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Subject: SPACE Digest V12 #534

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 12 : Issue 534

Today's Topics:
              Ulysses Update - 11/06/90
       Re: You Can't Expect a Space Station to be Cheap
            Re: Galileo Update - 11/06/90
              Magellan Update - 11/06/90
Re: LLNL Astronaut Delivery (was Re: You Can't Expect a Space Station)
             Re: LLNL Astronaut Delivery
           Payload Status for 11/05/90 (Forwarded)
Re: LLNL Astronaut Delivery (was Re: You Can't Expect a Space Station)

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: 6 Nov 90 20:51:50 GMT
From: julius.cs.uiuc.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Ulysses Update - 11/06/90


                            ULYSSES STATUS REPORT
                              November 6, 1990

     As of 10AM (PST), Sunday, November 4, 1990, the Ulysses spacecraft is
16,960,000 miles (27,300,000 km) from Earth and 484,863,000 miles
(780,312,000 km) from Jupiter.  The spacecraft is traveling at 89,081 mph
(143,362 kph) relative to the Sun, and 22,900 mph (36,853 kph) relative
to the Earth.

     On November 2 the Second Trajectory Correction Maneuver was carried out.
The maneuver was a pulsed radial delta-V maneuver with a duration of one hour
and forty three minutes.  The absolute value of delta-V imparted to the
spacecraft was 3.784 meters/second.

     On November 3, the first activity of the day was to switch off the SIM
(Cosmic Rays and Solar Particles) experiment prior to the deployment of the
wire booms.  This was followed by the release of the protective covers of the
Low Energy Charged Particle Experiment (LAN).  The initial switch-on of the
Radio and Plasma Wave Experiment (STO) then took place.  The experiment was
then configured to monitor the deployment.  The on-board X-band downlink was
then switched on to also provide further data on the dynamics of the wire
boom deployment.  Deployment then took place. The deployment procedure
lasted for a total of fifty seven minutes.  Confirmation of a succesful
deployment of both booms was received from the STO experiment team.  Following
the deployment, some reconfigurations of the STO experiment were carried out.
A re-adjustment to the spin rate of the spacecraft was then carried out.

     The final activity of the day was to switch off the X-band downlink to
maintain a desired thermal environment on board.  The X-band downlink will be
restored on November 15.

     On November 4, the first activity was to configure the STO experiment to
monitor the axial boom deployment.  The axial boom was then deployed. The
deployment procedured lasted for eleven minutes.  The STO experiment reported
a full deployment of the axial boom.  The HED (Magnetic Field) experiment was
then switched off to enable the STO experiment to measure background
environment with HED switched off.

     Switch-on of the experiments then re-commenced.  The first switch-on to
occur was the KEP (Energetic Particles and Interstellar Neutral Gas)
experiment.  This activity was followed by the HED experiment which in turn
was followed by the SIM experiment.

     Several hours after the axial boom deployment had been carried out, the
build-up of a nutation-like motion was observed.  The motion finally stabilised
at an amplitude of approximately 0.4 degrees.  The phenomena is under
investigation.

     Today, the Solar Wind Ion Composition Experiment (GLG) switch-on will take
place.  This will be interleaved with the monitoring and control of the
experiments which have already been switched on.  The GLG checkout will
continue on through tomorrow.  On November 8, on-board tape recorder tests
will commence.  On November 9, the Solar X-rays and Cosmic-ray Bursts
Experiment (HUS) switch-on will take place.
      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   Jet Propulsion Lab | [e-mail]
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  M/S 301-355        |
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/   Pasadena, CA 91109 |

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

Date: 6 Nov 90 23:49:25 GMT
From: sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Re: You Can't Expect a Space Station to be Cheap

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Henry Spencer) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Doug Mohney) writes:
>>>>building a large platform which people can live and work in...
>>>
>>>Quite true.  Of course, by this standard, most of the NASA centers involved
>>>in the space station are incompetent for the job too, since only one (MSFC)
>>>has ever built anything like this before...
>>
>>JPL qualifies. ...
>
>???  They've never built a manned spacecraft at all, and as far as I recall
>offhand they have zero experience in "large platform" work.  Their normal
>line of work -- unmanned deep-space exploration -- is as far from space
>stations as you can get and still be in space.
>--

