Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V13_0/V13_067.TXT

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Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #067

SPACE Digest                                      Volume 13 : Issue 67

Today's Topics:
               Re: Firm Fred Decisions
               Re: Firm Fred Decisions
         Current shuttle payload capabilities
            Re: Voyager Update - 01/16/91
Re: Dealing with ice "creep" (was: Humankind's Second Off-world Colony)
           Payload Summary for 01/17/91 (Forwarded)
             Salyut 7 picks up extra term
              Re: SPACE Digest V13 #054
              Re: US buys Soviet reactor
              Re: 2 dimensional objects
           Pioneer Venus Update - 01/18/91
              Re: some questions
          Re: What is cosmological constant?

Administrivia:

    Submissions to the SPACE Digest/sci.space should be mailed to
  [e-mail].  Other mail, esp. [un]subscription requests,
  should be sent to [e-mail], or, if urgent, to
             [e-mail]

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

Date: 18 Jan 91 19:34:13 GMT
From: sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ub!uhura.cc.rochester.edu!rochester!sol![e-mail]  (Brian Yamauchi)
Subject: Re: Firm Fred Decisions

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Ronald E. Graham) writes:

   Here is what's happening with Fred, as we have just heard it:

   [ edited list ]

   o  the budget is now for man-tended capability (MTC) only;
   o  the Flight Telerobotic Servicer (FTS) is no longer in the program,
      and, therefore, Work Package (WP) 03 is also out;
   o  a lab module will exist only at MTC;
   o  there will be no habitation module or nodes: the Shuttle will dock
      directly to the lab, serving as your hab module while docked;
   o  no permanently-manned capability (PMC) equipment or growth planned;

Thanks to Ronald for posting this.  It's nice to get information like
this directly from the source -- with Desert Storm, the media would
likely get around to this story some time in mid-March :-).

Does this mean NASA is completely dropping life science research from
Freedom's mission?

For better or worse, isn't this starting to look a lot like CDSF/ISF?
--
_______________________________________________________________________________

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

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

Date: 18 Jan 91 21:16:59 GMT
From: agate!shelby!ptolemy!pluto.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Jay Glass)
Subject: Re: Firm Fred Decisions

In article <[e-mail]>
[e-mail] (Ronald E. Graham) writes:
> o  WP-04 (that's Lewis Research Center) will share an SDP (I'm sorry: I
>    don't know that acronym) with WP-02.

It probably refers to a "Standard Data Processor," i.e. an onboard
general-purpose computer.(An IBM 386 with 4MB and some kind of "real-time" Unix variation, for anyone that cares.)

The original SSF plans called for a couple dozen or so of these,
networked; recent designs were down to 7-10; it now sounds like they may have cut back even further, if thermal, power, and life support control are now crowded on to one SDP...

Brian Glass

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

Date: 16 Jan 91 01:15:25 GMT
From: van-bc!rsoft!mindlink![e-mail]  (Bruce Dunn)
Subject: Current shuttle payload capabilities


     The original specifications for the shuttle called for a payload of 65,000
lbs to some nominal orbit.  Original shuttle performance was far below this,
but some ground has been regained with lighter external tanks, greater than
100% nominal thrust on the SSMEs etc.  Does anyone have any current data on the
payload capabilites of the three existing orbiters, and the one nearing
completion?
--
Bruce Dunn   Vancouver, Canada    [e-mail]

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

Date: 17 Jan 91 15:58:11 GMT
From: eru!hagbard!sunic!news.funet.fi!tukki.jyu.fi!jyu.fi![e-mail]  (Otto J. Makela)
Subject: Re: Voyager Update - 01/16/91

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Ron Baalke) writes:
[Voyager spaceships' status report]
           CONSUMABLE STATUS AS OF 01/16/91
    P R O P E L L A N T    S T A T U S           P O W E R
          Consumption
            One Week  Propellant Remaining Output Margin
    Spacecraft     (Gm)               (Kg)      Watts  Watts
     Voyager 1      5             36.2 + 2.0     366   53
     Voyager 2      5             39.2 + 2.0     370   47

What kind of units for fuel consumption are Gigameters ?  What about keeping
with the approved SI units (g), or spelling it out (grams) for those living
in mesurement-underdeveloped countries ?
(Also, to nit a pick, the 2nd unit should be kg, not Kg)
--
   /* * * Otto J. Makela <[e-mail]> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */
  /* Phone: [phone], BBS: [phone] (CCITT, Bell 24/12/300) */
 /* Mail: Kauppakatu 1 B 18, SF-40100 Jyvaskyla, Finland, EUROPE         */
/* * * Computers Rule 01001111 01001011 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */

