaniel Ingersoll) writes:
>One thing that has always impressed me about 2001 was the lack of
>sound in the outer-space (ie outside of spacecraft) shots; no
>Star Wars-like deep, low freq rumble of powerful thrust engines.
They were switched off though, weren't they ... :-)

Seriously though, I agree, and feel the use of the "heavy breathing" for
Poole's EVAs was thus doubly effective. Pity 2010 didn't follow suit,
but had some ridiculous cliffhanger episode with a tethered astronaut
being pulled along when engines started noisily.

>Any other such movies with silent space?  Even Alien, with "in space
>no one can hear you scream", you could hear the engines from "outside".
Silent Running ?

Nick


--
Dr. 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: 18 Apr 90 17:47:32 GMT
From: cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!noose.ecn.purdue.edu![e-mail]  (Duane P Mantick)
Subject: B70/B58 - Pegasus launch

I have seen the SOLE SURVIVING XB70 at the Air Force Museum within the
last two weeks.  Just from external views, I'd say forget it.

Even to the untrained eye (at least, untrained in maintenance of
Mach3 aircraft :-)  ), it looks to me like this bird will NEVER fly
again.  Sad but true.  Many skin sections appear to be fairly
thoroughly hosed and just patched for display purposes.  And where
can you find a GE J93 engine anymore?

This particular Valkyrie was really the "dog" of the two.  Since it
was the first, a lot of bugs in it got ironed out in the second one.
#1 got to a point where it's speed was limited to fairly low mach
numbers due to skin peeling and other problems, not the least of which
was fuel leakage (which, in a high mach heated airframe can be bloody
dangerous - the SR71 being an exception thanks to JP7).

All of this may be a moot point, however, in the case of the Valkyrie.
There is no such thing as a wing "hard-point" on this bird.  In addition
the constuction of the main fuselage bottom is such that it might
not be possible to put in separation equipment without compromising
structural integrity (speculation on my part).

However, think about this (even outside of the Pegasus discussion):

How would a 1990's technology Valkyrie perform?  Utilize a higher
percentage of titanium and composites with less cold hard steel,
for instance.  Use up-to-date avionics and control systems, likewise.

Whilst I have said that the XB70 at Dayton was probably not
useable - an all new Valkyrie would be a marvelous aircraft, IMHO.
Wouldn't be cheap, though.  I suspect that better engines are available
now off-the-shelf than the J93 ever was, and six of them side by side......
ooh, goose pimples!

Ah well, such is the stuff dreams are made of.

Duane

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

Date: 18 Apr 90 21:46:20 GMT
From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!lavaca.uh.edu!uhnix1!nuchat![e-mail]  (Henry Malmgren)
Subject: Re: Reach

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Patrick John Horgan) writes:
>Has anyone else read Reach?  It's a sci-fi book by Edward Gibson of
>skylab fame.  It's really interesting reading a book on space travel
>written by an astronaut.  I'm about half-way through, and so far
>rate him a farely good writer.  Occasionally he gets a little to
>bogged down in detail and the story drags, but not for long.
>It's given me a great insight into the mind and motive of an astro-
>naut.
>
>Patrick Horgan                         [e-mail]
I disagree with you.  I have a signed copy of the book, and frankly I found
it to be rather disapointing.  The book jacket makes it seem really upbeat, but
in reality, it was a rather long-winded story about nothing.  The plot was
pretty weak, and the mysterious Alien Life Form was just too abstract for my
tastes.  It seems to me that ex-astronauts have a better history of writing
factual books about their real experiences, then they have when they write
fiction.  The book must not have done very well in stores, since I never saw it
on any bestseller list.  I do hope he tries again, and possibly his next one
will be better.

Henry Malmgren
[e-mail]

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

Date: 19 Apr 90 23:21:11 GMT
From: vsi1!hsv3![e-mail]  (Mike Van Pelt)
Subject: Re: Discovery's Spin in 2010 (Was Re: Artificial gravity)

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Nick Watkins) writes:
>>Any other such movies with silent space?

>Silent Running ?

Nope, "Silent Running" goofed, too.  The nuclear explosions, though
visually very good, made noise -- the "bang" *BEFORE* the flash!  I
could accept some kind of tenuous shock wave hitting the ship some time
after the explosion, but *BANG*FLASH* is just stupid.
--
Mike Van Pelt           I would like to electrocute everyone who uses the
Headland Technology     word 'fair' in connection with income tax policies.
(was: Video Seven)                   -- William F. Buckley
...ames!vsi1!v7fs1!mvp

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

Date: 20 Apr 90 02:06:33 GMT
From: news-server.csri.toronto.edu!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!physics.utoronto.ca![e-mail]  (Christopher Neufeld)
Subject: Re: Decompression and 2001

