Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V11_3/V11_391.TXT

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Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #391

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 11 : Issue 391

Today's Topics:
    Re: Terraforming Venus (was: Manned mission to Venus)
                Re: Apollo 12
                 Naming Stars
     Hubble Space Telescope Update - 05/11/90 (Forwarded)
              Re: SPACE Digest V11 #344
          Re: 'Weather in the VAB?' - another answer
              Re:  SPACE Digest V11 #385
           Hubble Space Telescope Update - 05/11/90
             Re: Manned Mission To Venus
              Re: The Vatican Connection
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 12 May 90 00:57:33 GMT
From: zephyr.ens.tek.com!wrgate!mrloog![e-mail]  (Dan Tilque)
Subject: Re: Terraforming Venus (was: Manned mission to Venus)


A lot of people have been suggesting getting water from planetary rings
or satellites for Venus.  I think a better source would be to get
comets.  To get them you'd have to go out to the Kuiper Belt/Oort
Cloud, find them, change their orbit, wait for them to fall a ways,
correct the orbit, etc.

This would require a lot of comets, because you'd want Venus to have
about as much water as Earth does just to ameliorate the climate (there
goes most of that real estate, under the new oceans).  However, if you
got the comets to impact correctly, you could speed up Venus' rotation
somewhat (not by much though).  The impacts may also remove some excess
CO2 for you too.

Of course, there's probably better things to do with comets than dump
them on Venus.

---

Talking about oceans on other planets, there's an article in Science
News about how some researchers think that Mars may have had a periodic
ocean covering much of its northern hemisphere.  Their theory is that
outbreaks of vulcanism increased the Greenhouse effect sufficiently to
melt the icecaps/permafrost to form the ocean.  They hypothesize at
least 3 times that the ocean has appeared/disappeared.

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

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

Date: 11 May 90 15:59:52 GMT
From: clyde.concordia.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Apollo 12

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Robert Casey) writes:
>If they were a few days late launching, why not land at another
>selected spot on the Moon where the Sun angle would be good at that
>time?  I'm assuming that the site selection committee had selected more
>than one site...

The astronauts trained with models and photos of the desired landing site
until they could fly the approach in their sleep.  There simply wasn't
time to train for multiple sites, even for Apollo 11 when they didn't
care precisely where they landed.

In the case of Apollo 12, there wasn't even a theoretical possibility
of an alternate site, because one important objective of the mission was
to demonstrate precision landing at a site selected in advance:  the
landing site of Surveyor 3.
--
Life is too short to spend    |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
debugging Intel parts. -Van J.| uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry [e-mail]

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

Date: 11 May 90 23:45:15 GMT
From: swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!aplcen!haven!wam![e-mail]  (Jason Edward Floyd)
Subject: Naming Stars


    I have heard that it is possible to name a star or galaxy. Is this
true? If so how does one go about doing it?

--
In Real Life: Jason E. Floyd  [e-mail]
              University of Maryland at College Park
"Life is a grapefruit."
motto: NUKE 'EM ALL

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

Date: 11 May 90 16:49:11 GMT
From: swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Hubble Space Telescope Update - 05/11/90 (Forwarded)

UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL -- MAY 11

"Hubble Space Telescope Program Fixed"
     By Rob Stein

"NASA engineers began beaming a corrected computer program to the
Hubble Space Telescope Thursday to point the giant observatory in
the right direction so it can take its first picture of the
universe by next week."

The UPI report says the new commands were written by the Space
Telescope Science Institute and sent to NASA's Goddard Space
Flight Center for transmission to the spacecraft.

Stein says that following the retransmission, Goddard controllers
plan to repeat the 36-hour preparation procedure using the fine
guidance system and verifying its capabilities prior to
attempting a "first light" image.  UPI says following these
preparations, the Wide Field/Planetary Camera will undergo a 38-
hour focusing process which could produce an image between May 16
and 18 depending on how the focusing work turns out.  The Wide
Field/Planetary Camera was supplied by the Jet Propulsion Lab and
its Principal Investigator is J. Westphal.

UPI says that technicians have resolved most of the observatory's
early problems but are still trying to resolve two unusual
spacecraft motions.

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

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

Date: 12 May 90 00:44:10 GMT
From: swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!umich!ox.com!itivax!vax3.iti.org![e-mail]  (Allen W. Sherzer)
Subject: Re: SPACE Digest V11 #344

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Tom Neff) writes:
>Don't be so sure.  ESA has hinted several times that they are prepared
>to go it alone if the US has one more spasm of indecision about "Space
>Station Fred".

ESA is having problems of its own. The prime contractor on Columbus
(the German company MBB-ERNO) is way over budget and behind schedule
itself. In addition, their (MBB) recent proposal (150,000 pages in 375
volumes) was recently judged unacceptable by ESA.

