Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V12_6/V12_625.TXT

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Subject: SPACE Digest V12 #625

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 12 : Issue 625

Today's Topics:
      Astro-1 Status for 12/05/90 [0430 CST] (Forwarded)
      Japanese "cosmoreporter" begins broadcasts from USSR's Mir
             Re: Fueling Columbia
              Re: Another Russian first
             space news from Oct 10 AW&ST
    Re: $$/pound of Freedom vs LLNL (was: ELV Support...)
      Astro-1 Status for 12/03/90 [1712 CST] (Forwarded)

Administrivia:

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

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

Date: 5 Dec 90 18:15:56 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Astro-1 Status for 12/05/90 [0430 CST] (Forwarded)


         Astro-1 Shift Summary Report 10
         4:30 a.m. CST Dec. 5, 1990
         3/03:33 MET
         Spacelab Mission Operations Control
         Marshall Space Flight Center,
         Huntsville, AL


         The Broad Band X-ray Telescope team at the Goddard Space
         Flight Center completed procedures around 12:50 CST last
         night that realigned the telescope with its Two Axis Pointing
         System, or TAPS.  This allowed the team to gather 15 minutes
         of science observations on target Abell 754, an X-ray cluster
         of galaxies rich with spiral and elliptical galaxies.  BBXRT
         proceeded with its scheduled targets, including observing
         within the Crab Nebula.

         The Crab Nebula target, the first scheduled joint observation
         using all four telescopes, is a remnent of a supernova that
         took place in the year 1054 as recorded in ancient Chinese
         literature.  Ultraviolet studies of the Crab Nebula are
         difficult because dust particles absorb its observable
         wavelengths.  Among the more interesting phenomena in this
         well studied nebula is a pulsar, or rotating neutron star,
         emitting nonthermal radiation.  Nonthermal radiation results
         not from heat but from charged particles moving in a magnetic
         field.

         In all, of the 10 ultraviolet telescope targets scheduled
         between 8:00 p.m. yesterday evening and 4:00 this morning,
         only two were not acquired.  Targets Sanduleak 69-270 and
         Parkes 2155-304 (at approximately 10:10 and 10:45 p.m.,
         respectively) were waved off so that operators could perform
         identification procedure diagnostics on Spacelab's Instrument
         Pointing System.   Following is a list of observations that
         acquired science data:

         Telescope           Target              Approximate time when
                                                  acquisition began
         WUPPE, HUT, UIT     Sanduleak 69-239              8:30 p.m.
         WUPPE, HUT, UIT     G191132                       9:10 p.m.
         HUT                 Eta Carina                    11:25 p.m.
         WUPPE, HUT, UIT     Small Magellanic Cloud A      Midnight
         ALL TELESCOPES      NGC 2992                      12:30 a.m.
         ALL TELESCOPES      Crab Nebula                   1:40 a.m.
         WUPPE, HUT, UIT     HD 197770                     2:50 a.m.
         WUPPE, HUT, UIT     M81                           3:48 a.m.

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

From: [e-mail]
Date:  5 Dec 90 18:12 -0800
To: [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail]
Subject: Japanese "cosmoreporter" begins broadcasts from USSR's Mir

     On board the Mir space station Japanese "cosmoreporter" Toyehiro
Akiyama has already held his first broadcast from the space station
complex.  Akiyama will be doing at least one ten minute live TV and one 20
minute radio report per day for the duration of the mission.  Two
experiments will be performed.  The
first is transmission of amateur radio and TV signals to Ham radio groups
in Japan.  That may have been the equipment that was tried when Mir and the
shuttle were within 65 Km (40 mi) of each other on Dec. 4th.  Unfortunately
they could not communicate - someone had an antenna pointed in the wrong
direction (the report did not say whom). The second involves biological
tests, with six Japanese tree frogs being checked for how they swim in zero
G (this will be part of live broadcast).  The TV equipment for both of
these was brought up on the Progress M-5 cargo craft at the end of
September.  According to the TBS mission schedule Akiyama will enter the
Soyuz TM-10 craft on Dec. 10th, along with Gennadi Manakov and Gennadi
Strekalov (the current Mir crew which arrived on Aug. 2).  Undocking will
occur at about 6:00 am Moscow Time (7 pm PST Dec. 9th) and landing about 3
hours later.
    48 year old Toyehiro Akiyama was the Foreign News Editor of Japan's TBS
network, and previously its Washington correspondent.  One of his tasks
during training was that previously he used to smoke 4 packs a day - no
longer.
     The other two Soyuz TM-11 cosmonauts, Musa Manarov, Vikor Afanasyev,
will replace the current Mir crew for a mission until May '91.  During that
time the will do four space walks, including one to repair the airlock
hatch on Mir's Kvant 2 module.
                                        Glenn Chapman
                                        School of Engineering Science
                                        Simon Fraser Univ.
                                        Burnaby, B.C. Canada
                                        [e-mail]
                                        or [e-mail]

