Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V12_6/V12_600.TXT

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Subject: SPACE Digest V12 #600

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 12 : Issue 600

Today's Topics:
            Re: Naive HST question
              Magellan Update - 11/29/90
        Re: Translunar/interplanetary shuttle?
       Hubble investigation report to be releaseed (Forwarded)
KSC contractors honored at FY90 Small Business Awards Ceremony (Forwarded)
          Re: Spectacular event over Europe
          Re: Recent DoD Space System Cost Data ...
         Booster news from 19 November AW&ST
             Re: Congrats to Ted Molczan
     Re: Request for information on the SARSAT satellites
              Magellan Update - 11/28/90
   Re: NASA renames Execllence Award for George M. Low (Forwarded)

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: 29 Nov 90 19:04:31 GMT
From: eru!hagbard!sunic!news.funet.fi!hydra!hylka![e-mail]
Subject: Re: Naive HST question

> Do all the observations have to be made at
> the same time?  Does the much shorter wavelength of light require
> impossible positioning accuracy?  Etc.

     THAT's it !!

                             Pasi Hakala
                             Observatory
                             Univ. of Helsinki

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

Date: 29 Nov 90 18:13:37 GMT
From: julius.cs.uiuc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Magellan Update - 11/29/90


                         MAGELLAN STATUS REPORT
                           November 29, 1990

     The Magellan spacecraft is in good health, and has completed seven
successful mapping orbits and STARCALS (star calibrations) in the past 24
hours.

     Correcting a statement made two days ago, Magellan has completed 817
actual orbits since Venus Orbit Insertion on August 10.  An adjustment was
made to orbit numbers during the time prior to mapping which skipped 11 orbits.
We have completed 443 orbits of radar mapping and have captured on the Earth
all but 11.8 orbits.  This represents about 25% of the surface area of Venus.

     The radar sensor continues excellent performance.  We are waiting for
additional radar data tapes from Goldstone to continue the analysis of the tape
recorder tracks A1 & A3.  Early indications were that the rate of errors or
zero-filled frames was very low.
      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   Jet Propulsion Lab | [e-mail]
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  M/S 301-355        |
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/   Pasadena, CA 91109 |

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

Date: 29 Nov 90 22:24:08 GMT
From: prism![e-mail]  (Matthew DeLuca)
Subject: Re: Translunar/interplanetary shuttle?

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Millard Edgerton) writes:
>If the engines(mains) are not restartable, HOW DO THEY FIRE TO DE-ORBIT?
>THINK ABOUT IT!

Okay.  They fire the OMS (Orbital Maneuvering System) engines to de-orbit.
After MECO (main engine cutoff) at about 8 minutes into the flight, the
main engines don't start up again.

Um, not to be rude or anything...do you really work for NASA?
--
Matthew DeLuca
Georgia Institute of Technology      Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards,
Office of Information Technology     for they are subtle, and quick to anger.
Internet: [e-mail]

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

Date: 29 Nov 90 22:16:22 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Hubble investigation report to be releaseed (Forwarded)

Sarah Keegan
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                  November 21, 1990
(Phone:  [phone])

N90-93

NOTE TO EDITORS:  HUBBLE INVESTIGATION REPORT TO BE RELEASED

     Dr. Lew Allen, Chairman, Hubble Space Telescope Optical
Systems Board of Investigation, will brief the press on the
board's findings at 2:30 p.m. EST, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 1990, at the
NASA Headquarters sixth floor auditorium, 400 Maryland Avenue,
SW, Washington, D.C.  Copies of the board's final report to NASA
will be available at the briefing.

     Also participating with Dr. Allen will be Dr. Lennard Fisk,
NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications,
and those members of the board whose schedules permit.

     The briefing will be carried on NASA Select television,
Satcom F2R, transponder 13, 72 degrees West longitude, frequency
3960 MHz, audio 6.8 MHz.

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

Date: 22 Nov 90 04:32:51 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: KSC contractors honored at FY90 Small Business Awards Ceremony (Forwarded)

[This posting was delayed by my travels.  A question to the readers of this
newsgroup:  When I'm unable to post an article due to travel, would you like
to see it posted on my return or just placed in the space archives for
interested parties to retreive? -PEY]

          Bruce Buckingham
          407/867-2468                                      Nov. 16, 1990

          KSC RELEASE NO. 184 - 90


          KSC CONTRACTORS HONORED AT FY90 SMALL BUSINESS AWARDS CEREMONY


               At the Seventh Annual Small Business Awards Ceremony held
          today at Kennedy Space Center's Spaceport USA, several KSC
          contractors were honored for their part in supporting the
          nation's space program.

