Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V13_1/V13_187.TXT

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Date: Fri, 22 Feb 91 01:51:48 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #187

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 13 : Issue 187

Today's Topics:
          Re: Mars Mystery? -clarification & dilemma
             Re: Martian mystery?
             Space Manufacturing
            Re: Magellan Update - 02/20/91
            Re: Magellan Update - 02/20/91
        Re: Confusion regarding "Firm Fred Decisions"
NASA Administrator teaches class during National Engineers Week (Forwarded)
             Re: Martian mystery?
             Re: Terraforming, sun shield
               NASA Information Server?
             Re: Martian mystery?
   Re: NASA A socialist bureaucracy (was : ONE SMALL STEP - REPLY)
        Re: Confusion regarding "Firm Fred Decisions"

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: 21 Feb 91 00:17:11 GMT
From: gauss.rutgers.edu!math.rutgers.edu![e-mail]  (Scott Cromar)
Subject: Re: Mars Mystery? -clarification & dilemma

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

:    As a space activist, however, I think these types of hype jobs raise
: an interesting dilemma.
...
: The fact is that such
: things capture the publics attention and if we can answer meaningful
: questions by visiting such areas then why not use it to build public
: interest.
...
: Further, the power
: of such fun to motivate spending should not be underestimated.

I would hope that our integrity and credibility as scientists is more
important than some cheap public relations.

--Scott Cromar
[e-mail]

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

Date: 20 Feb 91 21:32:52 GMT
From: dog.ee.lbl.gov!hellgate.utah.edu!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!cunews!software.mitel.com![e-mail]  (Rolf Meier)
Subject: Re: Martian mystery?

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

>photo of the Martian surface.  The photo appeared to show a huge face
>and a pyramid.  Of course he claimed that they were not natural features
>and had to be made by some intellignet life.  Are these photos really
>of the surface of Mars, has anyone heard of these photos before, and what
>is the commonly accepted interpretation of these photos?
>

This question has come up several times on sci.astro and sci.skeptic.

Yes, the photos are really of Mars.

No, there is nothing mysterious.

They are natural features.

Humans can see "faces" almost everywhere.  Go to any state or county and
there will be the local "face-in-the-rock" feature tourist attraction.  It is
a product of our evolution to recognize human faces easily.

In 1978, I visited some friends at Cornell.  Their summer job was to find
evidence of intelligence on the surface of Mars by examining the orbiter
photos in great detail.  They had found every letter of the alphabet, and
numerous faces, including the well-publicised image that is mentioned above.
Needless to say, all are natural features which appear to resemble
something "intelligent" under the right lighting conditions.

_______________________________________________________________________
Rolf Meier                    Mitel Corporation
        "Everything You Know Is Wrong"

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

Date:         Thu, 21 Feb 91 08:48:13 EST
From: "Charles J. Divine" <[e-mail]>
Subject:      Space Manufacturing

Harold Pritchett states that he would like to know more about what possible
things can be done in space.  He says he is most interested in views about
space manufacturing and mining.

Might I suggest he contact the Space Studies Institute in Princeton, N.J.?

They have done the most work in doing real research on the ideas of space
development of anybody that I know.  They hold biennial conferences with
proceedings published (usually) by the AIAA.  A good introduction to the
field is Gerard K. O'Neill's book The High Frontier.  O'Neill is founder of
SSI.

Rather than simply asking us for our views, I would suggest that Pritchett
first contact SSI and get a bit up to speed on space industrialization
thinking.

Their address:

Space Studies Institute
P. O. Box 82
Princeton, New Jersey 08542-9938
U.S.A.

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

Date: 21 Feb 91 19:37:25 GMT
From: swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!convex!texsun!newstop!exodus!concertina.Eng.Sun.COM![e-mail]  (Steve Hix)
Subject: Re: Magellan Update - 02/20/91

>>      It is also noted that Venus is now very bright in the sky for about an
>> hour after sunset close to the horizon.  The evening star, as the planet has
>> been called for centuries, has two NASA spacecraft in orbit around it...

It's been kind of nice for the past couple of weeks (except for not getting any
rain.)  Right after sundown, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter are all prominent at the
same time.  Sirius is even up, for anyone who wants to compare the brightness
of the brightest star in the sky with that of several planets.

It was 79F in Gilroy yesterday (about 10 miles from my house).  I've never
been so comfortable in observing the night sky in winter before.  I hope it
doesn't go on much longer, though.  We're down to 15-20% of normal drinking-
water storage in area reservoirs.

--
------------
  The only drawback with morning is that it comes
    at such an inconvenient time of day.
------------

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

Date: 21 Feb 91 03:58:13 GMT
From: uhccux![e-mail]  (David Tholen)
Subject: Re: Magellan Update - 02/20/91

>      It is also noted that Venus is now very bright in the sky for about an
> hour after sunset close to the horizon.  The evening star, as the planet has
> been called for centuries, has two NASA spacecraft in orbit around it...

