Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V12_5/V12_581.TXT

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Subject: SPACE Digest V12 #581

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 12 : Issue 581

Today's Topics:
        Re: Ariane Launch Manifest (Nov. 1990)
               The Space Plane
           Re: Misc: Space Station and ACRV
             Psych effects + Space M+A+X
              Re: Photon Engine
               Re: FITS images
            STS 38 payload search
             Re: The Space Plane
           Re: Big bang discovered 1400 years ago ?
              Ulysses Update - 11/17/90
        Re: STS 38 Observation Reports -- red?
             Re: The Space Plane

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
             [e-mail]

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

Date: 19 Nov 90 02:58:49 GMT
From: dweasel![e-mail]  (Loren Petrich)
Subject: Re: Ariane Launch Manifest (Nov. 1990)


    After looking at that Ariane launch manifest, I noticed that
it called for nearly one launch a month. It looks nearly as good as
the Shuttle :-).


$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Loren Petrich, the Master Blaster: [e-mail]

Since this nodename is not widely known, you may have to try:

[e-mail]

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Date: 15 Nov 90 23:16:40 GMT
From: agate!linus!think.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!uupsi!cci632!ritcsh!nowhere!ritvax.isc.rit.edu![e-mail]  (DAVIS, SW)
Subject: The Space Plane


    I was curious if anyone out there knew anything about a possible space
plane. Some magazines mentioned a experimental high altitude "space plane" that
could be used to ferry cargo into low earth orbit and could be used commercialy
to fly passengers from say...New York to Sydney in five hours. I believe it was
called the "X-87" or something like that. Does anyone know what I'm talking
about??

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

Date: 18 Nov 90 14:51:38 GMT
From: crash!orbit!pnet51![e-mail]  (S Schaper)
Subject: Re: Misc: Space Station and ACRV

Another way to do this would be to emulate the Soviet method and use Hermes.
Launch new crew, old crew lands in old Hermes, new Hermes remains docked for
the duration. Repeat.  This might work with presently planned technology.

**************************************************************************
Zeitgeist Busters!
UUCP: {amdahl!bungia, uunet!rosevax, chinet, killer}!orbit!pnet51!schaper
ARPA: crash!orbit!pnet51![e-mail]
INET: [e-mail]

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

ReSent-Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Resent-Date:  Mon, 19 Nov 90 11:34:11 EST
Resent-From: Harold Pritchett <[e-mail]>
Resent-To: Space discussion group <[e-mail]>
Date:       Fri, 16 Nov 90 13:08 GMT
From: THE URBAN SPACEMAN <[e-mail]>
Subject:    Psych effects + Space M+A+X

Path: titan.kingston.ac.uk!me_s420
From: [e-mail]
Newsgroups: space
Subject: Psych effects + Space M+A+X
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 16 Nov 90 13:07:27 GMT
Organization: Kingston Polytechnic
News-Moderator: Approval required for posting to space
Lines: 36

Two things ....

1) Pyschological Effects of Moonwalking

A month ago I posted request for info on this topic as I was hoping to
disprove the urban myth that 'the Apollo astronauts all became very
religous or alcohlics'. (No arbitary judgement of religous people or
alcoholics implied, folks)

I only had two bits of mail (a belated 'thanks' to Mike M. and Mary S.)
on this subject and a post from Nick Watkins, so the subject is still wide
open.

So, if you know something MAIL ME !

I will summarise to the net if I get enough information.


2) Space M+A+X

I already have the 'Entertainment Version' of this. Final Frontier Software
ahve just sent me a 'Christmas Catalog' plugging new, improved version V3.1,
'The College Version'.

Does anyone out there have any feedback on V3.1 ? Is it significantly better ?



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Welch                           Janet:    [e-mail]
Kingston Polytechnic                  Bitnet:   [e-mail]
U.K.
                    'Two men look out through the same bars:
                     One sees the mud, and one the stars.'
                                                         F.Langbridge
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: 18 Nov 90 18:36:31 GMT
From: wuarchive!julius.cs.uiuc.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!news.cs.indiana.edu!maytag!watdragon!watyew![e-mail]  (Brian or James)
Subject: Re: Photon Engine


    I may be misremembering, but I don't think the lasers are intended
for use in a 'pure' photon engine. Photon engines have to have very impressive
power supplies to generate large values of thrust (Power = C x Force, or
something? My mind is going...). My impression was that they use the land
based laser to evaporate reaction mass, with the benefits of not having to
carry the powerplant to orbit, and being able to achieve higher exhaust
velocities.
    Granted, once you're in orbit, low thrust isn't a problem (if
you are patient), but surface to orbit launches work better if the
thrust is higher than the local gravity :)

                            James Nicoll

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

Date: 19 Nov 90 17:22:59 GMT
From: wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: FITS images

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Rick Coates) writes:
>how about some images?  Look, from news statistics I gather that
>alt.sex.pictures has megabytes of traffic - how about some star pictures
>as well as crotch shots? ...

