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Subject: SPACE Digest V12 #661

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 12 : Issue 661

Today's Topics:
         [l/m 7/11] Frequently asked SPACE questions
           Re: space news from Oct 6 AW&ST
           Re: space news from Oct 6 AW&ST
               * SpaceNews 10-Dec-90 *

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: 10 Dec 90 11:59:57 GMT
From: sdd.hp.com!news.cs.indiana.edu!ariel.unm.edu!pprg.unm.edu!topgun!mustang!data.nas.nasa.gov!amelia![e-mail]  (Eugene N. Miya)
Subject: [l/m 7/11] Frequently asked SPACE questions

This list does change.  Slowly.  It only changes when the members
of s.s. have something to add, correct, etc.  I no longer have time to
read s.s., and the SNR is too low.  So if this
does not change it is more a reflection of the other people
you are reading, and not me.  Think about that for a moment.
You make the difference.
    "It's not a message.  I think it's a warning." -- Ripley

This is a list of frequently asked questions on SPACE (which goes back
before 1980).  It is developing.  Good summaries will be accepted
in place of the answers given here.  The point of this is to circulate
existing information, and avoid rehashing old answers.  Better to
build on top than start again.  Nothing more depressing than rehashing
old topics for the 100th time.  References are provided because they
give more complete information than any short generalization.

Questions fall into three basic types:
1) Where do I find some information about space?
Try you local public library first.  You do know how to use a library, don't
you?  Can't tell these days.  The net is not a good place to ask for
general information.  Ask INDIVIDUALS if you must.  There are other sources,
use them, too.  The net is a place for open ended discussion.

2) I have an idea which would improve space flight?
Hope you aren't surprised but 9,999 out of 10,000 have usually been
thought of before.  Again, contact a direct individual source for
evaluation.  NASA fields thousands of these each day.

3) Miscellanous queries.  Sorry, have to take them case by case.

Initially, this message will be automatically posted once per month
and hopefully, we can cut it back to quarterly.  In time questions and
good answers will be added (and maybe removed, nah).

1) What happen to Saturn V plans? What about reviving the Saturn V
as a heavy-lift launcher?

Possible but very expensive -- tools, subcontractors, plans, facilities
are gone or converted for the shuttle, and would need rebuilding,
re-testing, or even total redesign.

2) Where can I learn about space computers: shuttle, programming,
core memories?

%J Communications of the ACM
%V 27
%N 9
%D September 1984
%K Special issue on space [shuttle] computers

%A Myron Kayton
%T Avionics for Manned Spacecraft
%J IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems
%V 25
%N 6
%D November 1989
%P 786-827

Other various AIAA and IEEE publications.

Computers in Spaceflight: The NASA Experience
James E.  Tomayko
1988?

3) SETI computation articles?

%A D. K. Cullers
%A Ivan R. Linscott
%A Bernard M. Oliver
%T Signal Processing in SETI
%J Communications of the ACM
%V 28
%N 11
%D November 1984
%P 1151-1163
%K CR Categories and Subject Descriptors: D.4.1 [Operating Systems]:
Process Management - concurrency; I.5.4 [Pattern Recognition]:
Applications - signal processing; J.2 [Phsyical Sciences and Engineering]:
astronomy
General Terms: Design
Additional Key Words and Phrases: digital Fourier transforms,
finite impulse-response filters, interstellar communications,
Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence, signal detection,
spectrum analysis

You can make it change.  Just discuss the changes on the net, then mail the
resolution to me.

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

Date: 9 Dec 90 19:12:35 GMT
From: rochester!sol![e-mail]  (Brian Yamauchi)
Subject: Re: space news from Oct 6 AW&ST

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Nick Szabo) writes:

   We are entering
   a new era where the funding proportions for "manned" stunts and real
   exploration and industry will be reversed, leading to a new Space Age,
   with an immense gain in knowledge of the solar system's every corner, and
   the blossoming of space industry.  I eagerly await the death of Fred,
   Colombus, Hermes, and the other punch-card era throwbacks so that we can
   move forward more quickly into this new age of knowledge and commerce.

But, if Fred dies, is there any guarantee that unmanned exploration
will get the funds?  Or will they be sucked up by some other federal
bureaucracy?  Fred seems to be being squeezed by pressure from
congresscritters who want to shuffle funds to their own (non-space)
pet projects, and not by demands from scientists who want to transfer
the funds to robotic space probes.

Some sort of deal where NASA agrees to kill Fred in return for being
able to keep the $X billion/year and spend it on unmanned space
exploration might be a good thing, but transferring the $X billion to
a dozen porkbarrel development projects in a dozen critter home
districts doesn't seem like a win.
--
_______________________________________________________________________________

Brian Yamauchi                University of Rochester
[e-mail]        Computer Science Department
_______________________________________________________________________________

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

Date: 7 Dec 90 15:34:42 GMT
From: chinet![e-mail]  (Doug Price)
Subject: Re: space news from Oct 6 AW&ST

Every year, I receive my renewal notice from the Planetary Society, and I
wonder why I bother doing it.  The history of the Planetary Society has been
checkered with a private fiefdom mentality.  When I joined, I thought I was
supporting an organization with the goal of the the exploration of our
solar system within the context of the larger effort to explore the universe.
How wrong I was.  Instead, the Society quickly degenerated into a, "Let's do
MY experiment next at the expense of everyone else." group.  "Hey!", said
Carl Sagan, "I can make this operation my anti-nuclear war platform using
someone else's money, and I can bash the manned program for taking money
away from MY favorite projects at the same time!"

