Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V11_3/V11_343.TXT

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Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #343

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 11 : Issue 343

Today's Topics:
            James Beggs lecture (Revision)
            RE: Project Solar Sail
           Payload Status for 05/01/90 (Forwarded)
              releasing data / digitize
           Condensed CANOPUS - January 1990
Re: Giant crawler transporter to pass 1000 miles on STS-35 rollout (Forwarded)
               Re: Sex in space
Re: Giant crawler transporter to pass 1000 miles on STS-35 rollout (Forwarded)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 2 May 90 04:20:08 GMT
From: phoenix![e-mail]  (Marc Wayne Mcconley)
Subject: James Beggs lecture (Revision)

Former NASA Administrator James Beggs will speak in a free public
lecture sponsored by the Princeton Planetary Society on the evening of
Tuesday, May 8, at 7:30 pm in the McCormick Auditorium on the Princeton
University campus.  The title of the lecture is "Space Exploration:  The
Age of Space Commercialization."

Mr. Beggs was Administrator of NASA from 1981-85, during 22 successful
shuttle flights.  He was responsible for initiating, and obtaining
President Reagan's support for, the Space Station program.  As the
President's representative, he was also responsible for obtaining
the cooperation of the European Space Agency, Japan, and Canada for the
program.

Beggs is currently Chairman of the Board of Spacehab, a company which is
involved in building and designing laboratory facilities to be used on
shuttle flights.

For more information, call PPS President Audrey Robinson at (609)
734-0452.

--
Marc W. McConley
Vice President, Princeton Planetary Society
Reply-To:  [e-mail]  ||  [phone]

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

Date: Tue, 1 May 90 08:11:50 -0500
From: [e-mail] (abrams)
Subject: RE: Project Solar Sail


In Issue 339, Martin J. Brown, Jr. refers to the book, "Project Solar Sail"
and cites the following:

"The book also contains a
photo of Dr. Robert Forward's Starwisp, a microwave sail ship, on a
hanger(?) floor."

While glancing through the book, I remember this photo, but didn't read the
caption.  If it claims that the photo is of Forward's Starwisp design, then
an editing error was made.  The photo, according to the World Space
Foundation in other publications, is of a prototype solar sail designed by
the WSF Solar Sail Engineering Mission that was on display at the Paris
Air Show four (?) years ago.

Forward's Starwisp would not be displayable on a planetary surface; "wisp"
is not just an aesthetic term...

Ever so often, solar/star sails are brought up in Space Digest.  I've
probably bored most of the people in the past with private discussions, but
I'll take this opportunity to see if there are any new subscribers who
are intrigued by this concept...

                        Steve Abrams
                        [e-mail]

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

Date: 1 May 90 17:12:08 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Payload Status for 05/01/90 (Forwarded)


    Daily Status/KSC Payload Management and Operations 05-01-90.


    - STS-31R HST (at VPF) -

    Post launch GSE removal continues.


    - STS-35 ASTRO-1/BBXRT (at Pad-A) -

    The ASTRO MMU load was completed Monday.  No payload
    activities are scheduled for today.


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

    Experiment train interface testing and ECS systems checks
    are continuing.


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

    Module pyrell foam replacement, floor staging, and rack
    staging were worked Monday and will continue today.


    - STS-45 Atlas-1 (at O&C) -

    Coldplate installations were active Monday.  Orthogrid and
    keel installations will be worked today along with MLI
    modifications.


    - STS-46 TSS-1 (at O&C) -

    EMP deintegration continues.


    - STS-47 Spacelab-J (at O&C) -

    No activity is scheduled for today.


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

    Rack 12 staging continues.  Also, the micro-G environment
    transfer test will be performed today.


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

    ORUC interface testing continues today.

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

Date: 30 Apr 90 13:37:45 GMT
From: usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!zardoz.cpd.com!dhw68k!ofa123![e-mail]  (Dean Costello)
Subject: releasing data / digitize

This may seem more than a little silly, but what format are the
digital images stored as?  It sure would be nice to be able to view
that data directly...
-
Dean C.


--
Dean Costello
...!{dhw68k,zardoz,lawnet,conexch}!ofa123!Dean.Costello                             [e-mail]
714 544-0934 2400/1200/300

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

Date: 1 May 90 19:08:18 GMT
From: frooz![e-mail]  (Steve Willner, OIR)
Subject: Condensed CANOPUS - January 1990


Here is the condensed CANOPUS for January 1990.  There are two articles
condensed or in full and four articles by title only.  CANOPUS is
copyright American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, but
distribution is encouraged.  See full copyright information at end.