Do you really want to get sci.astro or sci.space banned the way a.s.p has
been in many places?  Those megabytes of added traffic are *most* unwelcome
to news administrators already struggling with busy systems and crowded disks.
--
"I don't *want* to be normal!"         | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
"Not to worry."                        |  [e-mail]   utzoo!henry

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

Date: 18 Nov 90 19:30:40 GMT
From: usc!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu![e-mail]  (Ted Molczan)
Subject: STS 38 payload search

It is possible that the STS 38 payload has already manoeuvred to the
741 km operational altitude claimed by AV WEEK.  Below is an element
set which can be used by observers as the basis for an "along the orbit"
search, which involves staring at the orbit until the object is seen.

The epoch of the elset is the midpoint between the last known sighting
of the payload in its deployment orbit, and the first time that the
payload was no longer seen to be in that orbit.  Thus, the size, shape
and orientation of the elset should be correct.  What is not known, is
the actual location of the payload within the orbit, thus the need for
the "along the orbit" search.

The Earth rotates under the plane of the orbit, so it is necessary to
adjust for this when making the search.  To aid in this, it is useful
to plot on a star chart, a series of possible paths for the payload,
based on different times of passage.  One way to generate the paths is
to run a series of orbit predictions with slightly different epoch times,
spanning the time period when the plane is going to be well positioned
for observation.  The orbital period is 100 min, so the search should be
about that long.  If one stares at the orbit for an entire orbital period,
and the object is in that orbit, then it must be seen.  This is the
standard method for searching for missing satellites.  I have used this
method successfully in the past, most notably in my discovery of the
main STS 28 payload, in August 1989.

The STS 38 is bright.  Its standard visual magnitude is about 3.  The
standard is based on a range of 1000 km, and 50 percent illuminated.

1 90097U 90097  B 90321.40625000  .00000000  00000-0  00000-0 0    05
2 90097  28.4600 233.1000 0000000   0.0000   0.0000 14.47000000    02

If you see the object, time its passage between pairs of stars to a
precision of 1 s or better, and determine its position between the
stars as accurately as possible.

Your observations are very welcome (desperately needed).  Even if you
see nothing, that is important.  Include your site coordinates and
the time period of the search.  Also, state whether or not you used
binoculars.

Good luck!

--
Ted [e-mail]

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

Date: 19 Nov 90 04:15:27 GMT
From: att!pacbell.com!mips!sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: The Space Plane

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (John Prentice) writes:
>Are you talking about the National Aerospace Plane?  It would fit this
>description, although it is a military project and (to my knowledge) there
>has never been an unclassified explanation of its purpose or mission...

There is no secret about the purpose/mission of the X-30, aka NASP:  as the
designation would indicate, it is a research vehicle.  Its payload is two
pilots, a toothbrush apiece, and probably several tons of flight-research
instruments.  It may, at some point, lead to a successor which would be
useful for things like carrying cargo into orbit.
--
"I don't *want* to be normal!"         | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
"Not to worry."                        |  [e-mail]   utzoo!henry

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

Date: 19 Nov 90 00:10:39 GMT
From: usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!dsinc!netnews.upenn.edu!netnews![e-mail]  (Dominus the Bilious)
Subject: Re: Big bang discovered 1400 years ago ?



Boy, good thing I have such a short attention span, or I
might have finished reading that.  I gotta say that's one of
the best things about having Korsakov's syndrome.

--

 In some sense a stochastic process can do better; at least it has a chance.
Mark-Jason Dominus                       [e-mail]

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

Date: 19 Nov 90 02:48:22 GMT
From: sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Ulysses Update - 11/17/90


                        ULYSSES STATUS REPORT
                         November 17, 1990

     As of 9AM (PST), Saturday, November 17, the Ulysses spacecraft is
23,928,063 miles (38,508,485 km) from Earth, and 440,606,271 miles
(709,087,058 km) from Jupiter.  The spacecraft is traveling at a heliocentric
speed of 84,935 mph (136,689 kph) and a speed of 22,821 mph (36,727 kph)
relative to the Earth.

     On Saturday November 10, the switch-on of the Solar X-Rays and Cosmic
Gamma-Ray Burst experiment (HUS) continued.  Further testing of the Radio and
Plasma Waves (STO) experiment continued.  The Energetic Particles and
Interstellar Neutral Gas (KEP-GAS) experiment continues to gather data
successfully.

