Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V11_4/V11_490.TXT

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Date: Mon,  4 Jun 1990 21:46:23 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #490

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 11 : Issue 490

Today's Topics:
            HAWAII STAR WARS INFO
               radiation belts
             Re: Cosmology texts
             Re: Space Sail Race
     Re: Ulysses plutonium essay in *The Nation*, 14 May
           Payload Summary for 06/04/90 (Forwarded)
           Payload Status for 06/04/90 (Forwarded)
              Magellan Update - 06/04/90
               Re: HAWAII AND STAR WARS
    Re: Terraforming Venus (was: Manned mission to Venus)

Administrivia:

    Submissions to the SPACE Digest/sci.space should be mailed to
  [e-mail].  Other mail, esp. [un]subscription notices,
  should be sent to [e-mail], or, if urgent, to
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 4 Jun 90 05:56:00 GMT
From: cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!bionet!arisia!cdp![e-mail]
Subject: HAWAII STAR WARS INFO


If anyone would like a 22 page docoment I have on
the proposed rocket launch facility,
mail your name and address to jhanson on econet.

aloha

Jay Hanson
78-6622 Alii Drive
Kailua-Kona, HI  96740

808-322-7268

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

Date: 4 Jun 90 19:27:54 GMT
From: clyde.concordia.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!ists!nereid![e-mail]  (Harold Peter White)
Subject: radiation belts

R. Dempsey mentions about the IUE satellite passing through the belts.

>I do know that data get seriously compromised on satellites like IUE
>when they pass through the belts.  In some cases data must be
>completely discarded.

I was under the impression that the IUE was under the belts. Or does it pass
through the ?North Atlantic Anomaly? (or is it South Pacific?). I would have
thought that if that was the case, equipment would not be used during exposure
times to help minimize damage that may result in operating certain equipment in
higher than normal levels of radiation. Also, wouldn't the rad'n affect
communications?

H. Peter White            ** I AM THE VERY MODEL OF A **
[e-mail]    **  MODERN PHYSICS THEORIST **

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

Date: 4 Jun 90 17:50:45 GMT
From: mcsun!ukc!icdoc!mvax.cc.ic.ac.uk!suna![e-mail]  (D.A.G. Gillies Supvsr Dr K.J. Bignell)
Subject: Re: Cosmology texts

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Ray Rischpater) writes:
>I was looking for some good introductory texts on cosmology I could consume
>this summer.   I'm a chemistry major with a reasonable grasp on math and
>introductory physics.
>
>I'd be obliged if those of you with a favorite textbook which is a little
>more detailed than the Cosmos-style pop science writing would mail me your
>favorites.  If there's interest, I'll compile the results and post a follow-up.
>
>Thank you for your time.
>
>
>--     [e-mail]            Ray Rischpater
>--     [e-mail]          [phone]
>--
>--     [e-mail]            Ray Rischpater
>--     [e-mail]          [phone]
>--As usual, all of the opinions contained herein are my own...

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

Date: Mon, 4 Jun 90 18:38:27 BST
From: mvax.cc.ic.ac.uk!icdoc!ukc!mcsun!sunic!uupsi!rice!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!sdd.hp.com!ucsd!ucbvax!agate!darkstar!ucscb.UCSC.EDU!dove

I was looking for some good introductory texts on cosmology I could consume
this summer.   I'm a chemistry major with a reasonable grasp on math and
introductory physics.

I'd be obliged if those of you with a favorite textbook which is a little
more detailed than the Cosmos-style pop science writing would mail me your
favorites.  If there's interest, I'll compile the results and post a follow-up.

Thank you for your time.


--     [e-mail]            Ray Rischpater
--     [e-mail]          [phone]
--
--     [e-mail]            Ray Rischpater
--     [e-mail]          [phone]
--As usual, all of the opinions contained herein are my own...

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

Date: 4 Jun 90 13:59:15 GMT
From: cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!watserv1!maytag!watdragon!watyew![e-mail]  (Brian or James)
Subject: Re: Space Sail Race


    By sensors, I meant pretty much anything to make obversations
not readily apparent to obververs from them ground, even if they are only
devices to count the number of particles that impact the sail. Seems a
shame to build spacecraft and not get information from them [aside from
'Can a payload be sent to Mars using a solar sail for propulsion?].
Given that the payload is very small, I doubt there is room onboard for
much.
    I can think of uses for the sailcraft after the race. They
could be used to study solar wind above the sun's poles. Even if all
we can do is observe the behavior of the sailcraft with Earthbound
telescopes, they might provide useful information by reacting to forces
we normally don't get to observe [even indirectly]. It's like using
dandilion seeds to track the wind.
                            JDN