               Two companies shared the award in the category for Large
          Prime Contractor of the Year. Honored for their support of small
          business were Lockheed Space Operations Company and McDonnell
          Douglas Space Systems Company. These same two companies also
          received "Category A" awards from the Southeast Region of the
          Small Business Administration for their use and support of Small
          and Disadvantaged Businesses.

               Lockheed currently holds the KSC Shuttle Processing
          Contract. McDonnell Douglas currently holds the KSC Payload
          Ground Operations Contract.

               Honored as the Small Disadvantaged Prime Contractor was
          Arcata Associates, Inc. for their work as the base operations
          contractor at Vandenberg, AFB, Ca.

               Honored as the Small Woman-Owned Prime Contractor was V.A.
          Paving, Inc. for its work on contracts to pave roads and parking
          facilities at KSC.

               Honored as the Small Business Subcontractor was Connecting
          Point Computer Centers for their performance under numerous
          subcontracts for supplying computer hardware and software.

               Honored as the Small Business Contractor was BRPH
          Architects-Engineers for work under several contracts providing
          architectual and engineering services.

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

Date: 26 Nov 90 12:51:33 GMT
From: eru!hagbard!sunic!mcsun!unido!mpirbn![e-mail]  (Daniel Fischer)
Subject: Re: Spectacular event over Europe

Reply-To: [e-mail] (Daniel Fischer)
Organization: Max-Planck-Institut fuer Radioastronomie, Bonn

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
> [...]
>Third, a journalist told us that the Munich group of experienced observers
>(leaded by Heinlein) had first proposed the meteorite option and sent this news
>to AFP (Agence France Press).  So experienced observers can be mislead.

Just to set the record straight: the initial meteor explanation was indeed
coming from Munich (its Public Observatory), but they were contacted by the
German news agency dpa. At this time, only the shape of the phenomenon was
known (a bright trail with scattered brilliant points of light) and thus the
idea of a bolide was the most likely one. Heinlein was not involved: he spent
the whole week in Belgium, installing more meteor cameras. Soon, however, it
became clear that the thing had moved very slowly and the reentry hypotesis
gained support. Next thing: a strange report in the media said to have
originated from CNES, Toulose, saying that since 'it' moved horizontally it
must have been *powered* flight. And again one day later, several news agencies
report from *Paris* that NORAD had identified the rocket. Why does NORAD meet
the press in Paris? Shouldn't there be a more direct way to get their opinion?

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

Date: 27 Nov 90 00:07:40 GMT
From: isis![e-mail]  (Glenn A. Serre)
Subject: Re: Recent DoD Space System Cost Data ...

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Wales Larrison) writes:
>...  The IUS (Inertial Upper Stage),
>which has had a troubled cost history, is very expensive - costing
>about 5 X the cost of at least one satellite it deploys (the DSP).
>   Note also, the current average cost per unit of the Titan IV is
>about $226.8 Million with 75 vehicles to be produced, and at about
>40,000 lbs into LEO, this is $5670/lb!  This was very suprizing to

Shouldn't be too suprising, it's built using the standard government
acquisition process (I think, corrections are welcome).

>me, moreover since this cost cannot include upper stage costs since
>IUS costs (used on the Titan IV) are called out as a separate
>system.  ...

Actually, the IUS (of which not many more will be flown, probably because
of the (very suprising to me) cost), is procured differently from the
Centaur. The IUS contractor is an associate contractor, while the
Centaur contractor is a subcontractor.  Therefore, while the IUS costs
are called out separately, the Centaur costs probably aren't.

-- Glenn Serre
[e-mail]

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

Date: 26 Nov 90 14:54:19 GMT
From: ksr![e-mail]  (Chris Jones)
Subject: Booster news from 19 November AW&ST

The first says that the Soviets have conducted extensive design work on an
unmanned flyback booster with a payload capacity 50% greater than that of the
Energia.  The drawings show what resembles a shuttle with a payload fairing on
its nose and four strap-ons mounted above its wings (the strap-ons are equipped
with wings and jets and are recoverable).  The main booster would use LH2 and
LO2 engines, and would be 60 meters long.  The payload fairing would open to
deploy the cargo, then close and slide back down the booster body to shorten
its length to 44 meters for reentry.  They're trying out various wing
configurations in wind tunnel tests.  Also mentioned is the possibility of
using actively cooled structures to protect the booster during reentry (no
further details; perhaps they mean circulating liquids?).

