Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V12_6/V12_619.TXT

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Date: Tue,  4 Dec 1990 01:23:24 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SPACE Digest V12 #619

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 12 : Issue 619

Today's Topics:
                  Re: Zero-G
        Re: Translunar/interplanetary shuttle?
         NASA Headline News for 11/30/90 (Forwarded)
     One Small Step for a Space Activist... Vol. 1 No. 11
                  SAT/TRACS
           Re: Pity The Much Abused Shuttle
            Keplerian Elements for STS-35

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: Sat, 1 Dec 90 12:38:37 EST
From: John Roberts <[e-mail]>
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of the sender
    and do not reflect NIST policy or agreement.
Subject: Re: Zero-G


>From: usc!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
>Subject: Re: Zero-G

>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (John Roberts) writes:
>>>Soviet crews have stayed in orbit for over a year. They have demonstrated
>>>that with advanced exercise machinery and lots of exercise it is possbile
>>>to return to the Earth after a year in a 0g environment and completely
>>>recover.
>>
>>"Recover" is the key word. Apparently nobody stays up there that long and
>>remains what could objectively be called "healthy"...

>Depends on what you mean by "healthy".  Bear in mind that the Soviet
>one-year cosmonauts were in considerably *better* shape than the earlier
>six-month ones; the worst of the scare stories are obsolete, thanks to
>changes in procedures (and possibly diet and drugs).

>The price for all this, unfortunately, is a *lot* of time spent exercising.
>Eliminating, or greatly reducing, that would definitely be an improvement.

>"I'm not sure it's possible            | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
>to explain how X works."               |  [e-mail]   utzoo!henry

That's pretty much what I've heard since I posted that - drugs are
experimental, while exercise has been proven to have an effect, so the
predictions and calculations must be made with the assumption that exercise
or pseudogravity will be the only methods employed. The current model assumes
that everyone on Freedom will spend at least two hours every day exercising,
and that must be counted as part of the work time (unless NASA is willing to
relax certain restrictions it has heretofore imposed :-). Paying hundreds
of dollars per person-hour for exercise-bike riding must be a nuisance to
NASA as an employer.
        John Roberts
        [e-mail]

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

Date: 1 Dec 90 03:05:27 GMT
From: elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!samsung!emory!wa4mei!ke4zv![e-mail]  (Gary Coffman)
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!

The OMS engines are used for deorbit burn.

Gary

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

Date: 1 Dec 90 18:12:36 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: NASA Headline News for 11/30/90 (Forwarded)


             Headline News
Internal Communications Branch (P-2) NASA
Headquarters

  Friday, November 30, 1990    Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788

This is NASA Headline News for Friday, November 30, 1990

Preparations at the Kennedy Space Center for this Sunday's
launch of Columbia for the STS-35 Astro-1 mission continue to
go extremely well.  Commander Vance Brand and his six
fellow crew members arrived at KSC last night at 11:25.
Brand had a few brief words for the press on hand for the crew's
arrival, and reiterated the crew's commitment to the mission
and their optimism for a successful return of science data.

Meanwhile on launch pad 39-B, Columbia's aft compartment
has been closed out, and orbiter flight software has been
loaded onboard.  Activities today include the loading of liquid
hydrogen and liquid oxygen reactants for the orbiter fuel cells.
Main fuel tanking operations are currently scheduled to begin
tomorrow at 5:08 pm.

The current forecast for launch period weather, Sunday
morning from 1:28 to 3:58 am, calls for scattered clouds at
various levels with winds from the east/northeast at 10 to 16
knots.  There is a 30 percent probability of violating a
launch commit criteria at the beginning of the launch period,
decreasing to 15 percent by the close of the period.  Forecasts for
Monday and Tuesday currently predict a 20 percent probability
of violating a launch commit criteria.

In Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 1, main engines number 2026
and 2030 have been installed in positions 1 and 2 on Discovery.
Engine number 2029 will be installed in position 3 today.  Seven
seals, out of a total of 12, have been replaced in Discovery's freon
cooling loop system.


NASA employees are invited and encouraged to see a special screening of
the multimedia presentation which highlighted the 75th anniversary
celebration of NACA/NASA this past Wednesday at the National Air and
Space Museum.  The presentation is 13 minutes long and consists of
slides and video tape which traces the history of the committee.  The
show concludes with IMAX photography.   Employees may attend one of
three showings next Wednesday scheduled for 8:30, 9:00 and 9:30 am in
the NASM Langley IMAX theater.  (Please enter through the Independence
Ave. side and show your NASA badge.)


