Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V13_2/V13_234.TXT

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Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #234

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 13 : Issue 234

Today's Topics:
             Re: Terraforming, sun shield
Administrator to present George M. Low Trophy to Rockwell (Forwarded)
                Re: Outgassing
      Re: Why bother? (was Re: Terraforming, sun shield)
       Re: URGENT: recent space trivia...Please help...
            SPACE Digest V13 #215
       Carina's Voyager and other Astronomy programs...
            Re: WWN does it again!
              Re: Space profits
                 Re: Eclipse

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: 4 Mar 91 22:55:09 GMT
From: usc!samsung!rex![e-mail]  (Rick Phung)
Subject: Re: Terraforming, sun shield

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Paul Blase) writes:
>
>2) Get ahold of the reports on advanced space propulsion concepts by
                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>R. L. Forward (references posted earlier - ask and I'll post again).

I've been looking for these.
Please re-post.

>Paul Blase - via FidoNet node 1:129/104
>UUCP: ...!pitt!nss!Paul.Blase
>INTERNET: [e-mail]

Thanks,
Rick

[e-mail]

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

Date: 5 Mar 91 05:12:21 GMT
From: [e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Administrator to present George M. Low Trophy to Rockwell (Forwarded)

Dwayne C. Brown
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                          February 28, 1991
(Phone:  [phone])


EDITORS NOTE:  N91-14

ADMINISTRATOR TO PRESENT GEORGE M. LOW TROPHY TO ROCKWELL


    NASA Administrator Richard H. Truly will officially present the
NASA 1990 George M. Low Trophy, NASA's Quality and Excellence Award, to
Bob Minor, President, Space Systems Division, Rockwell International
Corp., Downey, Calif., in ceremonies to be held at the company's
facilities on March 4, 1991, beginning at 1:30 p.m. EST.

    Witnessing the event will be Astronaut David Walker, key NASA and
Rockwell officials and employees.  Among the officials will be Don
Beall, Rockwell International Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and
NASA's Deputy Administrator J. R. Thompson.

    Activities of the day include tours and remarks by various
congressional, state and local officials at Rockwell's Palmdale and
Downey facilities.  NASA's Quality and Excellence Team flag will be
unfurled along with the presentation of the George M. Low Trophy.

    NASA's Quality Excellence Award, renamed the George M. Low
Trophy, recognizes NASA prime contractors, subcontractors and suppliers
for outstanding achievement in quality and productivity improvement and
Total Quality Management.

    Rockwell's Space Systems Division provides a diverse base of
products and services ranging from production of the fifth Space
Shuttle orbiter to existing orbiter refurbishment and a variety of
specialized studies in support of space operations.

    A brief, informal media session will be provided after each
presentation with NASA officials and Astronaut David Walker.  Media
organizations should contact Rockwell Media Relations Manager Janet
Dean on 213/922-5227 for access to the activities.

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

Date: 4 Mar 91 21:04:11 GMT
From: sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!rex!rouge![e-mail]  (Fraering Philip)
Subject: Re: Outgassing

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Harold Peter White) writes:

>A friend of mine has asked me to ask around for references about the
>following:

>1. The effects of outgassing of matterials in interplanetary space.

Outgassing of what by what?

I suggest, for starters, a couple elementary texts on comets.

Phil Fraering
[e-mail]

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

Date: 4 Mar 91 17:41:10 GMT
From: tdatirv![e-mail]  (Stanley Friesen)
Subject: Re: Why bother? (was Re: Terraforming, sun shield)

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Bryan Bankhead) writes:
>Terraforming is my least favorite option for creating living space for
>humanity.. The energy cost estimated for the terraforming of mars, the
>most earthlike planet in the solar system is in the area of 10^23 watts,
>or about 100 million times as much as the entire energy consumption fo
>humanity for all purposes. ...

Ah, but the *easy* planet to terraform is *Venus*.  It's atmosphere is
mostly carbon dioxide, which makes it both very hot, and very dense.
Now, plants convert carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight into complex
hydrocarbons and oxygen.  The hydrocarbons, being solid, are removed from
the atmosphere.  This results in a cooler, less dense atmosphere.  Also,
the hydrocarbons could act as a humic base for real soil!.


Thus to terraform Venus just add a few tons of aerosol phytoplankton and
wait a good while.  It will become inhabitable with no furhter help.
[Note the phytoplankton must be cabable of living floating in air, and
with little wate, but that is easily accomplished]

--
---------------
uunet!tdatirv!sarima                (Stanley Friesen)

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

Date: 5 Mar 91 00:11:37 GMT
From: [e-mail]  (Jean-Yves Herve')
Subject: Re: URGENT: recent space trivia...Please help...