-----------CONTENTS --  2 ARTICLES CONDENSED OR IN FULL-----------------

ADVANCED TRACKING AND DATA RELAY SATELLITE PHASE B RFP RELEASED -
     can900101.txt  - 1/14/90
NASA AND JAPAN SIGN GEOTAIL AGREEMENT - can900102.txt - 1/14/90
------------------------------------------------------------------------

ADVANCED TRACKING AND DATA RELAY SATELLITE PHASE B RFP RELEASED -
     can900101.txt  - 1/14/90

The first ATDRSS spacecraft tentatively is scheduled for delivery in
July 1997, when it could replace one of the current TRDSS spacecraft.
"The advanced satellites," explained William S. Guion of Goddard's
Tracking and Data Relay project office, "will differ from the
existing TDRS spacecraft in two important respects: a new frequency
band with a high-data rate capability of 650 million bits per second;
and an enhanced multiple access system which will increase the data
rate provided each of several simultaneous users from the current 50
thousand bits per second to 3 million bits per second."

{Existing TDRS satellites are:}
   TDRS-3 (TDRS-West), 171 deg. W long. (southwest of the Hawaiian
     Islands and just east of the Gilbert Islands)

   TDRS-4 (TDRS-East), 41 deg. W long. (off the northeast coast of
     Brazil)

   TDRS-1 (TDRS spare), 79 deg. W longitude, near Ecuador

   TDRS-2 was lost in the Challenger tragedy.

NASA AND JAPAN SIGN GEOTAIL AGREEMENT - can900102.txt - 1/14/90

NASA and Japan have completed an agreement for the launch of Japan's
GEOTAIL spacecraft on a commercially-supplied Delta II launch
vehicle, from the Kennedy Space Center, in July l992.  The GEOTAIL
spacecraft is a bilateral cooperative mission between NASA and ISAS
{Japanese space science agency--SW} which will investigate the stored
energy in the geomagnetic tail of the Earth.  GEOTAIL will use a
double lunar-swingby orbit to take measurements in the region from 8
to 220 Earth radii (Re).

----------------- 4 ARTICLES BY TITLE ONLY---------------------------

NASA RESEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT (Research in Planetary Materials and
     Geochemistry) - can900103.txt - 1/15/90
NASA RESEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT (Applied Information Systems Research) -
     can900104.txt - 1/14/90
MAGELLAN STATUS REPORT - can900105.txt - 1/14/90
GALILEO STATUS - can900106.txt - 1/16/90

------------------END OF CONDENSED CANOPUS---------------------------

This posting represents my own condensation of CANOPUS.  For clarity,
I have not shown ellipses (...), even when the condensation is
drastic.  New or significantly rephrased material is in {braces} and
is signed {--SW} when it represents an expression of my own opinion.
The unabridged CANOPUS is available via e-mail from me at any of the
addresses below.

Copyright information:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CANOPUS is published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics.  Send correspondence about its contents to the executive
editor, William W. L. Taylor ([e-mail]).
Send correspondence about business matters to Mr. John Newbauer,
AIAA, 1633 Broadway, NY, NY 10019.  Although AIAA has copyrighted
CANOPUS and registered its name, you are encouraged to distribute
CANOPUS widely, either electronically or as printout copies.  If you
do, however, please send a brief message to Taylor estimating how
many others receive copies.  CANOPUS is partially supported by the
National Space Science Data Center.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Willner            Phone [phone]         Bitnet:   willner@cfa
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA                 Internet: [e-mail]

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

Date: 1 May 90 23:05:44 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Re: Giant crawler transporter to pass 1000 miles on STS-35 rollout (Forwarded)

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Henry Spencer) writes:
>In article <?H3#T#[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jim Kasprzak) writes:
>>... What sort of engine(s) does
>>that crawler thing have, and what kind of fuel do they run on?
>
>Like most really heavy machinery, the crawlers are Diesel-electric, with
>big Diesels running generators and electric motors actually driving the
>wheels or treads.  (Diesel locomotives are really Diesel-electric too.)
>If I recall correctly, main power for the crawler is four Diesels at a
>few thousand horsepower apiece, plus a couple of smaller ones for auxiliary
>power.  They burn Diesel oil; mileage is something like 30 ft per gallon.

From the Spacelink portion of the SPACE archive:

6.2.3.17.3.14
The following document was updated on 12-30-88 and contains 3080 characters.

CRAWLER-TRANSPORTER.

