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Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #487

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 13 : Issue 487

Today's Topics:
        Re: Terraforming Mars?  Why not Venus?
                Re: Incentives
         NASA Headline News for 04/30/91 (Forwarded)
     GEOMAGNETIC STORM ALERT UPDATE - ACTIVITY DOWNGRADED
        Re: Terraforming Mars?  Why not Venus?

Administrivia:

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

Date: 30 Apr 91 22:23:47 GMT
From: agate!bionet!uwm.edu!rpi!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Terraforming Mars?  Why not Venus?

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Sullivan) writes:
>    I was wondering why we'd want to terraform a planet for human
>    habitation when the gravity there is 1/4th of earth's.
>    Wouldn't this cause problems for humans living there?

Good question.  Nobody knows.  The odds are that it would, at the very
least, result in relatively weak bones, and other problems are likely.

>    would think that terraforming Venus is more practical as a goal
>    since gravity is about the same...

The problem with Venus is finding some way to blow off 99% of its
atmosphere, and preferably speed up its rotation a lot too.  Mars looks
easy compared to that.

>    ... Is there anyway a catalyst could
>    be dropped onto venus that would convert some atmospheric gases
>    into something else?

No; Venus's atmosphere is disgustingly stable.  Some early proposals
suggested using airborne algae as a sort of self-reproducing catalyst,
but closer analysis suggests it won't work.  Terraforming Venus is going
to take fairly drastic measures.
--
And the bean-counter replied,           | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
"beans are more important".             |  [e-mail]  utzoo!henry

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

Date: 30 Apr 91 23:06:52 GMT
From: cbmvax![e-mail]  (Mark Ricci - CATS)
Subject: Re: Incentives

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (/dev/null) writes:
>You know as well as I do that the market does NOT reward this kind of
>investment instantly.  People will need a more immediate payoff to try
>to do it.
>
>The same kind of logic can be applied to cancel any government program.

Fantastic!  Let's start applying that logic.

>Okay, maybe it will be a dollar.  My point was, that compared to many
>albatrosses, this is relatively cheap and will encourage innovation.

Sure, it is cheap compared to other wastes, but that still doesn't justify
wasting money.  Plus, it will also spawn another bureaucracy to oversee it
and another to decide who wins and another to clean up the mess...

>It won't disrupt the economy.  Period.

I'm sorry, but when your government is running a $350-450 billion deficit,
the economy is disrupted and doesn't need any additional waste.
Exclamation point!

>It is not a waste of money.

We are wasting time and bandwidth.  It is a waste of money.  Please
direct any further comments via email.
--
=============================================================================
  Mark Ricci - CATS              | "I don't think so! Homey don't play dat."
  Commodore Applications and     |
  Technical Support              |    - Homey the Clown
  [e-mail]     |         In Living Color
==============================================================================

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

Date: 30 Apr 91 20:51:28 GMT
From: [e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: NASA Headline News for 04/30/91 (Forwarded)


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

  Tuesday, April 30, 1991    Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788

This is NASA Headline News for Tuesday, April 30, 1991 . . .

Strategic Defense Initiative STS-39 experiment program manager Mike
Harrison said this morning that the CIRRIS, one of the two major
payloads on this flight, has been acquiring exceptional aurora data,
better than any data gathered to date.  At this morning's change-of-
shift briefing, Harrison and flight director Bob Castle explained that the
mission timeline will be modified slightly to enable continuing observations
of aurora by the CIRRIS instrument.  This will delay the release of the
IBSS spacecraft by one day.  The CIRRIS is using its helium coolant at a
rate faster than predicted, and coupled with the exceptional aurora data
being acquired, led the flight management team to this change.  The IBSS
satellite will now be deployed at 4:24 am EDT tomorrow morning,
May 1.  The aurora have been so strong that Discovery commander Mike
Coats said yesterday "it's just like flying through a curtain of light."  Castle
and Harrison also described troubleshooting efforts aimed at
understanding why the two secondary payload data recorders are not
working.  As of this morning, no cause has yet been identified;
troubleshooting will continue, though.

Columbia is scheduled to rollout to Kennedy Space Center launch
pad 39-B just after midnight Thursday, May 2.  The STS-40 Spacelab
Life Sciences mission terminal countdown demonstration test is set for
May 6 through 7.  The STS-40 flight readiness review is now planned for
May 13 and 14.

Endeavour is being mated to the new shuttle carrier aircraft at the
Rockwell plant in Palmdale, Calif., today.  The first leg of a two-day cross
country flight to deliver Endeavour to the Kennedy center begins
Thursday, May 2.  The carrier aircraft and Endeavour will lay over at
Houston's Ellington Field Thursday night and leave Friday morning.
Endeavour is expected to arrive in Florida by midday Friday.

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

Goddard Space Flight Center controllers report that the Gamma Ray
Observatory continues to perform well.  All four of GRO's instruments
are operating and presently undergoing calibration.  This week, the
spacecraft will be pointed about nine degrees off the center of the Crab
Nebula for a series of five, three-day calibration exercises.  The
anomaly team assembled to review why the high-gain antenna boom
required astronaut assistance to deploy has completed their study.  The
review board found that the insulation on the boom was snagged during
the release procedure due to insufficient clearance in the boom storage
channel.  The board said that assembly procedures had failed to account
for the movement of insulation during the launch phase.