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

Date: 4 Dec 90 17:59:28 GMT
From: swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!caen!uflorida!mailer.cc.fsu.edu!prism![e-mail]  (Glenn R. Stone)
Subject: Re: Fueling Columbia

In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:

>  Did they fill up Columbia's tanks before the federal gas
>tax went up 5 c/gal[...]?  Think how much they would save!   :-)  :-)

>(Please, I know this is silly -- the gas tax is not for non-highway fuel
>(i.e., farm use, space, etc.).            :-)   :-)

Even sillier since (a) Columbia doesn't use petroleum fuel (although
the Saturn V's that powered the Apollo missions did) and (b) the
Feds aren't likely to be paying (themselves) tax on anything....

I hafta wonder, though, how much interest money is lost on large-volume
government contracts because the government doesn't pay tax (which the
companies get to hold and draw interest on until it's time to write
up sales tax reports every month)?  The marginal cost of the additional
paperwork is probably break-even on some small-with-respect-to-government-
contracts number, especially since unless the contractor ONLY does
government work the mechanisms for dealing with taxes on produce is
already there....

Then again, same interest is lost to the Fed, 'cept for the portion
thereof the corp's pay tax on it.... hmmm....

Somebody point this at an appropriate newsgroup; I've no idea where
else to put it.... misc.legal?

-- Glenn R. Stone
[e-mail]

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

Date: 3 Dec 90 19:30:33 GMT
From: van-bc!ubc-cs!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!cunews!mitel!testeng1![e-mail]  (Chris Stanfield)
Subject: Re: Another Russian first

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Frank G. Dahncke) writes:
>Are there any other spaceflight "firsts" that the USA has achived exept
>for the first man on the moon ?

The one that comes to mind first is the untethered flight of the
Manned Maneouvering Unit (flown by Bruce McCandless on a Shuttle
flight). This was the first time someone had gone for an untethered
"spacewalk" of any kind. And speaking of the Shuttle, for all of its
(many) problems, it *is* the worlds first, and only operational,
re-usable spacecraft. I include the word "operational" because of the
lack of clear knowledge of Buran.

Chris Stanfield, Mitel Corporation: E-mail to:- uunet!mitel!testeng1!stanfiel
[phone] Ext.4960
We do not inherit the world from our parents - we borrow it from our children.

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

Date: 4 Dec 90 05:21:54 GMT
From: dog.ee.lbl.gov!hellgate.utah.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!van-bc!ubc-cs!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: space news from Oct 10 AW&ST

Asiasat to decide on buying a second satellite by year end.  An orbital
slot is already reserved.  The hope is to have Asiasat 2 in orbit by
1993, as Asiasat 1 was fully booked much more quickly than expected.

Second shuttle carrier completes structural changes and goes to Texas
for painting.  [AW&ST called it the "third", which is wrong.]

SL-16 (Zenit) booster explodes on the pad at Baikonur Oct 4.  The first
stage, which is also used as the strap-on booster for Energia, failed.
[The Soviets have sworn up and down that the problem will be sorted out
before Cape York starts buying Zenits.]

USAF and NASA approve Palmdale as the site for the X-30 headquarters.
If X-30 construction ever goes ahead, it's likely to be at Palmdale.

