Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V13_0/V13_098.TXT

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Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #098

SPACE Digest                                      Volume 13 : Issue 98

Today's Topics:
       Re: Looking for *Ignition!* and *Scientific Spacecraft*
        Navstar GPS Satellite Develops Problem
     Looking for *Ignition!* and *Scientific Spacecrqaft*
        Hacking Spacecraft & ESA Publications
         Team Selected for COMET (Forwarded)
              Galileo Update - 01/28/91
         NASA Headline News for 01/28/91 (Forwarded)

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: 27 Jan 91 23:17:18 GMT
From: van-bc!rsoft!mindlink![e-mail]  (Bruce Dunn)
Subject: Re: Looking for *Ignition!* and *Scientific Spacecraft*

> [e-mail] writes:
> Person: Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey
>
> There are some space books I've wanted for a long time, but been unable to
> find.
>
> IGNITION! by John Clark
> Rutgers University Press, about 1972

     I have read Ignition by Clark - a fascinating book on the trials and
tribulations of the chemistry of rocket propellants, and the research behind
them.  The book details fuels and oxidizers far more exotic than those in
common use:  Boron compounds and beryllium and lithium and suchlike as fuels
(including such unlikely compounds as mercaptans and lemon oil), burned with
fluorine, ozone, and exotic oxidizers such as NF3, ClF3, ClF5, and N2F4.  Clark
was in charge of the chemistry end of much of the original research into
storable liquid propellants for military missles, and has written his
experiences down in an eminently readable and enjoyable account.
     I too wish that I had a copy of the book.  The copy I read was in a
University library.  I believe that the main UCLA library has a copy.  I wrote
to Clark several years ago about some of the contents of the book - he related
to me that he thought that the book had been a success worth the effort.  He
was particular proud that the publisher had no more copies left.  The last
dozen or so copies were purchased as a lot by the Soviet embassy to the U.S. !
--
Bruce Dunn   Vancouver, Canada    [e-mail]

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

Date:        Mon, 28 Jan 91 13:31:57 AST
From: Richard Langley <[e-mail]>
Subject:     Navstar GPS Satellite Develops Problem

According to a report in the 14 January 1991 issue of Aviation Week &
Space Technology, the latest Navstar GPS satellite to be launched
(II-10, PRN 23) has experienced a significant problem with its solar
panels.  The problem developed on 12 December when a fuse blew in the
circuitry that controls the solar panels.  There is redundant circuitry
on the satellite and the panels can be controlled from the ground but
this is not an acceptable solution in the long run.  In other respects,
the satellite is functioning well, and continues to set set "healthy."

The malfunctioning satellite was the first of the Block IIA satellites
to be launched but used virtually the same control circuits and solar
panels as the earlier nine Block II spacecraft.

This failure could delay the launch of further satellites until the
problem is isolated.  The USAF Space Systems Division believes the
problem could be generic and may result in a delay in the next launch of
up to six months while the spacecraft in the launch pipeline are fixed.
The next launch was to have been in February.

(Source:  AW&ST, 14 January 1991)

==============================================================================
 Richard B. Langley                          BITnet: [e-mail] or [e-mail]
 Geodetic Research Laboratory                Phone:  [phone]
 Dept. of Surveying Engineering              Telex:  014-46202
 University of New Brunswick                 FAX:    [phone]
 Fredericton, N.B., Canada  E3B 5A3
==============================================================================

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

Date:     Mon, 28 Jan 91 14:22 CST
From: Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey <[e-mail]>
Subject:  Looking for *Ignition!* and *Scientific Spacecrqaft*
Original_To:  SPACE

There are some space books I've wanted for a long time, but been unable to
find.

IGNITION! by John Clark
Rutgers University Press, about 1972

SCIENTIFIC SPACECRAFT by William Corliss
A NASA publication from around 1967
(I already know NTIS will sell me a photocopy for about sixty bucks.  I'd
rather have it in book form if possible.)

If you know where there are copies for sale, or want to sell your copies,
please contact me at [e-mail] (the node so nice, they had to name
it twice).  Even if a book is in a small-town bookstore far from Chicago, I'd
like to know about it.

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

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

Date:     Mon, 28 Jan 91 15:57 CST
From: Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey <[e-mail]>
Subject:  Hacking Spacecraft & ESA Publications
Original_To:  jnet%"a6@esoc",SPACE

Hermann Schneider <[e-mail]> of the European Space
Agency's Operations Centre recently announced:

> For interested people:
> [The] following  Space  Data Communications Standards are now
   available...