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

Date: 4 Jun 90 17:19:38 GMT
From: crabcake![e-mail]  (Kenneth Arromdee)
Subject: Re: Ulysses plutonium essay in *The Nation*, 14 May

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Brian or James) writes:
>>Dr. Edward Teller has offered to *eat* a quantity of Pu if a journalist
>>will at the same time eat a similar quantity of caffeine.  No takers...
>    Did Teller specify Pu oxide, or is he willing to ingest metallic
>Pu? Teller is fairly old, so perhaps the increased chance of cancer doesn't
>bother him [It isn't a terminal disease if something else is likely to
>kill you first :) ]. This offer from Teller does not, alas, shed any real
>light on how toxic Pu is. All the descriptions I've read on the safe handling
>of Pu emphasise how dangerous it can be, both chemically and radiologically.

I recall a book by him (I think it was him, at least it was _someone_ who
offered to eat as much plutonium as caffeine.)  He explained that plutonium is
many times less toxic when eaten then when inhaled.  He also offered to inhale
a hundred particles (in response to someone who claimed that just one particle
could cause cancer, but who didn't bother stating things such as probabilities.
I forget exactly how many cigarettes this was equal to, but the number was low).
There was also a complaint about some newspaper having confused the two,
saying he'd inhale as much plutonium as he would eat caffeine (which would
indeed kill him, because of the wide difference in toxicity when eaten and
inhaled) and the newspaper refusing to retract it.
--
"And they shall be cast out where there is no outlet for their evil doings..."
    -- the Book of Ubizmo, on sinful uses of electricity

Kenneth Arromdee (UUCP: ....!jhunix!arromdee; BITNET: arromdee@jhuvm;
     INTERNET: [e-mail])

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

Date: 4 Jun 90 18:24:22 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Payload Summary for 06/04/90 (Forwarded)


                      STS-35, 40, AND 42 PAYLOAD STATUS REPORT
                           MONDAY, JUNE 4, 1990 -- 8 A.M.

          Patricia E. Phillips
          NASA Public Affairs/KSC
          407/867-2468

          ASTRO-1/STS-35


               The payload team continues to monitor the Astro-1 payload as
          the launch team investigates the source of a hydrogen  leak  that
          scrubbed  the  STS-35  launch attempt on May 30.  Since the Broad
          Band X-Ray Telescope was serviced with solidified argon on May 27
          in preparation for launch,  the telescope is still  protected  by
          the cooling provided by two dewars of argon.

               At  present,  launch  managers have decided not to reservice
          BBXRT until further tests are performed on  the  orbiter/external
          tank this week. Since the May 27 servicing prepared the telescope
          for  a  10-day  mission,  the instrument's health will not be af-
          fected.   BBXRT does not require servicing with argon coolant un-
          til June 11.

               Each  of the two dewars carries 97 pounds of argon.  About 3
          to 4 pounds per dewar were used during the STS-35 launch attempt.
          As part of the maintenance procedure, valves will be commanded to
          open to allow venting as the argon reverts to a gaseous state. In
          essence,  the BBXRT cooling system will operate as though it were
          in  flight.  Decisions as to the type of reservicing -- liquid or
          solidified -- will be made later in the recycle process.

               The BBXRT has been serviced over two dozen times  since  its
          arrival  at KSC in October,  l989.  Solidified servicing has been
          used before the trip from the Operations  and  Checkout  Building
          (O&C)  to  the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) for installation
          in Columbia; before the move from the OPF to the Vehicle Assembly
          Building (VAB) for mating with the stack and  then  the  move  to
          Launch Pad 39A, and again before the May 30 launch  attempt.


          SPACELAB LIFE SCIENCES 1 (SLS-1)/STS-40


               The integrated SLS module was moved into the  Cargo Integra-
          tion  Test  Equipment  (CITE)  test  stand  in the Operations and
          Checkout Building May 31.   This move is a major milestone in the
          SLS processing. The CITE stand was designed and constructed
          to serve as a stand-in for the Space Shuttle.  This allows impor-
          tant data and communications checkouts to  be  performed  without
          having to use the orbiter itself.  The CITE testing and verifica-
          tion is considered the highest level of  integrated  testing  the
          payload undergoes before being installed in an orbiter.

               Prior to the move,  the SLS-1 payload successfully completed
          the Mission Sequence Test in mid-May.  Other pre-move  operations
          included the installation of insulation.

          INTERNATIONAL MICROGRAVITY LABORATORY (IML)/STS-42

               The IML module was moved into Test Stand 2 at the O&C build-
          ing June 1. There, the equipment will continue to undergo testing
          and integration.