OTA report on space debris warns that action is needed or low orbit may
become increasingly dangerous to use within a decade.  Instruments
capable of surveying the debris population down to about 1cm -- roughly
the largest that it is easy to shield against -- are urgently needed, as
current radars give up at about 15cm.  OTA also says that a number of
common beliefs about space debris are wrong, such as the notion that the
Soviets cause most of it (the US is about equally to blame), and the
notion that it is growing because of higher launch rates (world launch
rates have been flat since about 1965 [when the Soviets hit their stride]).

Discovery launches Ulysses successfully.  Launch was 12 minutes late due
to a short weather hold and minor technical problems.  The only problem
during ascent was an indication that the primary controller for the flash
evaporator system might be failing; the crew switched to the backup
controller with no problems, and the alarm was later found to be false.
There were no hydrogen leaks.  There were a few protestors at the KSC
gates upset about the plutonium aboard, but Washington courts refused
to stop the launch in a ruling Oct 5.

Ulysses departed at 34,130mph, the fastest Earth escape velocity ever used.
It crossed the Moon's orbit seven hours after upper-stage ignition.

Columbia returned to VAB from pad 39B Oct 9 due to high winds, after
being moved from pad 39A to free that pad for Atlantis.  (Pad 39A has
some secure communications equipment that 39B lacks.)  Both Columbia
and Atlantis will go out to the pads as soon as winds abate.

The Atlantis launch will be the last "secure mode" shuttle launch, as
the USAF shifts its major payloads to Titan IV.  It is possible that
later military flights may carry secret experiments, but the flights
as a whole will not be secret, and they will not be common either.

Third Titan IV launch is still not back on the Cape range schedule.
A mid-Sept launch attempt was scrubbed due to SRB nozzle problems,
and then further problems, details not released, developed.

HST scientists, notably the ESA ones, urge NASA to put a high priority
on dealing with the mirror problems for all instruments, not just for
JPL's WFPC.  In particular, ESA's Faint Object Camera needs fixing even
worse.  A panel is working on possible HST fixes, including some fairly
wild ideas, like sending an astronaut down HST's barrel to replace "a
mirror" [presumably the secondary], or bringing hardware [the FOC?]
inside a Spacehab module so the astronauts can make repairs in a shirtsleeve
environment.

ESA sends clear warning signals:  Ulysses notwithstanding, NASA had better
get its act together on the space station soon, or the Europeans may decide
to forget about participating.  Next spring, ESA makes major decisions about
Hermes and the Columbus free-flyer and station module.  The station module
just might get de-emphasized, delayed, or dumped if things aren't on track
by then.  "We need to have a clearer picture, a much clearer picture about
where the US is going with the station..."

Europeans are starting to suggest that if Europe is going to be involved
in Moon/Mars, perhaps that project should be run by a multinational
organization with the US just another member nation, rather than in
command.  In any case, "we will not start giving serious consideration
to SEI until the space station program is on solid ground".

Pictures of the bottom of Puget Sound, taken by the Soviet Almaz radarsat.

Wolfgang Wild, head of DARA [the German space agency], calls for serious
stretchout of Hermes and Columbus, on the grounds that the current budgets
and schedules are seriously unrealistic.  Many ESA people are voicing
quiet agreement.  Wild says that German reunification will not alter
Germany's active support for spaceflight, but there will be some small
changes in direction:  less funding for microgravity research, a sharp
increase in Earth-observation work, generally level funding for science
and exploration in general, a push to have industry fund more of the
work on commercially-promising comsat and navsat systems, and continuing
modest manned spaceflight (including a German cosmohaut on Mir in 1992
and the German "Spacelab D2" shuttle mission the same year).  Wild says
reunification does not affect Germany's status within ESA:  East Germany
has become part of the Federal Republic Of Germany, which was and still
is an ESA member.  However, Germany's contribution to ESA's "mandatory
program" funding will rise slightly because that funding is based on GNP.