JPL is involved with the Space Station program.  A JPL Systems Office has
been opened in Reston, Virginia to support the Space Station.  The office
is made up of a professional staff hired from around the Washington, D.C.
area, and from JPL employees relocated from Pasadena.  JPL had traditionally
worked with unmanned deep space mission, and will continue to do so, but it
also expected expand their experience base to support nonrobotic spaceflight
components by being involved with the Space Station and the Space
Exploration Initiative.  Specifically, JPL will be working with the station's
communciations and tracking system, including ensuring the integrity of
the design as it relates to the entire end-to-end space to ground
communications systems.  JPL is also developing a derivative of the Spacelab
Drop Physics Module for the Space Station.
      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   Jet Propulsion Lab | [e-mail]
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  M/S 301-355        |
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/   Pasadena, CA 91109 |

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

Date: 7 Nov 90 06:04:05 GMT
From: [e-mail]  (SERRE GLENN)
Subject: Re: Galileo Update - 11/06/90

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Ron Baalke) writes:
>     A NO-OP command was sent yesterday to the Galileo spacecraft to reset
>the Command Loss Timer to 216 hours.  A MAG (Magnetometer) instrument

I think this was posted before, but I forgot and my coworkers keep asking:
"What is the Command Loss Timer, and why does it need to be reset?"

Email please (unless it hasn't been posted before) and Thanks in Advance.


--Glenn Serre
[e-mail]

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

Date: 6 Nov 90 22:50:42 GMT
From: swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Magellan Update - 11/06/90


                           MAGELLAN STATUS REPORT
                              November 6, 1990

     The Magellan spacecraft is in good health as it exits the Superior
Conjunction phase.  At the Go/No Go meeting yesterday it was decided to resume
mapping at the earliest opportunity.  The command sequence will be sent to the
spacecraft late today and will start execution at 4:20 AM (PST) tomorrow
morning with orbit #765.

     Several attempts were required this morning to upload a series of
commands which reconfigure the spacecraft for mapping.  This is believed to be
a Superior Conjunction effect because the Sun-Earth-Magellan angle is only 1.4
degrees.

     Good downlink communications have been maintained partially because the
DSN (Deep Space Network) can broaden the bandwidth of the receiver, but the
spacecraft does not have similar adjustments to its command receiver to improve
the uplink.  The radar sensor remains in excellent condition and ready for
mapping.

     Nine standard and seven special image swaths were produced by the SAR
(Synthetic Aperture Radar) Data Processor.  The special image swaths involved
reprocessing of the polar area from early orbits to obtain the improved quality
made possible by the recent change to the topographic model used by the
processor.
      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   Jet Propulsion Lab | [e-mail]
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  M/S 301-355        |
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/   Pasadena, CA 91109 |

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

Date: Tue, 6 Nov 90 12:21:37 -0500
From: "Allen W. Sherzer" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: LLNL Astronaut Delivery (was Re: You Can't Expect a Space Station)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Cc:

In article <[e-mail]>:
>>>How *is* LLNL planning to get astronauts up to the station?
>>+Put a capsule on a Delta.

>Is LNLL sure the Delta can be made man-rated? Cheaply?

LLNL has no intention of man-rating whatever launchers they use. Since
the operational record of Titan and Delta is better than the Shuttle's
operational record and about equal to outside estimates of Shuttle
reliability there seems little point. Man rating adds cost but doesn't
add reliability.

>Just throwing a
>capsule on top of a Delta doesn't sound particularly safe. I know
>Delta has a great launch record, but I doubt it was ever designed
>for manned-flight.

If the vibration load on the crew isn't too bad, why not?

Consider two hypothetical launchers. One man rated which kills about
10% of the crews who fly on it in 100 flights. Another is not man-
rated and kills about 5% of the crews who fly on it in 100 flights.
Which would you rather fly on?

Now suppose that in 100 flights two other launch vehicles kill ~2%
of their crews (again, one is man-rated and the other isn't). The
man rated one costs four times as much to fly as the non rated one.
Which would you rather fly (assuming you are paying for the ticket)?

I myself would fly the non man-rated launcher in both cases.

  Allen

--
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Allen W. Sherzer| I had a guaranteed military sale with ED-209. Renovation |
|   [e-mail]  | programs, spare parts for 25 years. Who cares if it      |
|                | works or not?  - Dick Jones, VP OCP Security Concepts    |

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

Date: Tue, 6 Nov 90 14:40:50 -0500
From: "Allen W. Sherzer" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: LLNL Astronaut Delivery
Newsgroups: sci.space
Cc:

In article <[e-mail]>:
>>If the vibration load on the crew isn't too bad, why not? [send people on
>>a Delta]

>its not just vibration load (which is probably too bad)

Or it may not be too bad. Anybody know for sure?