The Gamma Ray Observatory spacecraft begins its final
functional test program today.  The comprehensive test
procedure will last for 10 days, and will check the craft's attitude
control, electrical, propulsion and thermal systems and the four
instruments.  GRO is currently in the KSC Payload Hazardous
Servicing Facility and is set to be moved to the Vertical
Processing Facility on Feb. 4.  A payload press viewing is
scheduled for Jan. 29.

  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA
Select TV.  All times are Eastern.  **indicates a live program.

Friday, 11/30/90
    1:00 pm    Astro Observatory program (videotape replay of an
        educational affairs program which aired earlier this week).

Saturday, 12/1/90
    10:00 am    **STS-35 Countdown Status Briefing from
            Kennedy Space Center.

    12:30 pm    **STS-35 Prelaunch Press Briefing from KSC.

    9:00 pm        **Continuous mission coverage of the STS-35
            Astro-1 mission aboard Columbia begins.



All events and times may change without notice.  This report is
filed daily, Monday through Friday, at 12:00 pm, EST.  It is a
service of Internal Communications Branch at NASA
Headquarters.  Contact:  CREDMOND on NASAmail or at
202/453-8425.


NASA Select TV:  Satcom F2R, Transponder 13, C-Band, 72
degrees West Longitude, Audio 6.8, Frequency 3960 MHz.

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

Date: Sat, 1 Dec 90 13:49:21 -0500
From: "Allen W. Sherzer" <[e-mail]>
Subject: One Small Step for a Space Activist... Vol. 1 No. 11


               One Small Step for a Space Activist...
                                    by
                        Allen Sherzer & Tim Kyger

                        Wrap up of the 101ST Congress

The gavel has just sounded ending the 101st Congress. Many important things
happened during the last two years, and this Congress will go down in the
annals of space history as pivotal -- not for the amount of money allocated
(and just why should THAT be an important criterion anyway?) but for the
generation of policies to make better use of the funds the government does
spend on space.

Let's look at the major space actions of the 101st Congress:

1. Passage of Title II of the FY 1991 NASA Authorization act. For the first
time, a few space activists (some of them NSS members, some not) wrote, got
introduced, and then got enacted a piece of legislation! Not only was this
the first time this has ever been done, it is an important bill, with the
potential of making a major contribution to the health of the US launch
industry. To be sure, it has some flaws and loopholes (see below) but we can
probably get them fixed in the 102nd Congress next year.

Kudos should go to: Mark Voelker (Tucson); Ron Nickel (Burke, VA); William
Baxter (Berkeley); Jim Bowrey (San Diego); Dr. Andy Cutler (Tucson); and
any and all of you who have made phone calls, written letters, visited
representatives, or talked to people about HR 2674. Glenn Renyolds, Chair of
the NSS Legislative Committee, deserves a special thanks for being the only
person in the NSS "leadership" willing to support Title II by DOING SOMETHING
to help get it passed (Mr. Renyolds used his influence with Rep Roe to move
Title II at a very critical time).

Thanks should also go to the staffers who helped move Title II (Tim won't sign
off on this without it). Catherine Rawlings, although not a 'space nut'
realized the importance of this and worked long and hard to see it through.
Bill Gordon and Dr. William Smith of the House Science Committee staff along
with Louis Whitsett and Steve Palmer of the Senate Commerce, Science, and
Transportation Committee provided valuable help getting it through the
Senate and Conference.

Finally, none of this would have happened without Congressman Ron Packard. His
legislative acumen, ability to get things done, and the respect with which he
is held by both parties where critical in moving Title II to completion.

We've probably missed someone who deserves thanks, if so we apologize.

2. Resurrection of the Space Council. We now have a Space Council interested
in accomplishing real goals in space. They have spent time generating policy,
finding cheaper ways to the moon and Mars (the Synthesis Group), and
generating ideas on how best to organize NASA (the Augustine Commission). We
now have a strong voice at the highest levels of government.

3. Goals have been set for the US space program. For the first time in twenty
years, the Administration has set formal goals for what the U.S. is to
accomplish in space: to settle the Solar System via a permanent Lunar base
and a trip to Mars. In addition, we are seeing bold and innovative plans from
other government labs (LLNL) and the private sector (Martin Marrietta).

4. The Patents in Space Act has been passed. This law will extend US patent
protection to inventions developed on US platforms off Earth. Not only does
this help open the way to space industry, it also helps to open Congress as
well. This bill didn't go through the usual space and NASA committees. It made
other parts of Congress think about space in a way different from what they
normally do. Congresscritters outside the normal space committees are
realizing that space is important and deserving of attention.