>(So have the Japanese.)  Presumably it would cost them
>extra time to provide an independent power system, but I assume they'd
>then use Hermes anyway and that's a ways down the road.

In addition, they will need to get Columbus back on schedule and on
budget wiht an acceptable proposal.

>If I were them, I'd bolt now and get started.  I suspect Fred ain't
>flying soon.

I don't disagree. I just point out that the grass always looks greener
on the other side.

  Allen

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Allen W. Sherzer         |   Real men write self modifying code.          |
|   [e-mail]            |                                                |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: 11 May 90 12:58:49 GMT
From: netnews.upenn.edu!vax1.cc.lehigh.edu![e-mail]  (Steve Roseman)
Subject: Re: 'Weather in the VAB?' - another answer

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Daniel Fischer) writes:
> So far I've received four replies to my question in <4 May 1990 11:29> whether
> there are at times clouds forming inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC.
>...
>   {Henry Spencer, Univ. Toronto} quoted two NASA SP books that denied any cloud
> formation and call it "baseless folklore". A ventilation system has been
> installed to *prevent* any condensation.
>...
>   So here I stand, with two indirect 'yes', one 'no' from the literature and
> the theoretical possibility that it might be so. Isn't there anyone on the
> net who actually worked in the VAB and knows *for sure*? I'm really curious!
>
> +- [e-mail] --- Daniel Fischer --- [e-mail] -+
> | Max-Planck-Institut f. Radioastronomie, Auf dem Huegel 69, D-5300 Bonn 1,FRG |
> +----- Enjoy the Universe - it's the only one you're likely to experience -----+
--

One of my co-worker's father was an engineer involved with the construction
of the VAB, and she remembers 2 things she was told (when she was 9 years old)
about the building.

1.  The air conditioning system was designed to avoid 'weather' problems (like
clouds) from forming in the building.  (Chalk one up for Henry Spenser, but
what else is new...)  Maybe during extreme outside conditions and air
conditioning failures clouds do form.

2.  Under the windows there were some sort of spaces, and there were
discussions about what sort of material they were to be filled with.  Finally
it was decided to use lead shot.  What the spaces were and why lead shot was
used, she doesn't know.

Steve
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Roseman
Lehigh University Computing Center
[e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail]
Date:     Fri, 11 May 90  15:08:44 EDT
Subject:  Re:  SPACE Digest V11 #385

> ##########################################################################
> # [e-mail]  # "Check this out.  You win $5 million from #
> # roman@mthvax (bitnet)      # the publisher's sweepstakes and the same  #
> ############################## day that big Ed guy gives you the check,  #
> #  "Diane...I'm holding      # aliens land on the Earth and say they're  #
> #    in my hand a box        # going to blow up the world in 2 days.     #
> #  of chocolate bunnies"     # What do you do?" --H. Chandler (1972-1989)#
> ##########################################################################
>
You spend $2.5 million per day, finishing up with one hell of a
bash on the evening of the second day. Caviar in bathtubs. 2-inch
thick prime rib sandwiches for everyone. Champagne by the barrel.
Fine wine by the pot full. You get the idea. Hey, even if you
overspend, who the hell is gonna care?

>
> Date: 10 May 90 21:26:01 GMT
> From: [e-mail]  (Edward Joseph Bennett)
> Subject: Re: why there are no ETs
>
> >>It just occured to me that one of the possible reasons we have not
> >>discovered extraterrestrial intelligence in the universe is that they
> >>have created full fledged virtual reality systems and feel no need to go
> >>exploring space because they have enough fun exploring the inner space
> >>of their collective minds.
>
> >I'm not sure how serious this was intended to be, but it has the same
> >flaw as all the other "they're not seen because they don't want to be"
> >arguments: it assumes that ALL civilizations come to the identical
> >conclusion.  All it would take is one exception, or one ACTIVE exception
> >at any time in the history of the cosmos, to flood the galaxy with
> >lifesigns even if 95% of the beings in the galaxy were "SETI dark
> >matter" sitting plugged into nine dimensional Nintendo games.
>
> >I still like my explanation.  When you achieve interstellar travel
> >or communication, someone comes along and kills you.  Fits the nature
> >of the universe, i.e., a real bitch.
>
> I'm not sure how serious yours is either but:
>
> What if we are being observed as an experiment that they wanted minimal
> outside interference with. That would explain why we don't see them. If
> they are seen they destroy the evidence and they use force to make sure
> nobody else comes to see us.
>
> Ed
>
As I have said before, if you were a member of an alien race that
had advanced far enough to develop means of interstellar travel,
as well as means of intercepting AND interpreting communications
going on among the beings who inhabit planet Earth, WOULD YOU have
any reason whatsoever in the universe for establishing contact
with those beings. You know, us. The ones who shoot, and stab, and
burn, and torture, and maim, and detonate, and anihilate each other,
and perform continual, increasingly destructive acts upon the planet
itself until it is unfit to support the existence of our very own
species, not to mention the tens of thousands of other species that
are being rendered extinct each year. I know if I was an alien I
SURE AS HELL WOULDN'T. But then again I'm different from a lot of
people. I don't take vacations where the indigenous populations are
in a state of shooting at each other, for example, but thousands of
humans do.