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>
>1. Did Dan Quayle, who as VP chairs the National Space Council (right?),
>   ever say something to the effect that Mars is a worthwhile goal becasue
>   there is air and water there, and thus men could live there easily?
>
>2. If so, can you give me a REFERENCE?  If not, and you are in a good
>   position to know something like that, could you tell me what position
>   that might be?
>

My copy of the "Official Calendar of the `Quayle Quaterly'" gives the
following quote (with no reference):

"Mars is essentially in the same orbit...somewhat the same distance from the
sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals,
we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If there
is oxygen, that means we can breathe."



-------------------------------------------------------------------
 Jean-Yves Herve'
 Computer Vision Laboratory        [e-mail]
 Center for Automation Research
 University of Maryland
-------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Resent-Date: Tue, 05 Mar 91 22:28:05 EST
Date: Fri, 1 Mar 91 02:23:32 EST
Resent-From: Tom Mcwilliams <[e-mail]>
From: [e-mail]
Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #215
Resent-To: [e-mail]
To: david polito <[e-mail]>, Tom McWilliams <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Resent-Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Comments: To: [e-mail]

 Re: Terra forming Venus, Environmental Concerns
------------------------------

Lots of Stuff about Ecosystems existing, etc. that's been deleted

>>>... starting with the greatest ecological
>>>disaster in Earth's history:  the evolution of photosynthesis.
>>
>>And look where it eventually lead us ... purported global warming due in
>>large part to humanity's wanton abuse of a non-renewable resource, record
>>numbers of species' extinctions...

>There's nothing "record" about the current numbers of extinctions.  Nice,
>kind old Mother Nature has thrown far more species into the fire than we
>ever have.  When I said "greatest ecological disaster", I meant it:  maybe
>99% of all species then alive on Earth died of oxygen poisoning immediately
>after photosynthesis appeared.  Even the Cretaceous-Tertiary event makes our
>unfortunate recent record look like Mother Teresa's.

And had they not been killed by oxygen poisoning, they would have died for lack
of food.  Photosynthesis (and more recently chemosynthesis) are the only life
processes that convert raw energy into food.  Non-photosynthesizers eat other
life-forms.  They would have run out eventually, save for the photosynths

>If we're going to be mere humble servants to Nature, *you* can write the
>Environmental Impact Statement for the next Ice Age.  I'd rather simply
>prevent it. :-)

Current theory has it that Ice Ages are caused when a land mass moves over a
pole by the process of plate tectonics.  If the land wasn't there, the ice
would just float away every year.
If our environment gets too messed up, the greenhouse effect will cause gloabal
warming to the point that the caps will melt, drowning all the major pollution-
creating cities worldwide (Tokyo, NY, LA, Honk Kong, etc)  8-)

Environmental concerns may be real enough, when we get into space.  But try
and remember that most of the environmental concerns of real import have little
relation to the ones that might bother us in the future.  THe current fears
about "Space Rape" seem to be a reaction to the injustices our white ancestors
visitied upon our non-white ancestors, or the very real damage we are doing to
the ecosphere (gaia).  But there are't any cultures out there (that we've seen)
In the immortal words of a famous space-activist:

"Space is much different than a continent.
             There is somewhat more than a lot of it."

    On Venus, any life that we might actually look for would be destroyed by
the intense heat alone!  Carbon does not bond well at 900F, and, there is no
liquid water.  What kind of life would we be talking about?  Would we think to
look for it?  What test would you use?  What chemicals are involved?

The actual environmental concerns will probably be more like: "your damn fusion
products keep gumming up the intake on my ramjet".  Or perhaps, not too long
from now: "The giant solar grids take all the romance out of moonilght dances."
For some scientist to get bent because industrial processes are messing up the
'pristine' nature of the unspoiled landscape on Venus is to completely miss the
fact that the industrial processes paid his fare there in the first palce!

Perhaps Octavia Butler's point should be made:  Wouldn't it be better to spend
our agressiveness taming (or ruining, by some views) Venus (or some other alien
planet) than killing this one?  Or Each other?

But, All in all, I agree with Henry.  Why get right back into another gravity
well?  Keep the industrial processes in space, where, like the sewage on the
Nile, the Solar wind can just wash all that gunk away. (Sorry about all you
chumps living in the Asteroids.) :-)

Tommy Mac
[e-mail]
Acknowledge-To: <18084TM@MSU>

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

Date: 6 Mar 91 00:10:07 GMT
From: hsdndev!dartvax!wings.dartmouth.edu![e-mail]  (Andy J. Williams)
Subject: Carina's Voyager and other Astronomy programs...

4 or so months back, I bought a copy of Carina's Voyager for the Macintosh.
It is, simply put, wonderful. It lets you view the sky from any location
within 100 A.U.s of the sun, any point on the earth (down to lat/long minutes),
at any time (even outside epoch 2000AD). It can track planets and other
motion from any point for any length of time. It also can do ephemerises (sp?)
and conjunction searches.