>its also the acceleratation.
>Most of the payload rockets made have way too high
>acceleration rates for humans....even with gsuits/seats/etc..

So what are the max Gs for Delta and Titan?

Tell you what, if you object to the solids we will use an Atlas.
It's a bit more expensive but it doesn't use solids, lifts more
than a Delta, and variants have flown men before.

>sure, a chunk of metal and silicon can take it, but not a human....

You may be right but so far it is unproven.

      Allen
--
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Allen W. Sherzer| I had a guaranteed military sale with ED-209. Renovation |
|   [e-mail]  | programs, spare parts for 25 years. Who cares if it      |
|                | works or not?  - Dick Jones, VP OCP Security Concepts    |

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

Date: 6 Nov 90 19:21:38 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Payload Status for 11/05/90 (Forwarded)


    Daily Status/KSC Payload Management and Operations 11-05-90


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

    Experiment monitoring continues.


    - STS-39 AFP-675/IBSS/STP-01 (at CCAFS)

    CITE preps continue at the VPF.


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

    Module closeouts will continue today along with MVAK
    training and preps for the offgassing test.


    - STS-37 GRO (at PHSF)

    A CITE MMU load will be performed today.


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

    Paper closure will be active today.


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

    Experiment and pallet staging continue.


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

    Power on active thermal control systems checks continue.


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

    Rack staging continues.


    - STS-67 LITE-1 (at O&C)

    No work is scheduled for today.

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

Date: 7 Nov 90 05:03:05 GMT
From: sumax!polari![e-mail]  (Charles Radley)
Subject: Re: LLNL Astronaut Delivery (was Re: You Can't Expect a Space Station)


In article <[e-mail]>:
>Soyuz is not available,
+Yes it is. I spoke with a vice president of Space Commerce Inc. recently.
+He told me that for $50M he +would deliver you a Soyuz. I'm sure you could
+also get a quanity discount.
-
That is not the problem.     US State Department technology
restrictions prohibit hi-tech co-operation with the Soviets.   US
aerospace companies and government agencies are not allowed to send
their employees to the USSR without an export license, which is
virtually impossible to get (with one exception, Payloads Systems Inc
managed to slip through the net and flew an experiment on Mir.   The
net has subsequently been tightened).
And US companies and government agencies are not allowed to permit
Soviet citizens to enter sites where aerospace work is being done.
  So you will get your Soyuz and maybe some manuals in Russian.
But nobody in the west will know how to launch or fly the thing, and
nobody from the USSR will be allowed to train the US personnel.
  If you don't believe me, ask the Australian Cape York Space Agency
what is giving them their biggest headache.....they want to get a US
company to operate Soviet Zenit launch vehicles, and the US State
Dept is saying - "forget it !"
-

>how can LLNL have it in their plan?
+They don't as far as I know. I am only demonstrating that it can be done.
-
So what DO they propose ?

+Also, for $2 to 3 billion (assuming your numbers are correct) you could
+build and launch ~5 Earth Stations. If the first one fails, the second
+one will. This second one will be built and launched for less than the cost
+of ONE shuttle flight.
-
I guess that is the cheapest approach, if you believe the costs.
But they will still need a $ 2 - 3 B crew shuttle and ACRV, it really
cannot be done for less, it needs to stand high G, re-entry, etc.
Non-trivial engineering issues.

>Remember you need long
>duration EVA, it may take a couple of weeks to get a failed LLNL
>fully deployed.
+Or it might not. Skylab didn't need two weeks.
-
They were lucky.   They did have two week capability if it had proven
necessary.

>  If we had access to Soyuz and Soviet technology, the cheapest
>approach would be to scrap LLNL and use Mir.
+Mir does not provide artificial gravity. It is also not clear that
+the Soviets would sell it (after all, it is starting to show a profit).
-
Now you are contradicting yourself.   You said congress wants a
microgravity facility and criticised NASA for "adding the kitchen
sink".   Then you advocate a LLNL where artifical gravity eliminates
all microgravity research capability........Artifical gravity is
neither necessary, nor helpful, for an Earth orbit station, where
crews are rotated every 90 days.

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

End of SPACE Digest V12 #534
*******************