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

Date: 17 Jan 91 05:35:09 GMT
From: bfmny0![e-mail]  (Tom Neff)
Subject: Re: Dealing with ice "creep" (was: Humankind's Second Off-world Colony)

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Russ Cage) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Tom Neff) writes:
>>Oh yes, but if what you specifically want is to study the ice, you'll
>>probably have to tackle the heat problem sooner or later.
>
>Or not.  There is always the final fix:  to avoid sinking, be buoyant.
>If your base is buoyant and stable against tipping, it would not matter
>if you melted out a sea around yourself.
        ^^^^^^

In vacuum, heated ice tends to sublime, not form a stable liquid pool.
The technology for maintaining buoyancy in vacuum is unknown. :-)

I am certain that another reader suggested and self-disposed of this
idea several days ago -- are we reading all relevant followups before
posting our own?

--
Thank God for atheism!        8=8=8=8          Tom Neff / [e-mail]

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

Date: 18 Jan 91 18:45:33 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Payload Summary for 01/17/91 (Forwarded)


                                   Payload Status Report
                                   Kennedy Space Center
                                   Thursday, January 17, 1990

          George Diller
          407/867-2468
          FTS 823-2468


          TETHERED SATELLITE (TSS)  STS-46/Discovery

               The Tethered Satellite has been undergoing receiving
          inspection and initial tests in an off-line laboratory of the
          payload Operations and Checkout building.

               Hardware associated with the TSS deployer is currently being
          integrated onto the pallet as well as integrating some associated
          experiments onto the mission peculiar support structure (MPESS).

               The first fit check of the satellite with the deployer is
          scheduled to occur Friday and will last about a week.  A second
          fit check will also be scheduled for later this month or during
          February.



          GAMMA RAY OBSERVATORY (GRO)   STS-37/Atlantis

               Yesterday the alignment of the spacecraft's two sun sensors
          was accomplished.

               Fueling of GRO for its on-orbit activity was completed late
          last last week as scheduled.  A total of 4200 pounds of
          monomethyl hydrazine was loaded aboard (three to four times more
          fuel than is required by most spacecraft).  This large quantity
          of fuel will permit extended mission operations.

               On Monday and Tuesday, work was  performed to remove the
          spacecraft's test batteries and then reinstall the six nickel
          cadmium flight batteries which are housed in two modular power
          supply units (MPS).   The MPS units were installed on the
          spacecraft yesterday and then the batteries were charged.  Today
          the spacecraft is being powered up.

               The Instrument Switching Unit (ISU) which was removed on
          December 23, shipped to TRW, repaired and then retested, was
          reinstalled on the spacecraft yesterday.  Integration and system
          tests are scheduled to start Friday.  The ISU contains circuitry
          which controls electrical signals to various equipment throughout
          the Observatory.

               GRO is scheduled to be moved from its current location at
          the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility (PHSF) to the Vertical
          Processing Facility (VPF) on Feb. 6 where final tests will be
          performed and work will be done to prepare it for integration
          with the Space Shuttle Atlantis.



          TDRS-E/IUS-15  (STS-43/Discovery)

               Final assembly, functional testing, and rf system testing of
          the Inertial Upper Stage for TDRS-E has been completed by the Air
          Force/Boeing test team on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.  IUS
          buildup operations are scheduled to be completed in mid-February.

               Due to possible limited availability of military aircraft
          given the current international circumstances, TDRS-E may be
          shipped early to KSC from the TRW plant in California.

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

Date: 15 Jan 91 00:06:23 GMT
From: isis!scicom![e-mail]  (Bruce Watson)
Subject: Salyut 7 picks up extra term



Salyut 7 has picked up the extra term in the polynomial that
modifies the mean motion.  The period as of day 91 09.31 is
89.93 minutes with a mean height of 271 kms.

Salyut 7        27.0  4.2  0.0  8.4
1 13138U 82033  A 91 09.31166690 0.00268808  36681-4  48046-3 0  7170
2 13138  51.5935 320.7118 0002925  94.0308 266.1040 16.01186156497374

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

Date: Sat, 19 Jan 91 22:56:27 EST
From: Tommy Mac <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: SPACE Digest V13 #054

Re: DEAD FRED:

Did FRED die for technical reasons, managerial reasons, political reasons, or
because 100 shuttle flights costs too much.