(Call that a mini-review if you will).

Now, the question I have is this: At work I have, next to my Macintosh IIsi,
an IBM PS/2 model 50. Well, I was wondering what kind of programs exist
for the IBM out there that are comparable to Voyager? PD/Shareware would
be very nice, but I am not against buying something that gets rave reviews.

Please eMail to me and I will post a summary, if I get enough to warrant
one.

Thanks!

-Andy

--
Andy J. Williams     sNail: RFD 1 #268               echo "Hello."
Consultant Guy              Lebanon NH, 03766        setenv NAME 'Inigo Montoya'
Kiewit Computation   eMail: [e-mail]  user>kill -9 my ppid
Dartmouth College    pHone: [phone]             Prepare to vi.

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

Date: 5 Mar 91 17:17:43 GMT
From: pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!noose.ecn.purdue.edu!mentor.cc.purdue.edu!mace.cc.purdue.edu![e-mail]  (Perry G Ramsey)
Subject: Re: WWN does it again!

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] writes:
> In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Jonathan A Bishop) writes:
> >
> >      Yes, folks, the Weekly World News, the people who brought you the hidden
> > Challenger transcripts, have done it again!  They have conclusively
> > that the moon landing was a hoax, and they have sidebars to prove it!
>
> Only on the moon could a man hit a golf ball as far as Alan Sheppard did.  So
> somewhere in California, someone built an anti-gravity chamber at least 500
> yards long so the ball could travel that far.

Nah, he just used one of those super-duper golf balls that you always see
advertised.

Of course the famous Apollo 15 trick of dropping the feather and the
hammer at the same time was just a special effect, too.

You see, they both were on thin strings (very easy to hide against
the black set backdrop), and when they were released, someone at
the top of the set (just out of camera view) made sure that the
strings fed at the same rate.  Presto!  A falcon feather and a  hammer
seem to fall at the same rate, even though the whole thing is on a back
lot at Universal Studios.

You spaceniks are sooooo gullible.

1e5:-)
--
Perry G. Ramsey           Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
[e-mail]   Purdue University, W. Lafayette, IN USA
[e-mail]    ***  IMAGINE YOUR LOGO HERE  ******
    Ten thousand low-lifes a day read this space.

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

Date: 5 Mar 91 22:48:55 GMT
From: agate!bionet!uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Space profits

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (John Roberts) writes:
>It also wouldn't hurt to have two companies, the first to lay the
>groundwork then fail, the second to cash in on the reward.
>  :-)  :-)  :-)  :-)  :-)  :-)  :-)  :-)  :-)  :-)  :-)  :-)  :-)  :-)

You can take this further, in fact.  Apparently the pioneering railroad
lines in the US were built by incredible sequences of bankruptcies, with
each company pushing the line a little further before going bust.  The
successful railroad barons got going by noticing this and operating
behind a string of disposable "front" companies.
--
"But this *is* the simplified version   | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
for the general public."     -S. Harris |  [e-mail]  utzoo!henry

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

Date: 6 Mar 91 01:08:38 GMT
From: hub.ucsb.edu!ucsbuxa![e-mail]  (Charles Frank Radley)
Subject: Re: Eclipse

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (P. Collet) writes:

The totality track is very long.   It includes the southern tip of Baja which is
meteoroligically the best site.
Totality will be seen from La Paz and Cabo San Lucas.
However, there is no hotel space left...and the Mexican authorites
are getting nervous.   they are thinking of closing the border a
couple of days ahead since huge numbers of visitors are
expected, and they are worried they cannot cope...food water
and fuel shortages are possible, and it is might inhospitable
terriroy, and a long way from civilization.
  The road to Baja is not the best place to get a flat tyre or a seized engine.


>A couple of friends and I would like to watch the huge solar eclipse this
>summer in the best conditions.

>We read it is in Mexico on July 11th in the morning - Mexican time - that it
>should last the longer, so we plan to get there, the only snag being that we
>don't know exactly where !

>Could any of you out there give us any hint on where we should be when it
>happens - near what town,... we would even accept latitude and longitude :->


>Thanks a lot,

>Pete.


>_______________________________________________________________________________
>  ,---.----------------.                 | ``You know  you  have  a distributed
> (  /  )   /   / /      )  P. Collet     | system  when the crash of a computer
> / /      /   / /   /  /                 | you've never heard of stops you from
>(_/  .   ( ( ( ( ( (  / Tel:   +33 (1)   | getting any work done.''
> \___________________/       39.63.52.94 |           Leslie Lamport, in spirit.
>e-mail : [e-mail]           |_____________________________________
>I.N.R.I.A.  BP.105  78153 Rocquencourt CEDEX  France   Fax: [phone]
>_______________________________________________________________________________

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

End of SPACE Digest V13 #234
*******************