               Buildup  activities are continuing for other elements of the
          payload.   The experiment rack staging and integration continues.
          The racks will be mated with the floor one-by-one. Once the racks
          and floor are mated and tested,  they will be moved to Test Stand
          2 later this summer for insertion into the module.

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

Date: 4 Jun 90 18:25:09 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Payload Status for 06/04/90 (Forwarded)


    Daily Status/KSC Payload Management and Operations 06-04-90.


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

    Launch countdown and scrub/turnaround support continue
    today.


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

    Mechanical and fluid preps for CITE testing along with MVAK
    training will continue today.


    - STS-41 Ulysses (at ESA 60) -

    CITE MUE installation and the RTG walkthrough at Pad-B will
    continue today.


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

    Payload transfer to test stand 2 was completed Friday.  Rack
    and module staging along with water servicer validations are
    continuing.


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

    Orthogrid installation continues.


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

    No work is scheduled for today.


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

    No work is scheduled for today.


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

    Rack 12 staging continues.


    - STS-lon-3 HST M&R (at O&C) -

    ORUC interface testing will be active today along with MLI
    installation.

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

Date: 4 Jun 90 21:25:27 GMT
From: sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Magellan Update - 06/04/90


                     MAGELLAN STATUS REPORT
                          June 4, 1990

     The Magellan spacecraft is operating nominally in cruise
mode following completion of a successful cruise mapping test on
Friday, May 25. On completion of the final "orbit" of the mapping
test, the radar was turned off and the spacecraft subsystems were
returned from orbital operations to cruise configuration.

     Last week's star calibrations were all successful with an
average daily attitude update of 0.09 degrees.

     Solar panel output now exceed 1000 watts as the spacecraft
continues to approach the sun and Venus. Cruise sequence load 24
was uploaded last Friday.

     The spacecraft is 108 million miles from Earth and 10.5
million miles from Venus today. Heliocentric velocity is 76,000
miles per hour. One way light time is 9 minutes and 39 seconds.


     SPACECRAFT
     Distance from Earth (mi)             108,000,587

     Velocity Heliocentric                76,238 mph

     One-way light time                   9 mins, 39 secs

       _   _____    _
      | | |  __ \  | |       Ron Baalke           |  [e-mail]
      | | | |__) | | |       Jet Propulsion Lab   |  [e-mail]
   ___| | |  ___/  | |___    M/S 301-355          |
  |_____/ |_|      |_____|   Pasadena, CA 91109   |

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

Date: 4 Jun 90 06:16:20 GMT
From: munnari.oz.au!ditmela!yarra!melba.bby.oz.au![e-mail]  (Gregory N. Bond)
Subject: Re: HAWAII AND STAR WARS

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Dean F. Kling) writes:


     What saddens me is that either the environmental laws will be gutted to
   prevent obstructionism (egregious, not based on valid objections to the
   environmental assessment itself) or that no large scale, visionary project
   will be built in the U.S. again.  Kennedy Space Center itself probably
   couldn't be built today.  I just hope the next space port is built in
   a reasonable friendly country (e.g. Cape York) so Americans at least
   get access to it.

Hah!

You ought to try building something in Australia and getting an EIS
passed!  I 100% expect the Cape York proposal to die under exactly the
same political-use-of-EIS that you seem to be concerned about in the
U.S.   You should have heard the noise when they wanted to build a
_road_ through the same sort of area.  As for nasty, big, loud,
chemically polluting and highly explosive rockets...

We are living in green times, especially in Australia, and I think it
may be the end of large scale projects like this.  A pity, really.  I
would like to see a launch first hand.

Greg, pessimist.
--
Gregory Bond, Burdett Buckeridge & Young Ltd, Melbourne, Australia
Internet: [e-mail]    non-MX: [e-mail]
Uucp: {uunet,pyramid,ubc-cs,ukc,mcvax,prlb2,nttlab...}!munnari!melba.bby.oz!gnb

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

Date: 4 Jun 90 18:46:49 GMT
From: zephyr.ens.tek.com!wrgate!mrloog![e-mail]  (Dan Tilque)
Subject: Re: Terraforming Venus (was: Manned mission to Venus)

[e-mail] (Walt Leipold) writes:
>
>Those 'big flutes' were Hilsch vortex tubes.  They allow you to take a
>stream of hot air and separate it into two streams, one of cold air
>and one of even hotter air.  Their biggest advantage is that they have
>no moving parts, which explains their use for cooling drinking water on
>diesel locomotives today.

I'm probably missing some key piece of data, but this discription of
Hilsch vortex tubes gives me the impression that they violate one or
more of those laws of thermodynamics that physicists are so fond of.

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

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

End of SPACE Digest V11 #490
*******************