> "Telemetry  Channel  Coding  Standard"
> "Direct Ground to Spacecraft Ranging"
> "Radio Frequency and Modulation Standard"
> "Packet Telemetry Standard"
> "Packet  Telecommand  Standard"

Frankly, I think most of these documents would be astoundingly boring to all
readers, except the most ardent students of space commnunications.

Or...

Teenage crackers who want to make illicit use of ESA spacecraft.

How about it?  Could outsiders seize control of Giotto, Olympus, or
Hipparcos?  What equipment would it take?  Are commands encrypted?
Has anybody ever tried this? I presume military satellites are
protected against this sort of thing, but what about civilian ones?
Is there enough interest to start a sci.space.pirate newsgroup? (-:

P.S.  Mr. Schneider's posting says:
>   Copies can be obtained from the ESA Publications Division (IP) by
>   contacting Mr.F. De Zwaan via PROFS.

I suspect this message is for ESA internal consumption (PROFS is the
IBM-based e-mail system within ESA).  My previous dealings with ESA's
Publications Division  suggest that they want paper mail and real
money (Dutch guilders) for such things.  Mr. De Zwaan's papermail
address is:

 Fritz De Zwaan
 Distribution Office
 ESA Publications Division
 ESTEC
 Kelplerlaan 1
 2200 AG Noordwijk
 The Netherlands

===========================    Bill Higgins
         CNN:                  Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
the Iraqi War Picture Show.    [e-mail]
===========================    [e-mail]
                               SPAN/Hepnet: 43011::HIGGINS

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

Date: 28 Jan 91 23:15:05 GMT
From: sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Team Selected for COMET (Forwarded)

RELEASE:  91-14

INDUSTRY TEAM SELECTED FOR COMET COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

     James T. Rose, NASA Assistant Administrator for the Office
of Commercial Programs, today announced that the University of
Tennessee-Calspan's Center for Advanced Space Propulsion (CASP),
Tullahoma, has selected three industrial firms for establishing
launch and recovery of the unmanned, Earth-orbital Commercial
Experiment Transporter (COMET) space system.

     Joe Pawlick, Assistant Director for Commercial
Transportation and COMET Program Manager at CASP, said "We're
taking the initial step toward establishing an entirely new U.S.
industry.  When successful, Centers for the Commercial
Development of Space (CCDS) payloads and those of their
industrial partners will be placed into and returned from the
unique environment of space by COMET."

     The contractors selected and their component
responsibilities are:

        o  Space Industries, Inc. (SII), Houston,  -  payload
           integration, orbital operations and recovery system
           and services

        o  Space Services, Inc. (SSI), Houston, a division of EER
           Systems -  launch vehicle and services

        o  Westinghouse Electric Co., Millersville, Md.  -
           systems engineering and service module

     Upon completion of contract negotiations by CASP, such
contracts will be prepared for inclusion in the CCDS grant by
NASA who has budgeted $10.5 million in 1991 as initial funding
for COMET.  CASP is one of seven NASA CCDSs involved in the
establishment of COMET.

     The COMET launch vehicle will place a service module and a
recovery system, called a freeflyer, into a 300 nautical mile
Earth orbit at a 40-degree inclination to the Equator.  The
1,800-pound freeflyer will be released with payloads aboard both
the service module and recovery system.  The latter system will
contain about 9 cubic feet of payload volume while another 6
cubic feet will be in the non-recoverable service module.

     The recovery system will separate from the freeflyer after
about a month in orbit to be retrieved at a southwest U.S.
location.  The service module is designed to support non-
recoverable experiments for at least 100 days after the recovery
system reenters.

     SSI's and SII's licensing of COMET for launch from either
NASA's Goddard Wallops Island Flight Facility or Cape Canaveral
will be governed by U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)
regulations.

     CASP is responsible for COMET program management and systems
engineering.  The Center for Advanced Materials, Columbus, Ohio,
will provide screening and selection services for COMET
payloads.  The other five centers and their responsibilities are:

        o  BioServe Space Technologies, University of Colorado,
           Boulder  -  recovery system and services

        o  Center for Power, Texas A&M University, College
           Station  -  service module

        o  Consortium for Materials Development in Space,
           University of Alabama, Huntsville  -  launch vehicle
           and services

        o  Center for Macromolecular Crystallography, University
           of Alabama in Birmingham  -  payload integration

        o  Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center, University of Houston
           -  orbital operations

      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|      Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Jet Propulsion Lab |
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   M/S 301-355        | It's 10PM, do you know
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  Pasadena, CA 91109 | where your spacecraft is?
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                      | We do!