5. The Omnibus Commercial Space Act. This bill presents lots of ideas on how to
open up space markets. Its main goal is to stimulate thought and it seems to
be doing just that. This bill also shows that there is strong interest in the
Space Authorization committees of Congress toward providing the incentives
needed for commercial space.

Things are coming together. We now have a solid base of support in the House
and Administration, although work is needed on the Senate side. The passage of
Title II has shown that we at the grassroots CAN make it happen.

                       Legislative Roundup

         Space Transportation Services Purchase Act (HR 2674)

As stated above, the Title II version of HR 2674 passed the House and Senate.
It was close for a while, with the Senate wanting to remove it. The House
members of the conference however stuck with it and said there would be no
authorization bill without Title II.

There are, however, some important loopholes in the bill as passed. Suborbital
flights, for example, are exempted from the provisions of Title II. This may
hurt startups since suborbital launchers are an easy way to start out. More
important, however, is the exemption for payloads relating to national security
of foreign policy. This exempts all DoD flights and some NASA flights as well.
Next year let's close these loopholes.

                        The Great Exploration

The DoE Appropriation has also passed the House and Senate. The conference
put ALL the IR&D money back in (good job to those who wrote in support of
this). This will free the way to continuation of the LLNL Great Exploration
program. They won't get much to start with but it will keep the program
alive.

Allen Sherzer: [phone] (work) [phone] (home) [e-mail] (net)
Tim Kyger: [phone] (work) [phone] (home)

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

Date: 30 Nov 90 16:44:00 GMT
From: sgi!cdp![e-mail]
Subject: SAT/TRACS




TO:       SCI.SPACE Conference

FROM:     Bert Cowlan

VIA:      EcoNet

I would be grateful if anyone has information about
SAT/TRACS, a recently announced satellite system proposal
that is being offered by Energetics Satellite Corp. and
Unisys.

My concern is with the planned 165-foot inflatable antenna
referenced in their press release, an antenna to be built,
along with the proposed 8 birds, by Intraspace Corporation of
Salt Lake City, Utah.

Technical details would be welcome as well as information
about whether this represents a new technology or already
exists, perhaps in the military satellite world.

Many thanks.  I can be reached as follows:

295 Madison Avenue,
New York, N.Y., 10017

Tel:      [phone]
Fax:      [phone]
Telex:    314633 (EDCOMTECH NYK)
MCI Mail: 306-6360
EcoNet:   PSSC

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

Date: 30 Nov 90 13:10:04 GMT
From: hpcc05!col!hpldola!hp-lsd!oldcolo![e-mail]  (Keith Hamburger)
Subject: Re: Pity The Much Abused Shuttle

A much better approach to all of those items of need, the ones rejected
by the initiator of this thread and the ones that he advocates would be a
fully reusable mainstage (SSTO), interchangable payload compartments
(inc. crew cabs, laboratories, unmanned, military, etc.), low cost and
VERY quick turnaround.  A great deal of on orbit manuevering would also
be in order.  Of these the shuttle has none.

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

Date: 2 Dec 90 22:28:06 GMT
From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!lavaca.uh.edu!menudo.uh.edu!nuchat!buster!lescsse![e-mail]  (Gary A. Morris)
Subject: Keplerian Elements for STS-35

Here are the Keplerian elements for STS-35.  These were generated from
a state vector taken after several orbits.
--GaryM


Keplerian Element Set

STS-35
1 00035U          90336.79098368  .00031000  00000-0  22174-3 0   128
2 00035  28.4663   1.3798 0008796 274.8693 151.1556 15.72186065    90

Satellite: STS-35
Epoch time:      90336.79098368
Element set:     JSC-012
Inclination:       28.4663 deg          Space Shuttle Flight STS-35
RA of node:         1.3798 deg              Keplerian Elements
Eccentricity:     .0008796              from NASA Tracking Ephemeris
Arg of perigee:   274.8693 deg
Mean anomaly:     151.1556 deg
Mean motion:   15.72186065 rev/day                 W5RRR
Decay rate:       3.10E-04 rev/day^2      NASA Johnson Space Center
Epoch rev:               9

--
Gary Morris                    Internet: lobster!lescsse![e-mail]
Lockheed (LESC), A22           UUCP:     lobster!lescsse!gamorris
Space Station Freedom          NASAmail: gmorris/jsc/nasa
Houston, Texas                 Internet: [e-mail]

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

End of SPACE Digest V12 #619
*******************