This was amply demonstrated by Sagan's anti-manned space editorial in the
Planetary Report a few years ago.  I was surprised by the abrupt about-face
of the Society in support of a manned mission to Mars a few issues later.
I suspect the hate mail was so intense that the Society figured out quickly
that bashing manned space was probably a bad move from the membership point
of view.

I do not dispute that a lot of good science can be done for a lot cheaper
for a few more years using robots.  This zero-sum, "zap his budget so I can
get my budget" stuff has got to go.

--
                        Douglas H. Price
                        [e-mail]
                        [e-mail]

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

Date: 9 Dec 90 02:35:29 GMT
From: elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!dali.cs.montana.edu!masscomp!ocpt!tsdiag!ka2qhd![e-mail]  (John Magliacane)
Subject: * SpaceNews 10-Dec-90 *


SB SPACE @ ALLBBS < KD2BD $SPC1210
* SpaceNews  10-Dec-90 *

Bulletin ID: $SPC1210


                              =========
                              SpaceNews
                              =========

                       MONDAY DECEMBER 10, 1990

SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, United States.
It is published every week and is made available for unlimited distribution.



* SAREX NEWS *
==============
Dr. Ron Parise, WA4SIR, has made hundreds of packet radio contacts with
his Amateur Radio station on board the space shuttle Columbia.  Telephone
bridges were set up to enable school children to talk with the latest
ham in space.  Ron has also been making some voice contacts.  The primary
downlink frequency for all SAREX operations has been 145.550 MHz.


* MIR NEWS *
============
Soyuz TM-11 has successfully docked with the Mir space station complex
currently on Earth orbit.  The Soyuz spacecraft carried Soviet cosmonauts
Musa Manarov, Viktor Afanasyev, and Japanese journalist Toyehiro Akiyama.


* OSCAR-21 NEWS *
=================
The launch of AMSAT-21/RM-1/RS-14/RUDAK-2 has been postponed until 07-Jan-91
so that a Soviet official may witness the launch.


* FEEDBACK *
============
From Franklin Antonio:

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (John Magliacane) writes:

>* MINI-TUTORIAL *
>=================
>The first person to investigate elliptical orbits thoroughly was the
>mathematician and astronomer Kepler.  He formulated a set of rules for
>elliptical orbits and was able to demonstrate that all planets followed
>such orbits in their motions around the sun.  Over 100 years later, orbital
>elements defined by Kepler are still being used by astronomers and satellite
>trackers worldwide.

Actually, it was a __long__ time ago.  Kepler published his work on elliptical
motion in "seu Physica coelestis tradita commetariis de motibus stellae
Martis" in 1609!  This contained the first two laws: orbits are ellipses,
and equal area = equal time.  In 1619, he published "De Harmonice Mundi",
containing the third law, which relates distance to orbit period.  In 1620,
his mother was arrested for witchcraft.

So, the basic work was done 371 years ago!  This is one of the humbling things
about celestial mechanics.  I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to figure this
out, yet Kepler did it 371 years ago.  Obviously, he didn't have computers.
Most people don't realize that he didn't even have the benefit of a telescope.
The telescope was invented around 1609; Galileo pulblished in 1610.  The
observations that Kepler used to develop his theory were made by Tycho Brahe,
many years earlier.

===

John,

  Thank you very much for your Keplerian elements tutorial in SpaceNews
(90-12-03).  You know, this was the first time I have seen any explanation
of what Keplerian element sets actually represent, in sufficent enough detail
to permit me (or anyone else, for that matter) to write tracking software.

 - William Graham - [e-mail] - 73 de VE6UUG @ VE6YYC -


* TNX QSL! *
============
A special thanks to all those who sent QSLs, cards and letters to SpaceNews:

KB0CGJ: John Krohn, Redwood Falls, Minnesota, U.S.A.
KB4ZVM: Dan Allen, Greer, South Carolina, U.S.A.
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OH5IY : Ilkka Yrjola, Kuusankoski, Finland
N2IXD : Jim DiTucci, Rochester, New York, U.S.A.
N6QJM : Tom Hambrick, Imperial Beach, California, U.S.A.
NT2R  : Michael Yorke, Port Washington, New York, U.S.A.


* FEEDBACK WELCOMED *
=====================
Feedback regarding SpaceNews can be directed to the editor (John) via any
of the following paths:

INTERNET : [e-mail]
PACKET   : KD2BD @ NN2Z.NJ.USA.NA
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MAIL     : John A. Magliacane, KD2BD
           Department of Electronics Technology
           Advanced Technology Center
           Brookdale Community College
           765 Newman Springs Road
           Lincroft, New Jersey 07738
           U.S.A.


       << If you like what you see, send us your QSL card! >>

/EX
--
John A. Magliacane                 FAX  : [phone]
Electronics Technology Department  AMPR : KD2BD @ NN2Z.NJ.USA.NA
Brookdale Community College        UUCP : ...!rutgers!ka2qhd!kd2bd
Lincroft, NJ  07738  USA           VOICE: [phone] ext 607

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

End of SPACE Digest V12 #661
*******************