The second article concerns the possible launch of a solar storm warning
satellite (the increase in solar storms in 1992 and 1993 has the potential for
causing damage to the power grid--a 1989 storm caused a 9 hour blackout in
Quebec and damage to transformers over a wider area).  The satellite would be
launched into a halo orbit around the Earth-Sun L1 point, about a million miles
from Earth toward the Sun.  The interesting part is that a Pegasus booster and
an orbital transfer stage would be used to place the satellite there.  The
article doesn't say give a figure for the mass of the satellite, but it must be
pretty light given the distance it has to go and the limited payload capacity
of Pegasus.  It's also mentioned that a Pegasus booster already in fabrication
would be used for the mission.  The booster was to have been used for the
second Pegasus flight carying seven micro-sats for DARPA communicatins tests,
but their deployment has been delayed, though the article doesn't say why.
--
Chris Jones    [e-mail]    {world,uunet,harvard}!ksr!clj

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

Date: 27 Nov 90 12:26:29 GMT
From: eru!hagbard!sunic!mcsun!unido!mpirbn![e-mail]  (Daniel Fischer)
Subject: Re: Congrats to Ted Molczan

Reply-To: [e-mail] (Daniel Fischer)
Organization: Max-Planck-Institut fuer Radioastronomie, Bonn

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Bruce Watson) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]*, [e-mail] (Craig Milo Rogers) writes:
>*     I noticed a similar article in the Los Angeles Times.  It was
>* attributed to United Press International.  Do you suppose UPI treats
>* the Usenet as an incoming newsfeed?

It would be interesting to investigate this matter further as there must
have been such a link in the past! Remember the 'Lynch the HST designers'-
"debate" this June? One week later Newsweek in its long HST story mentioned
that crazed astronomers were planning to murder the HST opticians, and that
they were discussing that on an electronic network - obviously Usenet was
meant.

Hey folks, we're INFLUENTIAL!

          Dan  ===<<<[e-mail]>>>===

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

Date: 27 Nov 90 22:22:39 GMT
From: dftsrv![e-mail]
Subject: Re: Request for information on the SARSAT satellites


  In article <[e-mail]>, you write...
  >
  >I am looking for any information about the SARSAT search and rescue
  >
  >satellites.

  The SARSAT project was managed by Goddard Space Center, however, there is
  no longer a listing in the current (10/90) or previous (4/90) internal
  phonebooks for the SARSAT project manager.  This means the project is
  no longer operational or that management has been transfered to another
  agency.  You could try the GSFC Public Affairs Office (301-286-6255) or
  possibly NOAA.

  Sorry I can't be more help.


  Joel Gallun                      Internet: [e-mail]
  NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Voice: [phone]
  #include <std_disclaimer>        Snail: GSFC, Code 735, Greenbelt MD 20771

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

Date: 28 Nov 90 22:56:53 GMT
From: att!linac!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Magellan Update - 11/28/90


                      MAGELLAN STATUS REPORT
                        November 28, 1990

     The Magellan spacecraft is performing normally today and all
seven star calibrations of the past 24 hours were fully
successful with attitude updates averaging about 0.02 degrees.
A new mapping sequence was uploaded yesterday and no commanding
was scheduled for today.

     The engineering telemetry indicates that the radar sensor
continues to operate normally. During the first 40 days of
mapping the radar data tapes were delivered daily from the Deep
Space Network stations. The schedule has been changed to weekly
deliveries, as planned, so the processing schedule of new image
swaths and mosaics has been affected.

     The project reports that there have been, as of Tuesday, 428
orbits of radar mapping with 416.2 orbits of radar image data on
the ground.
      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   Jet Propulsion Lab | [e-mail]
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  M/S 301-355        |
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/   Pasadena, CA 91109 |

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

Date:     Thu, 29 Nov 90 09:47 CST
From: Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey <[e-mail]>
Subject:  Re: NASA renames Execllence Award for George M. Low (Forwarded)
Original_To:  SPACE

From yet another NASA press release:

>RELEASE:  90-143

>NASA RENAMES EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR GEORGE M. LOW

>     NASA Administrator Richard H. Truly today announced that the
>NASA Excellence Award has been renamed the George M. Low
>Trophy.  It is NASA's quality and excellence award to honor one
>of America's outstanding space pioneers....
>The award
>recognizes NASA prime contractors, subcontractors and suppliers
>for outstanding achievement in quality and productivity
>improvement and [Total Quality Management].

I am not sure this is the best way to honor George M. Low.

I mean, if you were a contractor, would you be proud of having won NASA's Low
Quality Award?

     O~~*           /_) ' / /   /_/ '  ,   ,  ' ,_  _           \|/
   - ~ -~~~~~~~~~~~/_) / / /   / / / (_) (_) / / / _\~~~~~~~~~~~zap!
 /       \                          (_) (_)                    / | \
 |       |                      Bill Higgins
 \       /                      Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
   -   -                        Bitnet:                [e-mail]
     ~                          Internet:             [e-mail]
                                SPAN/Hepnet/Physnet:         43011::HIGGINS

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

End of SPACE Digest V12 #600
*******************