It's also been called a morning star for centuries.  Let's just hope it
hasn't been called both at the same time...

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

Date: 20 Feb 91 22:06:04 GMT
From: sunc.osc.edu!malgudi!caen!sdd.hp.com!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Confusion regarding "Firm Fred Decisions"

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Charles Frank Radley) writes:
>    Large doors will be required, where will they go ?

The ET already has access manholes, which are not as large as one would
like but should suffice for a lot of things.  Nobody builds a tank that
size without a way in for work and inspection.  (Similarly, access to
Skylab was via what was originally an access manhole in the S-IVB's
liquid-hydrogen tank.)

>Breaching the intertank between the H2 and the O2 tanks is a
>no-no...

???  Access to the intertank area, as with the tanks themselves, is already
provided for.  All you need is a suitable wrench and whatnot to get the
access hatches off.  You might need to peel some of the insulation off
first, as I'm not sure whether the hatches are accessible after it's
sprayed on, but that is no big deal.  The people looking at turning an
ET into a gamma-ray telescope have sorted out the details.  It's feasible.
--
"Read the OSI protocol specifications?  | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
I can't even *lift* them!"              |  [e-mail]  utzoo!henry

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

Date: 22 Feb 91 01:56:59 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: NASA Administrator teaches class during National Engineers Week (Forwarded)

Terri Sindelar
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
(Phone:  [phone])                          February 21, 1991

NOTE TO EDITORS:  N91-13

NASA ADMINISTRATOR TEACHES CLASS DURING NATIONAL ENGINEERS WEEK


     NASA Administrator Richard H. Truly will become a teacher for
a day and share his engineering and aerospace knowledge with 25
ninth grade geometry students at George Washington Junior High
School, Alexandria, Va.

     During his Feb. 22 classroom visit, Truly will tell students
how science and math relate to the exploration of space and will
help students discover that engineering can turn ideas into
reality.  Following the lecture, Truly will be available for media
interviews in classroom 204 at 3:15 p.m.  Interested media must
first check-in at the school office in room 218.

     Truly was one of a dozen distinguished engineers selected as
an "All-Star" engineer by the National Engineers Week 1991
committee.

     During the week of Feb. 17-23, more than 10,000 engineers
will participate in the Discover(E) program by visiting schools
nationwide, reaching more than 1 million students, to inspire them
to study math and science.  The Discover(E) program is the largest
student outreach effort sponsored by the engineering profession.

     Other All-Stars include Astronauts Mary Cleave and Bonnie
Dunbar; Deputy Secretary of Commerce Thomas Murrin; Secretary of
Energy James Watkins; National Science Foundation Director Erich
Bloch; Chairman and CEO of Rockwell International Donald Beall;
and Chariman and CEO of Amoco Corporation Richard Murrow.  The
1991 National Engineers Week is led by Honorary Chairman Paul E.
Lego, Chairman and CEO of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation.

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

Date: 21 Feb 91 00:29:18 GMT
From: hpfcso![e-mail]  (Mark Luce)
Subject: Re: Martian mystery?


     About a year ago, the Weekly World News reported that Soviet scientists
had discovered identical (!) faces on the Moon, on Venus, and on Neptune (!).
According to WWN, ALL OF THE FACES ARE TRYING TO COMMUNICATE WITH US!!!

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

Date: 21 Feb 91 01:01:05 GMT
From: optilink![e-mail]  (Clayton Cramer)
Subject: Re: Terraforming, sun shield

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] writes:
> Question (doozie!):
>
> I am a senior CS undergrad who has had some physics but my imagination is going
> way beyond my ability to compute, and I'm a'thinkin' maybe somebody thinks this
> is an interesting problem, too:
>
> Problem:  Terraform Venus.  Method:  Orbit a large shield in front of the sun
> to cut incident visible sunlight by 50%.  Assume:  Manufacturing and

First problem -- it's own gravitation would cause it crush down to a
little sphere in no time.  Any object with a mass equivalent to a
200 mile sphere conforms itself into a round shape, rapidly.  I'm
afraid your shield won't last.

If you put it in orbit around Venus, it will, as they say, orbit
Venus -- so you don't have much of a shield several hours of the
day.  If it is in orbit around the Sun, the problem becomes more
severe, since you won't have a shield for most of the year.  (The
closer you are to the Sun, the faster it must revolve in order to
stay in orbit).

> transportation available for as much thin mylar (silvered?) as needed.
> Minimize mylar used by varying distance b/w shield and Venus.  My real issue:
> how does the fact that light bends around edges affect this optimum distance?
> Is the apparent diameter of the sun at that distance relevant?  Would solar
> wind just blow this thing away or would heavy particles just punch right
> through?  Could the wind or light be used for stationkeeping?  If the surface
> were silvered, can anyone think of a good use for the reflected light (esp. if
> surface was even slightly concave)?  For those out there who know about mylar,

Solar power!  Yeah, enough to run the heat pump that you'll need to
actually cool Venus down.