                                         Marc Arlen
                                         AZM@NIHCU

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

Date: 11 May 90 22:57:45 GMT
From: usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Hubble Space Telescope Update - 05/11/90



                  Hubble Space Telescope Update
                          MAY 11, 1990

     Engineers continue to test the systems on the Hubble
Space Telescope in preparation for the first picture.  Thursday
night, at 6 p.m. EDT, operators at the Space Telescope Operations
Control Center initiated an analytical test of the Hubble Space
Telescope's pointing and control system and fine guidance sensors.
First indications from the test which concluded at 6 a.m. Friday
morning, are that the fine guidance sensors are working properly,
and were able to lock on to and track designated guide stars in
what is called the "course track mode."  Data from the test is now
being analyzed.
       _   _____    _
      | | |  __ \  | |       Ron Baalke           |  [e-mail]
      | | | |__) | | |       Jet Propulsion Lab   |  [e-mail]
   ___| | |  ___/  | |___    M/S 301-355          |
  |_____| |_|      |_____|   Pasadena, CA 91109   |

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

Date: Fri, 11 May 90 17:17:45 CDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Manned Mission To Venus

> cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)

> In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jonathan A Bishop) writes:
> >>On a side note, 9 months isn't all that bad.  Our forebears often survived
> >>_years_ long trips on the sailing ships.  Often in cramped,dark,wet quarters.
> >>On poor rations.  Under sadistic officers.  I think we could stand 9 months
> >>in a space ship.  Even the Apollo's.
> >
> >     I'm not so sure.  In Apollo, the only private space available was in the
> >LM tunnel.  That might be adequate for a week, but it would not be enough,
> >IMHO, for 9 months...
>
> Just how much private space do you think there was for common sailors on
> an old-time sailing ship?

To which I will add, just how much private space do you think there
is for common sailors on a present-day destroyer or frigate which
may spend months at sea?

[The longest I ever did was 54 days.]

> Admittedly, they did have a couple of advantages:  more room to move around,
> and more company.  A dozen people is much better than three.

Here I will disagree.  More people can be a potential disadvantage
rather than the reverse, if you can't get away from them.  At least
that's been my experience.

==============================================================================
| Fred McCall  ([e-mail]) | "Insisting on perfect safety is for  |
| Advanced Systems Division           |  people who don't have the balls to  |
| Defense Systems & Electronics Group |  live in the real world."            |
| Texas Instruments, Inc.             |                     -- Mary Shafer   |
+-------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|  I speak for me.  I don't speak for others, and they don't speak for me.   |
==============================================================================

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

Date: 12 May 90 00:45:32 GMT
From: hao.hao.ucar.edu![e-mail]  (Derek Buzasi)
Subject: Re: The Vatican Connection


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


#     Last night (5-10-90) on _Prime Time Live_ there was a story on the
#observatory complex that the University of Arizona is planning to build.
#Some biologists have said that the project would harm the rare red squirrel
#that live there.  The project was temporarily delayed when the Fish and
#Wildlife Service placed the squirrel on the endangered species list.  The
#university pressured the Arizona delegation to Congress and a variance was
#granted.  As soon as the university began building an environmental group
#(I believe it was the Audubon Society) successfully filed suit and halted
#the project, at least for now.  The suit revealed that some biologists were
#pressured into telling Congress that the squirrels would not be in danger.
#
#      The university was able to pressure Congress because of the backers of
#the project were quite powerful: the Max Planck Institute, the Smithsonian,
#and even the Vatican!  Pope John Paul II even met with university officials
#in 1987 to discuss the project.  (And by backing I mean funding.)
#
#     This seems to show a marked change in the Church's attitude toward as
#astronomy.  Centuries ago it persecuted Galileo and only made its formal
#apology for doing so just a few years ago.  Know the Church is funding
#telescopes!  In my opinion, it would suggest that the Church feels that
#astronomy is a way towards understanding God better.  Any comments?

The Vatican has a vested interest in the Mt. Graham site since, I believe,
that is where they are going to place the VATT (Vatican Advanced Technology
Telescope), a 1.8 meter instrument.

#                                    David R. Brierley
#                                    Northeastern University Geology
#
#                                    [e-mail]

Derek Buzasi
High Altitude Observatory
[e-mail]

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

End of SPACE Digest V11 #391
*******************