Rocketdyne tests a new design, with new lubricants, for the SSME
high-pressure fuel turbopump.  The hope is that this will boost pump
life to 20 flights.  Current life is, well, poor:  the pumps are rated
at four flights maximum, and none has actually flown more than three.

Postmortem on the latest H-2 engine fire says the high-pressure oxygen
pump exploded.  NASDA engineers are trying to sort out whether major
redesign will be needed.  [Looks like I was right when I predicted that
they'd regret using the SSME-like engine cycle.]

Soviets say that a "crane-type manipulator" will be installed on Mir for
use in major EVA work.  Its first job will be to help in moving a pair
of large solar arrays from Kristall to Kvant 1, a 40m move for two 500kg
masses.  The move will occur next year.  The arrays are designed for such
moves, and can be retracted to their stowed position for easier handling.

Letter from the External Relations directory of NASDA, saying that limits
on photography during AW&ST's visit to Tanegashima were due to safety
regulations related to the engine test then being readied, not to desire
to limit technology transfer.  AW&ST replies that this reason/excuse was
not mentioned at the time.
--
"The average pointer, statistically,    |Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
points somewhere in X." -Hugh Redelmeier| [e-mail]   utzoo!henry

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

Date: Tue, 4 Dec 90 13:55:05 -0500
From: "Allen W. Sherzer" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: $$/pound of Freedom vs LLNL (was: ELV Support...)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Cc:

In article <[e-mail]>:

  [Several points deleted. They are just rehashes of past statements
   already refuted]

>You say put long extensions along the
>zero-g axis of LLNL.   I say, do that and get rid of the spinning
>part of the station, hence reduce drag and make the system even
>lighter.

Although this has been covered before, I would like to say it
one last time. Mr. Radley, the architecture as proposed will mean
crew rotation is done ~1 per year. This will save billions from the
life cycle cost. This savings is several times the amount saved by
producing a lighter station. The cost is well worth it and the fact
that we get to research the effects of lunar and Martian gravity is
just icing on the cake.

Again, I find it disapointing and disturbing (but not suprising) that
you, a space station engineer, don't think saving money is a good reason
to do something.

>I like Wales Larrison's treatise which explains why a single Soyuz is
>too small to be an ACRV.

That is a given. My point is just that a Soyuz is cost competative with
ACRV even with Mr. Larrison's numbers. Soyuz (or any small capsule)
however, has several advantages. It provides for incrimental growth and
allows the station to be partially evacuated if a crew member gets sick.

>A spinning station is limited to one
>zero-g docking port at each end, and this is not adequate for docking
>the large number of Soyuzes which would be required.

Nonsense. I can think of several ways to do it off the top of my head.
If you give it some thought, I'm sure you can come up with one yourself.
If you can't, drop me a line and I'll tell you how.

>A spinning station would need a new design of large manned ferry craft to
>act as ACRV and resupply.

Also nonsense. The Soyuz would act as both the ferry craft and ACRV (just
like on Mir). This approach is cheaper than the Shuttle.

>Also, the LLNL station subject to high drag is even more
>vulnerable to decay in the event of propellant resupply problems.

Even more nonsense. The only way for propellant to be a problem is for
*ALL* the worlds launchers to be grounded at the same time.

  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: 5 Dec 90 00:19:33 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Astro-1 Status for 12/03/90 [1712 CST] (Forwarded)


      Astro 1 Mission Report #13
      5:12 p.m. CST, December 3, 1990
      1/16:09 MET
      Spacelab Mission Operations Control
      Marshall Space Flight Center

      "That's a milestone, how about that!" were the first words exchanged
      by the Payload Crew as they described the successful simultaneous
      activation of the three ultraviolet telescopes aboard the Space
      Shuttle Columbia at 4:11 p.m., CST.

      The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope, Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope and
      the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment were able to
      follow through on focus alignment procedures to observe the target,
      HR 1099/HD 22468, a binary pair of stars which have active
      chromospheres, like that of the Sun.

      Each of the three telescope's science teams received spectra and
      data at the Spacelab Mission Operations Control center in
      Huntsville, Alabama.

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

End of SPACE Digest V12 #625
*******************