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Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #253

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 13 : Issue 253

Today's Topics:
         NASA Headline News for 03/07/91 (Forwarded)
           Payload Summary for 03/07/91 (Forwarded)
            Re: Japanese Space Effort, II
Re: German conference highlights doubts about ESA's manned space plans
              Ulysses Update - 03/04/91
               Neptune CD-ROMs?
          Re: Government vs. Commercial R&D

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: 8 Mar 91 02:13:04 GMT
From: [e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: NASA Headline News for 03/07/91 (Forwarded)


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

  Thursday, March 7, 1991    Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788

This is NASA Headline News for Thursday, March 7, 1991

NASA management yesterday gave the go ahead for Atlantis to be
mated to its launch stack in preparation for the STS-37 Gamma Ray
Observatory mission.  The decision follows an investigation into small
cracks found on the external tank door drive mechanism housing.
Tests on the housing and subsequent analysis showed that the cracks
pose no threat to vehicle performance -- either on the ground or in
flight.  Atlantis will be rolled over to the Vehicle Assembly Building
tomorrow for mating operations.  Launch of STS-37 is targeted for
early April, though the official launch date will be set at the flight
readiness review later this month.

Rollback of Discovery from Launch Pad 39-A to the VAB began at
5:15 am this morning.  Discovery should be inside VAB high bay #3
by noon.  Once Discovery is demated, it will be moved to the OPF
where its fuel-line door-closing mechanism will be replaced with
hardware from Endeavour.  The Endeavour's door mechanisms arrived
at Kennedy Space Center yesterday.

Meanwhile, activity on Columbia and its Spacelab Life Sciences -1
payload continues to move smoothly toward a planned launch in May.
The STS-40 payload readiness review was successfully
completed yesterday.  The Spacelab habitable module is set to move
from the Operations and Checkout Building to the OPF around March
23.  The two fuel-line door-closing mechanisms on Columbia are
being removed today.  They will be shipped to Rockwell
International's Downey manufacturing plant for grinding and lug
replacement.  The repaired hardware is expected to be returned to the
Cape for re-installation into Columbia within 20 days.

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

The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-E) arrived at KSC
Tuesday.  The spacecraft has been placed in the Vehicle Processing
Facility where it will remain until launch processing for its STS-43
mission begins.  The STS-43 mission is currently scheduled for July.

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

Spacecraft activity onboard Ulysses continues uneventfully,
with routine science observations and housekeeping as the main
activities.  Ulysses is now 214 million miles from the Sun, and 159
million miles from Earth.  It is traveling at a heliocentric velocity of
58,000 miles per hour.  All spacecraft systems and science instruments
are functioning normally.  Flight controllers have seen no return of
the wobble in the spacecraft's rotation that occurred several weeks
after launch last fall.  In just one year, February 1992, the Ulysses will
fly by Jupiter, using that planet's gravity to go into a polar orbit over
the Sun.

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

Magellan has been performing normally since the attitude
computer interruption which occurred Monday night during a
planned star calibration. Five of the seven star calibrations during the
past 24 hours have been completely successful and two have been
partially successful.  During the period of interruption, the on-board
command computer continued with its programmed sequences.
Because the attitude computer was off-line for a very brief period,
when it came back online, it introduced pointing errors during the
subsequent mapping sequence.  These errors resulted in three and
one-half orbits of mapping data being lost with an additional orbit
having a one degree pointing error.  Jet Propulsion Laboratory flight
engineers sent a new command sequence to Magellan on Tuesday.  The
new command list includes memory readouts of both the A-side and B-
side attitude and articulation control systems and resets the fault
protection logic.  Otherwise, things are going well.  The spacecraft's
orbit continues partly in the shadow of Venus and temperatures are
well within the expected range.

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

Tomorrow in the NASA Headquarters auditorium, Dr. Charles S.
Finch, III, the Assistant Director of International Health at the
Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, will speak to NASA employees
on the subject of the "African Origin of Medicine."


Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select
TV.  All times are Eastern.  NASA Select TV is carried on GE Satcom
F2R, transponder 13, C-Band, 72 degrees W Long., Audio 6.8,
Frequency 3960 MHz.

Thursday, 3/7/91
    12:00 pm    Starfinder program  "Gravity and Weight."

    12:15 pm    NASA Life Sciences Program.

    12:30 pm    Assignment "Shoot the Moon."

     1:00 pm    Science Education Lecture.




All events and times may change without notice.  This report is filed
daily, Monday through Friday, by 12:00 pm, Eastern.  It is a service of
NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs.  Contact:  CREDMOND
on NASAmail or at 202/453-8425.