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Dan Tilque) writes:
>[e-mail] writes:
>>
>>I have often wondered about this as well, and recall reading a sci-fi story
>>or two where humans moved between two craft in open space without suits
>>(supposedly the decompression problems were solved by hyperventilating, then
>>expelling all air from the lungs and leaving your breathing passages open
>>8-O ?).
>
>By a not so amazing coincidence, this was also a Clarke story.  It was
>written back in the 50's, I think.  Unfortunately, I can't remember the
>name but the plot goes like this:
>
> [ follows a description of a space station construction accident ]
>
   See also Arthur C. Clarke's _Earthlight_. The copyright on the book
is 1939, but it has probably been updated because there is some mention
of atomic weaponry and power generation.
   There is also a description of people navigating vacuum without a
space suit in _The McAndrew Chronicles_ by Charles Sheffield.

>---
>Dan Tilque -- [e-mail]


--
 Christopher Neufeld....Just a graduate student  | "Like most
 [e-mail]              | intellectuals he is
 [e-mail]          Ad astra! | intensely stupid."
 "Don't edit reality for the sake of simplicity" |  Marquise de Merteuil

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

Date: 19 Apr 90 22:33:16 GMT
From: janus.Berkeley.EDU![e-mail]  (Blake Philip Wood)
Subject: Re: Decompression and 2001

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>.... in the film _2001_, I couldn't help but wonder about the scene where
>Dave is forced to blow the pod door and reenter Discovery through the
>emergency hatch.

There's a book about the making of 2001, and this is addressed in it.
It's been a long time, but the story goes something like this:  Kubrick (sp?)
originally planned to leave the helmet off, then someone questioned how
realistic that was, so he decided to have Dave in his helmet.  At the last
minute someone produced some study which showed that lab animals could
survive short periods in a vacuum, so the helmet came off again.




                 Blake P. Wood - [e-mail]
                 Plasmas and Non-Linear Dynamics, U.C. Berkeley, EECS

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

Date: 18 Apr 90 18:47:22 GMT
From: att!cbnewsh![e-mail]  (lawrence.m.geary)
Subject: Re: Drake Equation (was Re: Interstellar travel)

Since the early 1950's the earth has been emitting a particular signal
which repeats every 30 minutes. Even if alien listeners cannot recognize
the signal as being of intelligent origin, it's odd periodicity will
give it away. It will also make the signal easier to detect at distances
of many light years, even through the cacophony of other RF sources.

When the aliens do come in their vast starships, they will land in an
open field near the source of the signals - possibly Central Park in
New York, or the wetlands outside Seacaucus NJ. In order to attempt
communication with us, they will play back to us the signal we have
been sending toward the stars these many decades. A portal will open
in the side of the starship, and a large flat screen will erect itself.
Rhythmic music will be heard to come from the ship, and the screen will
begin to display a stylized human heart over which will be superimposed,
in a flowing script font, the following words:





                I Love Lucy



--

     --Larry: [e-mail]

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

Date: 18 Apr 90 17:47:20 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Payload Status for 04/18/90 (Forwarded)


    Daily Status/KSC Payload Management and Operations 04-18-90.


    - STS-31R HST (at pad-B) -

    HST battery charging continues.


    - STS-35 ASTRO-1 (at OPF) -

    Support for VAB operations continues.


    - STS-40 SLS-1 (at O&C) -

    The aft end cone was mated to the module on Tuesday.  Today
    module leak checks will begin, rack and floor installation
    into the module, and preps for experiment train interface
    test will continue.


    - STS-42 IML-1 (at O&C) -

    On Tuesday module pyrell foam replacement along with racks
    4, and 7 staging operations were performed.  Pyrell foam
    replacement will continue today along with racks 4, 8, 9,
    and 11 staging.  Floor staging will also be active today.


    - STS-45 (Atlas-1)-

    Connector bracket, support structure, and hardpoint
    installations will continue today.


    - STS-55 SL-D2 (at O&C) -

    No activity is scheduled for today.


    - HST M&R (at O&C) -

    ORUC power network verification and cable installation were
    performed Tuesday.  The ORUC interface test will start
    today.

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

Date: 19 Apr 90 16:23:59 GMT
From: att!cbnewsl![e-mail]  (Stuart Warmink)
Subject: Re: NASA Headline News for 04/13/90 (Forwarded)

[e-mail] (Steve Friedl) writes:

> Does this mean that they will throttle the engines to (say) 110%
> rather than the 104% that they do now?

Perhaps of more importance, does it mean we are going to get another
series of postings on "what does greater than 100% mean"?

:-)

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stuart Warmink, Whippany, NJ, USA  |  [e-mail]  |       Hi!
-------------------------> My opinions are just that <------------------------

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

End of SPACE Digest V11 #289
*******************