Reminds me of O'Neill's book HIGH FRONTIER.  He proposes a system of solar
power sattelites, using a sun-heated gas turbine system, built from metals on
the moon.

Then I found the congressional sub-commitee report of SPS from 1973.  They used
The Shuttle to launch material from earth (all of it) to built a photoelectric
cell system.  They concluded that it would cost too much.  Small suprise.
                                                         ------- idoits.

Tommy Mac           If God wanted us to be space-faring, he would have given us
19094tm@msu         a large moon made of metal-oxides.
Acknowledge-To: <18084TM@MSU>

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

Date: 18 Jan 91 16:18:19 GMT
From: hpfcso!hplvec![e-mail]  (Greg Goebel)
Subject: Re: US buys Soviet reactor

> I'd be extremely surprised if there was any intent to launch the Soviet
> reactor.  Sounds like they mostly want to tear it apart to find out how it
> works and what it's made of.

HSofUT hath probably seen this in AVIATION WEEK, but from the article in
the latest issue (which I glanced through this morning) I get the impression
the thing won't even be FUELED, much less launched.  They'll use other heat
sources to test it.

Then again, they could always fuel it themselves.

Senor Coyote
--
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Greg Goebel                             NET:     gvg@hpisla                |
| Hewlett-Packard                         HP DESK: GREG GOEBEL / HP0900 / EM |
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+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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

Date: 19 Jan 91 00:05:11 GMT
From: uokmax![e-mail]  (Jonathan A Bishop)
Subject: Re: 2 dimensional objects

[e-mail] (Jason J. Levit) writes:

>  2 dimensional objects (beings?) without any height?  WHAT?  Is this
>  plausible in a 4 dimensional universe?

     What do you mean by 4 dimensional?  Three of space and one of time or
four of space?  Either way, our universe may have more dimensions of space
than we can perceive, so two dimensional creatures in a four dimensional
(or higher) universe are just as plausible as three dimensional creatures.
--
[e-mail]

"Ground Control to Major Tom: Your circuit's dead; there's something wrong.
Can you hear me, Major Tom?" -- David Bowie

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

Date: 19 Jan 91 01:17:39 GMT
From: sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Pioneer Venus Update - 01/18/91


                         PIONEER VENUS STATUS REPORT
                            January 18, 1991

     On January 10, a power failure at the 34 meter station at Goldstone
caused a 1 hour loss of data for the Pioneer Venus spacecraft.  On January 14,
CPA (Command Processor Assembly) problems at the Spain tracking station caused
1 command to be aborted.  A 25-pulse precession maneuver has been scheduled for
January 19.  A Spin period adjustment will be performed on January 24
following periapsis.
      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   Jet Propulsion Lab | [e-mail]
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  M/S 301-355        |
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/   Pasadena, CA 91109 |

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

Date: 19 Jan 91 02:38:53 GMT
From: usc!samsung!rex!uflorida!mailer.cc.fsu.edu!geomag![e-mail]  (Joe Cain)
Subject: Re: some questions


    The question of the limit of the solar system is addressed by
Morrison and Owen in "The Planetary System" (p. 25): "..edge of the
solar system. That lies at a point where the gravitational field of
the Sun is challenged by the fields of passing stars. Here is where a
great cloud of comets lies,"

    This is also noted in John Brandt's article on comets in "The
New Solar System" (228) who discusses Jan Oort's conclusion that the
"overwhelming majority of comets reside in an essentially spherical
cloud around the Sun with a radius of perhaps 20,000 to 100,000 AU.
(By comparison, the nearest srs to the solar system, the Alphaha
Centauri System, are some 275,000 AU distant.)"

    I suppose our spacecraft would yet have a way to go as Pluto
is only of the order of 40 AU! An AU is about 150 Gm (150 million km).


Joseph Cain        [e-mail]
[e-mail]        scri::cain

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

Date: 19 Jan 91 22:05:09 GMT
From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!noose.ecn.purdue.edu!stable.ecn.purdue.edu![e-mail]  (Ranjan S Muttiah)
Subject: Re: What is cosmological constant?

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (joefish) writes:
>    It is difficult for me to understand why Einstein's Cosmological
>constant is discussed other than in the interest of the history of
>the General Theory of Relativity.

There is a very lucid acount of the story of the constant in a
book titled "Truth and Beauty" by S. Chandrasekar; he covers
Arthur Eddington's struggle over it as well.  He also draws
interesting differences between art and science: artists mature
in their final stages of their profession, scientists wane after
their initial contribution(s).

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

End of SPACE Digest V13 #067
*******************