     The nutation of the spacecraft has continued to grow in amplitude, and
by November 13 it has reached 4 degrees, peak-to-peak.  It was decided to
delay the Low Energy Ion and Electrons Experiment (LAN) turn-on one day in
order to perform a precession maneuver to point the high gain antenna towards
Earth and perform a spacecraft spin change to try to reduce the nutation.
The X-band transmitter was also turned-on.  The precession maneuver was
successfully completed without perturbing the nutation.  A spin down maneuver
was performed to slow the spin rate from 5.0 to 4.9 RPM.  This was done and
within a short time the nutation amplitude had grown to nearly 4.5 degrees.
A spin-up maneuver back to 5.0 was performed, and the nutation amplitude
reduced to 3.1 degrees.  The spacecraft telemetry remained in the engineering
mode until the following morning.  The X-band transmitter had to be turned off
because of increasing temperatures.

     On Wednesday, November 14, the LAN turn-on was started.  The Solar Wind
Ion Composition (GLG) experiment high voltage was raised to 15.4 kv.  The
checkout continued the following day.  Since the nutation amplitude has been
slowly increasing since November 13, another spin-up maneuver was done,
raising the spin rate to 5.1 RPM.  Again there was a dramatic decrease in the
nutation amplitude to 3.1 degrees, followed by a slow increase to 3.3 degrees.

     On Friday, November 16, the Solar-Wind Plasma Experiment turn-on was
started.  Another spin-up was accomplished, with the telemetry in science mode.
Again the nutation amplitude decreased 2.6 degrees.  The GLG high voltage was
raised to 17.9 kv.  All experiments are now powered on.

     On November 20, a precession maneuver is planned.  The remainder of the
week will be devoted to monitoring experiments.  The nutation amplitude will
continue to be closely monitored.
      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   Jet Propulsion Lab | [e-mail]
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  M/S 301-355        |
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/   Pasadena, CA 91109 |

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

Date: 20 Nov 90 00:30:55 GMT
From: timbuk!sequoia![e-mail]  (Greg Titus)
Subject: Re: STS 38 Observation Reports -- red?

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Clayton Cramer) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (John Logajan) writes:
>> [e-mail] (Ted Molczan) writes:
># #Bill noted that as the object neared the shadow it became red, and
># #made a bright orange flash.
>#
># Pardon my ignorance, but isn't it possible that the red color is due
># to the same thing that occasionally gives red sunrises and sunsets?
>
>No.  The red color at sunrise and sunset is caused by the atmosphere.
>There's no atmosphere where the shuttle is; unless you are observing
>the shuttle at a very flat angle to the horizon, you aren't going
>to see red.

Hmmm.  When the shuttle is passing into shadow (thus passing the
terminator at orbital altitude), the light which I see reflected
from the shuttle reached it after passing completely through the
atmosphere.  That light should therefore be as or more reddened than
the light I see directly when looking toward the sunset.

Even better, do this: during a nice red sunset, stand facing east
(yes, east).  Hold a plastic model of the shuttle directly above
your head.  Now, look straight up at it.  It's red (or at least
orange).  The situation is the same as it is if you replace the
plastic model with a real shuttle, only farther away (in orbit), and
add the requirement that the sun be setting at that real shuttle's
altitude (thus it is passing the terminator).

The red paint (on the satellite, not the shuttle) would probably
have a greater effect on the satellite's apparent color, though.

The above leads to ... suppose the satellite is still in the bay,
and the shuttle is oriented so that we are looking into the bay
(with the doors open) as it passes overhead.  Is the satellite big
enough with respect to the orbiter, and red enough, that the whole
orbiter would then appear at least somewhat orange to the naked eye?

greg
--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Greg Titus ([e-mail])             Compiler Group (Ada)
Cray Research, Inc.                               Santa Fe, NM
Opinions expressed herein (such as they are) are purely my own.

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

Date: 19 Nov 90 17:11:42 GMT
From: pasteur!dog.ee.lbl.gov!hellgate.utah.edu!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: The Space Plane

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>...Some magazines mentioned a experimental high altitude "space plane" that
>could be used to ferry cargo into low earth orbit and could be used commercialy
>to fly passengers from say...New York to Sydney in five hours. I believe it was
>called the "X-87" or something like that...

The X-30 research aircraft, which may or may not ever be built, has been
hyped as the precursor to cheap Earth-to-orbit transports, hypersonic
airliners, and advanced military hypersonic aircraft.  In practice, there
appears to be no market for hypersonic airliners -- they are interesting
in theory but an impossible hassle in practice -- and the military is not
very big on hypersonics either (at least, not unclassified ones:  there
is speculation that a good bit of the X-30 work may be a duplication of
"black" programs which already have flying hardware).  If the X-30 works
really well, a successor might be a useful Earth-to-orbit transport, but
that is 15-20 years away, minimum, at the current pace.
--
"I don't *want* to be normal!"         | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
"Not to worry."                        |  [e-mail]   utzoo!henry

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

End of SPACE Digest V12 #581
*******************