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

Date: 8 Mar 91 02:13:29 GMT
From: [e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Payload Summary for 03/07/91 (Forwarded)


                               PAYLOAD TEST AND ACTIVITY SHEET
                               Kennedy Space Center, Florida
                               March 7, 1991


          George Diller
          407/867-2468
          FTS 823-2468


          GAMMA RAY OBSERVATORY
          STS-37/Atlantis

          HISTORICAL ACTIVITY

          Arrival of Spacecraft at PHSF: 2/6/90
          First functional test begins: 2/26
          Install High Gain Antenna: 11/8
          Final functional test complete: 12/4/90
          Spacecraft Fueling complete: 1/11/91
          Install Flight Batteries: 1/15
          Airborne Electrical Support Equipment (AESE) arrives: 1/24
          Install orbiter Airborne Electrical Support Equipment (AESE): 2/1
          Transfer GRO to Vertical Processing Facility: 2/7
          Installation into west test cell: 2/9
          VPF Standalone Functional Test: 2/12-13
          Interface Verification Test (IVT) of AESE: 2/17
          IVT of GRO (orbiter interfaces simulated): 2/23
          End-to-End (ETE) communications test (MILA/GSFC/TDRS): 2/25
          MILA RF communications test: 3/4



          ACTIVITY FORECAST   * denotes change

          Transfer to payload canister: 3/9*
          Roll to Pad 39-B/Transfer to PGHM:  3/11*
          Initial GRO Battery Charging: 3/12*
          Payload installation into Atlantis: 3/15
          TCDT: 3/18-19
          Astronaut payload bay walk down: pending
          Interface Verification Test: 3/17
          GRO/orbiter end-to-end test: 3/23
          Battery reconditioning: 3/24-28
          GRO Flight Closeout operations: 3/30
          Close payload bay doors: 3/31

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

Date: 6 Mar 91 20:43:01 GMT
From: dog.ee.lbl.gov!hellgate.utah.edu!caen!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!pitt!nss![e-mail]  (Paul Blase)
Subject: Re: Japanese Space Effort, II

>>Uh, Nick, I think you are letting your prejudices get in your way. :-)
>>Almost certainly they are using "autonomous" to mean not "unmanned" but
>>"all-Japanese", i.e. not dependent on US launchers.

 BY> If this is the same station mentioned in a recent IEEE Spectrum
 BY> article on Japanese robotics, they really do mean *autonomous*
 BY> -- as in robotic and non-teleoperated...

They're working on both.  There are plans for a manned station.

--- via Silver Xpress V2.26 [NR]
--
Paul Blase - via FidoNet node 1:129/104
UUCP: ...!pitt!nss!Paul.Blase
INTERNET: [e-mail]

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

Date: 7 Mar 91 23:24:42 GMT
From: zephyr.ens.tek.com!tektronix!sequent!crg5![e-mail]  (Nick Szabo)
Subject: Re: German conference highlights doubts about ESA's manned space plans

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (John McKernan) writes:
>...Therefore the purpose of manned space research should be to do the
>basic R&D needed to develope the technology for the mass colonization
>of space.  Note that this basic research is likely to be quite
>different from a mammoth engineering project to drop a few people onto
>Mars and bring them back.

This is a good direction to go.  A very fruitful, and relatively efficient,
long-term space adaptation experiment would be the following: two small
capsules at either ends of a tether that can provide variable gravity,
from 0 to 1 g's.  The main stops would be microgravity, lunar,
Martian, and 1 gravity.  With 20 mice and 20 kg of life support, experimental
shielding, and tether per mouse, the whole thing is launchable on a Pegasus.
10 such experiments could be launched over 10 years into various orbits to
test out the biological effects of various kinds of gravity, radiation and
shielding.  The results of earlier experiments would feed back into the
design of later experiments.  Since mice and humans share 96% of our genetic
code, most of the results will apply to human biology.  The entire experiment
should run about $50 million plus $8 million per launch = $130 million, or
$0.13 billion.  Both in terms of gravity level and radiation, these
experiments will teach us more about biological adaptation to space
environments than many of the more expensive experiments currently envisioned.


--
Nick Szabo            [e-mail]
"What are the _facts_, and to how many decimal places?"  -- RAH

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

Date: 8 Mar 91 22:38:00 GMT
From: elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Ulysses Update - 03/04/91


                            ULYSSES STATUS REPORT
                               March 4, 1991

     As of 9 AM (PST), March 4, 1991, the following orbital data was
taken on the Ulysses spacecraft:

        Distance from Earth               156,754,214 miles (252,271,454 km)
        Distance from Jupiter             284,293,580 miles (457,526,167 km)
        Velocity relative to the Sun           58,167 mph        (93,610 kph)
        Velocity relative to the Earth         86,994 mph       (140,004 kph)

     Tape recorder operations based on recovering data acquired during the 16
hours out of view periods are continuing on a routine scheduled basis.
Experiment reconfigurations have been carried out as required.  An average of
96.2% data recovery was achieved during the past week.