> is it easy to produce and does it break down (hydrocarbon chain, right) in
> strong sunlight?

Yes.  Rapidly.  Part of why better solar filters for telescopes use
stainless steel instead of aluminized Mylar.

> Any ideeeeaaars?

> "Remember, If you smoke after sex,     | Kevin J. Rice:

Yes.  Try big dirigibles in the upper atmosphere, carrying algae
to do the CO2 -> O2 conversion.  Much more practical.
--
Clayton E. Cramer {uunet,pyramid,pixar,tekbspa}!optilink!cramer
"Well, maybe the Holocaust was right *for that culture*." -- a moral relativist
with whom I work.
You must be kidding!  No company would hold opinions like mine!

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

Date: 20 Feb 91 17:40:00 GMT
From: bbn.com![e-mail]  (Miles R. Fidelman)
Subject: NASA Information Server?

A while back, I came across a NASA-operated machine that serves
as a gateway to lots of NASA's databases.  Unfortunately, I
can't remember it's name/address. Can anybody give me a pointer?

Thanks much,

Miles Fidelman
[e-mail]

p.s. please reply by email

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

Date: 21 Feb 91 20:34:26 GMT
From: agate!ucbast.berkeley.edu![e-mail]  (Stupendous Man)
Subject: Re: Martian mystery?

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Clayton Cramer) writes:

> The last crackpot I heard making this claim was Prof. Churchman
> at UC Berkeley.  (I'm not sure what dept. he is a professor in,
> but I believe he runs the Peace Studies program there).

  Lest people get any ideas about the U.C. Berkeley Astronomy Department,
let me point out that Prof. Churchman is a professor (emeritus, I believe)
in Business Administration.  And no, he hasn't given any of our
colloquia lately /-)

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

Date: 21 Feb 91 19:11:28 GMT
From: bonnie.concordia.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: NASA A socialist bureaucracy (was : ONE SMALL STEP - REPLY)

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Srinivas Bettadpur) writes:
>With regards to project development and management, I can see commercial
>contractors getting into telecom, into remote sensing of land resources,
>maybe even into weather monitoring.

Yes and no.  Communications is already mostly commercial.  The Reagan-era
attempt at commercializing remote sensing was basically a failure, because
the market is too limited and the government was too poor at keeping its
promises.  The problem with both that and weather is that the government
is the primary customer, is not willing to pay a lot of money for the data,
and regularly reneges on "partnership" agreements.

If you're thinking of commercial contractors operating these things for
the government, that is already done to a considerable extent -- the
government does not build satellites and doesn't always operate them --
but the opportunities are limited since the contractor is operating as
part of the government.

>I wonder if a commercial company
>would take the risk of going into something as large in scope as the
>GPS system, which certainly has commercial applications...

The scope is no big deal; look at hydroelectric projects for an indication
of the size of effort that private industry can fund when the money looks
good.  The problem with GPS is, how do you make money on it?  Commercial
availability of GPS -- which is inherently difficult to charge for, since
receivers are entirely passive -- has largely destroyed the commercial
navsat market.  Schemes like Geostar, in which your position is determined
by interaction with the satellites and they can refuse service if you haven't
paid your bill, are much more commercial but are having real trouble
getting started.
--
"Read the OSI protocol specifications?  | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
I can't even *lift* them!"              |  [e-mail]  utzoo!henry

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

Date: 22 Feb 91 01:48:58 GMT
From: hub.ucsb.edu!ucsbuxa![e-mail]  (Charles Frank Radley)
Subject: Re: Confusion regarding "Firm Fred Decisions"



>    Large doors will be required, where will they go ?
-
   You quote me out of context.   By door I clearly meant
airlock which was the discussion I then presented at length.
-
+ The ET already has access manholes, which are not as large as
+one would like
-
    You can say that again
-
+ but should suffice for a lot of things.  Nobody builds a
+tank that  size without a way in for work and inspection.
-  And nobody builds a tank with airlocks in it.
-
+  (Similarly, access to  Skylab was via what was originally an
+access manhole in the S-IVB's  liquid-hydrogen tank.)
-
   Skylab was launched with the inspection hatches sealed off and
a purpose built airlock.   And I believe access for the
outfitting of the internal equipment was achieved through the
open end prior to installing the bulkhead.   Kinda tricky doing
all that through little one man inspection hatches.
-
 >Breaching the intertank between the H2 and the O2 tanks is a
 >no-no...

+   ???  Access to the intertank area, as with the tanks
+themselves, is already  provided for.  All you need is a
+suitable wrench and whatnot to get the  access hatches off.
+You might need to peel some of the insulation off  first, as
+I'm not sure whether the hatches are accessible after it's
-
   My original staement was correct as written.

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

End of SPACE Digest V13 #187
*******************