Tracked crawler-transporter vehicles move the space shuttle vehicles
between the Vehicle Assembly Building and Launch Complex 39-A or
39-B.  The two transporters are 131 feet long and 114 feet wide.
They move on four double-tracked crawlers, each 10 feet high and 41
feet long.  Each shoe on the crawler track weighs 2,000 pounds.  The
transporter's maximum speed unloaded is 2 mph; loaded, it is 1 mph.
Unloaded, it weighs 6 million pounds.

The transporters have a leveling system designed to keep the top of
the space shuttle vehicle vertical within plus or minus 10 minutes of
arc-about the dimensions of a basketball.  This system also provides
the leveling operations required to negotiate the 5-percent ramp
leading to the launch pads and to keep the load level when it is
raised and lowered on pedestals at the pad and in the Vehicle
Assembly Building.

The overall height of the transporter is 20 feet, from ground level
to the top deck, on which the mobile launcher platform is mated for
transportation.  The deck is flat and about the size of a baseball
diamond (90 feet square).

Each transporter is powered by two 2,750-horsepower diesel engines.
The engines drive four 1,000-kilowatt generators that provide
electrical power to 16 traction motors.  Through gears, the traction
motors turn the four double-tracked crawlers spaced 90 feet apart at
each corner of the transporter.

North of the Orbiter Processing Facility is a weather-protected
crawler-transporter maintenance facility in which components of the
crawler-transporters can be repaired or modified.  It includes a high
bay with an overhead crane for lifting heavy components and a low bay
for shops, parts storage and offices.  A pit has been built outside
on the crawlerway to accommodate track segment removal and
installation.

The crawler-transporters move on a roadway 130 feet wide, almost as
broad as an eight-lane turnpike.  The crawlerway from the VAB to the
launch pads consists of two 40-foot-wide lanes separated by a
50-foot-wide median strip.  The distance from the Vehicle Assembly
Building to Launch Complex 39-A is 3.4 miles and 4.2 miles to Launch
Complex 39-B.  The roadway is built in three layers with an average
depth of 7 feet.  The top surface is river gravel.  The gravel is 8
inches thick on curves and 4 inches on straightaway sections.

When the space shuttle vehicle is fully assembled and checked out in
the VAB, the crawler-transporter is driven into position beneath the
mobile launcher platform.  The transporter jacks the mobile launcher
off its pedestals, and the rollout to the launch pad begins.  It
takes approximately five hours for the unusual transport vehicle to
make the trip from the VAB to the launch pad.  During the transfer,
engineers and technicians aboard the crawler, assisted by ground
crews, operate and monitor systems while drivers steer the vehicle
towards its destination.

After the mobile launcher platform is ''hard down'' on the launch pad
pedestals, the crawler is backed down the ramp and returned to its
parking area.

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

Date: 1 May 90 15:37:00 GMT
From: ogicse!dali!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!samsung!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Sex in space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Frank P. DiGiuseppe) writes:
>>(For example, there are married couples among the US astronauts...
>
>Henry, you wouldn't, by any chance, happen to know the names of the
>married couples in the astronaut corps, would you?? ;-)

I'm afraid not; I'm not one of these people who delights in tracking all
the personnel shifts in the astronaut corps.  There's no secret about it,
but I haven't bothered keeping track.
--
If OSI is the answer, what is |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
the question?? -Rolf Nordhagen| uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry [e-mail]

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

Date: 1 May 90 14:15:44 GMT
From: noose.ecn.purdue.edu!dynamo.ecn.purdue.edu![e-mail]  (Ingo Cyliax)
Subject: Re: Giant crawler transporter to pass 1000 miles on STS-35 rollout (Forwarded)


In article <?H3#T#[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Jim Kasprzak) writes:
> In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (John Woods) writes:
> >In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Peter
E. Yee) writes:
> >>   GIANT CRAWLER TRANSPORTER TO PASS 1000 MILES ON STS-35 ROLLOUT
> >
> >Another 2000 miles and it'll be time to change the oil.    ;-)
>
>  This may sound like a totally silly trivia question, but I can't get it out
> of my head and somebody here must know the answer. What sort of
engine(s) does
> that crawler thing have, and what kind of fuel do they run on?

I think the crawlers are powered by Cummins diesel engines, I don't know
what model, but I can probably find out.

-ingo

/*                Ingo Cyliax    ECN, Electrical Engineering Bldg.          *
 *      [e-mail]    Purdue University, W. Lafayette,IN 47907   *
 *          [e-mail]    Work: [phone]                       *
 *         [e-mail]    Home: [phone]                       */

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

End of SPACE Digest V11 #343
*******************