     An Earth pointing maneuver was performed on February 28.  The slew caused
a reduction in received signal strength since the off-pointing of the
spacecraft antenna was changed from 0.2 degrees trailing to 1 degree ahead of
the center of Earth point.  This factor, combined with a low elevation pass
(less than 30 degrees and descending) and rain at the ground station, reduced
the level of received signal to below the threshold of the ground receiving
system.  The result was that during the period of playback, poor quality data
were received resulting in some data losses.

     Command equipment problems at Madrid on March 1 caused a delay in the
daily commanding activity.  No data were lost as a result of these problems.

     The spacecraft is currently configured with receiver 2 as the prime unit
fed via the High Gain Antenna and with receiver 1 as backup fed through the
LGA-F (Low Gain Antenna).

     A close watch is being kept for the possible return of nutation.
Procedures are available to control it should it occur.  A slew maneuver will
be carried out on March 7.  Routine data gathering operations will continue
together with experiment reconfigurations as required.
      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|      Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Jet Propulsion Lab | Is it mind over matter,
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   M/S 301-355        | or matter over mind?
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  Pasadena, CA 91109 | Never mind.
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                      | It doesn't matter.

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

Date: 7 Mar 91 05:14:20 GMT
From: van-bc!rsoft!mindlink![e-mail]  (Harvey Taylor)
Subject: Neptune CD-ROMs?

A month ago in <[e-mail]>,
                            [e-mail] [Ron Baalke] writes:
|
|   I've received a number of inquiries about the Voyager images available
| on CD-ROMs.
|   [...]
|
|  A set of four CD-ROMs containing the Neptune images taken by Voyager 2 is
| due to be released at the end of February 1991, and these CD-ROMs will
| also be available at NSSDC.
|

    Ron,
        Do you know if the Neptune images got released?
        If so, what is the cost?
        Will University of Colorado LASP have these CDs?
    -het

    "Oh and Father, would you bless the bombs?"

      Harvey Taylor      Meta Media Productions
      uunet!van-bc!rsoft!mindlink!Harvey_Taylor
               [e-mail]

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

Date: 8 Mar 91 02:28:47 GMT
From: zephyr.ens.tek.com!tektronix!sequent!crg5![e-mail]  (Nick Szabo)
Subject: Re: Government vs. Commercial R&D

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Perry G Ramsey) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Paul Blase) writes:
>> The military and NASA have two things in common: Each must have the very
>> best equipment in order to preserve lives - indeed in order to get the
>> job done at all, and each has the money to pay for state-of-the-art
>> technology to ensure that it has the very best.
>
>Of course, in the 'Upgrading Shuttle Computers' thread we've been seeing
>how NASA spares no expense in getting only the very latest in computer
>technology.  (1000 :-)).  NASA, by and large, in not pushing the limits
>of any technology anywhere.  Back in the old days, when I was on Space
>Station, one of the big shots said that there were no real technical
>issues with SS, only managerial ones.  I heartily agree.

This is an important point.  The "spinoff" argument directly contradicts
the notion that space projects should be done with "current" or
"off-the-shelf" technology.


>If NASA was doing its
>job right, it would be supporting real technical pathfinder efforts
>like you're talking about. (Ion engines are one thing that comes to mind;
>less expensive chemical rockets are another.)  Unfortunately, they aren't.

I agree, with the nit that making things cheaper can probably be done
better by industry.  NASA tried to make things cheaper with the Shuttle
and failed; we have had industry success both with incremental ELV
improvements and the Pegasus launcher which, while not reducing cost/lb.
for low volumes, has lowered the entry level cost of access to space by
a factor of 5.

For the long term, if we want the cost of going to a space colony (eg L-5)
to be in the range of first class airfare to Tokyo, we are looking at
improvement by over a factor of 10,000.  For this, large advances beyond
chemical rockets are required.  Laser launch, tethers, etc. may fit the
bill; these technologies are desirable for NASA research and prototyping.
EML, gas gun, and other launch technologies promise to drop freight costs
well below those of chemical rockets, and should also be researched
vigorously.  Ion (electric), nuclear, and solar engines for upper
stages, laser communications, and most important of all, the mining and
manufacturing technologies critical to the development of large-scale
space industry, all need research.  Experimenting with advanced technologies
will allow NASA to once again produce spinoffs, while avoiding operations
and services that compete with industry.


--
Nick Szabo            [e-mail]
"What are the _facts_, and to how many decimal places?"  -- RAH

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

End of SPACE Digest V13 #253
*******************