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

Date: 28 Jan 91 18:39:14 GMT
From: elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Galileo Update - 01/28/91


                           GALILEO STATUS REPORT
                             January 28, 1991

     Over the weekend both the USO (Ultra Stable Oscillator) and the sun
acquisition activities were performed successfully with the Galileo spacecraft.
However, two unexpected lock change telemetry indications were observed at
the start of yesterday's tracking pass with the Canberra 70 meter station.
At the end of tracking pass on January 26, all spacecraft telemetry was
normal.

     These latest unexpected indications are in addition to those observed on
January 22, and have caused no abnormal operation.  Galileo continues to
properly receive and process all commands.

     Today, a command was sent to reset the Command Loss Timer and a cruise
science memory readout for the DDS (Dust Detector) and MAG (Magnetometer) was
successfully performed.  Tomorrow, another sun acquisition activity is
scheduled.
      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|      Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Jet Propulsion Lab |
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   M/S 301-355        | It's 10PM, do you know
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  Pasadena, CA 91109 | where your spacecraft is?
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                      | We do!

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

Date: 28 Jan 91 19:31:35 GMT
From: elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: NASA Headline News for 01/28/91 (Forwarded)

[Note:  Peter Yee is on travel, and I will be posting the NASA updates
        during his absence............Ron Baalke]

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

  Monday, January 28, 1991        Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788

This is NASA Headline News for Monday, January 28, 1991

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Challenger STS
51-L accident.  In the 28 months since NASA has returned to
flight, the Shuttle has flown 13 times.  These missions have
deployed Magellan, Galileo, Ulysses and the Hubble Space
Telescope, retrieved the Long Duration Exposure Facility and
flown the Astro Spacelab mission.

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

Kennedy Space Center technicians finished structural leak
checks of Discovery over the weekend.  Final payload bay door
closeout activities were deferred because of payload bay cleaning
activities.  Rollover could be delayed a day or so because of
work associated with leak and brazing inspections on three aft
thruster assemblies.  Two of the thrusters are on the left orbital
maneuvering system pod and are being leak tested.  One of the
thrusters is on the right OMS pod and may have a questionable
weld.  KSC and vendor technicians are carrying out inspections
and tests on these items today.  Discovery is set for a
Department of Defense mission in March.

Over the weekend on Atlantis, workers successfully re-brazed a
check valve in the main propulsion system inside the orbiter's
aft compartment.  The orbiter nose cap was also installed.  The
main engine flight readiness test will occur today.  Other
activity on Atlantis, in preparation for its April STS-37 Gamma
Ray Observatory deploy mission, will include the installation of
the forward reaction control system this week.  The STS-37 solid
rocket booster stack is nearly complete in the Vehicle Assembly
Building.  Workers attached the forward segment to the right
booster over the weekend.  The forward assembly will be mated
early this week.  The external tank will probably be mated to the
SRB stacks this week.

There is very little activity on Columbia, as it is, at this point,
waiting for Discovery to roll out from the OPF.

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

 The STS-39 Payload Readiness Review was held at KSC
on January 24.  No major issues were raised during the
meeting, and all members of the STS-39 payload community
agreed the payloads are ready to be transported to the launch
pad.  Two of the payloads are already inside the orbiter middeck,
and three more are located in the payload bay.  The AFP-675,
IBSS and STP-1 payloads are in the Vertical Processing Facility
and scheduled to be taken to Pad 39-A on or about February 3.

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

Tomorrow will be a busy day for those media which cover
NASA.  There will be a press briefing and photo opportunity of
the Gamma Ray Observatory at 10:30 am EST at KSC, the
Office of Space Flight has its informal monthly press
briefing at 2:00 p.m. EST at Headquarters, tomorrow night the
President delivers the State of the Union message to Congress.


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

Tuesday, 1/29/91
        10:30 am        **Gamma Ray Observatory science briefing
                                with Goddard project manager and project scientist from
                                Kennedy Space Center.

        12:00 pm        NASA Productions will be transmitted.

        2:30 pm        **NASA Educational Affairs video conference on
                                SEEDS project.  This is an interactive video program involving
                                students, teachers, and program scientists.  It will be
                                transmitted on Westar IV, channel 19, but will be available on
                                the NASA Headquarters internal video distribution system.

Wednesday, 1/20/91
        1:15 pm        **Magellan-at-Venus report from Jet Propulsion
                                Laboratory.


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

      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|      Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Jet Propulsion Lab |
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   M/S 301-355        | It's 10PM, do you know
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  Pasadena, CA 91109 | where your spacecraft is?
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                      | We do!

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

End of SPACE Digest V13 #098
*******************