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

Marshall Space Flight Center reports they will be assisting in the
development of a new aerospace high school in Little Rock.  The
University of Arkansas, as part of that school's Space Grant College
activities, will develop the new high school, which is to have a special
emphasis on aerospace.  The school is expected to open in Fall, 1992.
Marshall will work with the University to help train the teachers who will
staff the school.

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

Stennis Space Center education officials report that last week's Early
Education Monday was conducted for 121 youngsters at a Picayune, Miss.,
kindergarten and a Covington, Louisiana, preschool.  They also say their
visitor center toured 2,570 visitors from 36 states and 12 foreign countries.
                   * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The House Subcommittee on Government Activities and Transportation
(Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is the chairman) will hold hearings on the
General Accounting Office's Space Station Survey in the Rayburn
House Office Building, Room 2247, from 9:30 am through noon tomorrow,
May 1.  NASA Administrator Richard Truly, Associate Administrators for
Space Flight and Space Science, Bill Lenoir and Len Fisk, and Comptroller
Tom Campbell will be NASA witnesses.
                   * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
begins its annual meeting today through Thursday, May 2, in Arlington.
This year's theme is "Aerospace 1991: The Changing Course."  The meeting
will be in the Crystal City Hyatt Regency Hotel.  Key speakers for the
sessions include NASA Deputy J.R. Thompson, Office of Aeronautics,
Exploration and Technology Associate Administrator Arnold Aldrich, and
Norman Augustine, chief executive officer of Martin Marietta Corp.

Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select
TV.  Note that all events and times may change without notice, and that
all times listed are Eastern.

Tuesday, 4/30/91
    All day    Payload and crew flight deck activities live from Discovery and
          flight controller activities live from Johnson Space Center.
    9:00 pm    Flight director change-of-shift briefing live from JSC.
    9:15 pm    Playback of STS-39 flight day 3 activities from JSC.

Wednesday, 5/1/91
    All day    Payload and crew flight deck activities live from Discovery and
          flight controller activities live from Johnson Space Center.
    4:24 am    Deploy of the IBSS satellite live from Discovery.
    6:30 am    Flight director change-of-shift briefing live from JSC.
    1:15 pm    Magellan-at-Venus status briefing live from Jet Propulsion
          Laboratory.
    2:00 pm    Flight director change-of-shift briefing live from JSC.
    8:30 pm    Playback of STS-39 flight day 4 activities from JSC.
    11:00 pm    Flight director change-of-shift briefing live from JSC.

This report is filed daily at noon, Monday through Friday.  It is a service of
NASA's Office of Public Affairs.  The contact is Charles Redmond, 202/453-8425
or CREDMOND on NASAmail.  NASA Select TV is carried on GE Satcom F2R,
transponder 13, C-Band, 72 degrees West Longitude, transponder frequency is
3954.5 megaHertz, audio is offset 6.8 MHz, polarization is vertical.

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

Date: Tue, 30 Apr 91 17:05:00 MDT
From: oler <@BITNET.CC.CMU.EDU:[e-mail]> (CARY OLER)
Subject: GEOMAGNETIC STORM ALERT UPDATE - ACTIVITY DOWNGRADED
X-St-Vmsmail-To: st%"[e-mail]"

                       /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

                            GEOMAGNETIC STORM UPDATE

                       /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

                               23:00 UT, 30 April

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


STORM UPDATE INFORMATION:

     Geomagnetic activity has declined over the past 24 hours.  The storm has
been downgraded from major to minor and for all intents and purposes has
ended as of 23:00 UT on 30 April.  This will be the last Geomagnetic Storm
Alert Update unless reintensification occurs (which is very unlikely).

     Geomagnetic activity is expected to continue to decline to generally
unsettled conditions by 02 May.  The activity we experienced was the result
of several well placed coronal holes.  Conditions at the present time are
hovering between unsettled and very active levels.  Some brief periods of
low-intensity minor storming are still possible over the high latitude
regions, although for the most part, geomagnetic storming has ended.

     Auroral activity has declined to more dormant and diffuse levels and is
not expected to reintensify.  The near-full phase of the moon made spotting
auroral activity very difficult, despite the rather high levels of storming
which occurred.

     HF propagation conditions have improved substantially over the past 12
hours.  Conditions are expected to improve further, particularly over the
higher latitudes, as time progresses.  A return to normal or near-normal
conditions is expected for the middle and low latitudes on 01 May, with the
high latitudes stabilizing to more normal conditions (fair conditions) by 02
May.

     VHF conditions will return to normal by 01 May over most latitudes.
Conditions are no longer favorable for VHF auroral backscatter communications
over the middle latitudes.


                       /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

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

Date: 30 Apr 91 21:53:27 GMT
From: agate!bionet!uwm.edu!caen!sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!suned1!slced1![e-mail]  (Lloyd E Vancil)
Subject: Re: Terraforming Mars?  Why not Venus?

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Sullivan) writes:
>
>    Life magazine had a large story on the terraforming of Mars.
>    I read it and it was rather informative for someone who has
>    little knowlege on how terraforming would be done.  Still,
>    I was wondering why we'd want to terraform a planet for human
>    habitation when the gravity there is 1/4th of earth's.

It is safer for man to live on a planet, at the bottom of the gravity
well, than it is for man to live in space.  On top of the need for gravity
there is the advantage of having an atmosphere to serve as a heat sink
and buffer.  On the scale of space colonies plantes are just cheaper per
capita.
>    Wouldn't this cause problems for humans living there?  I
Yes reduced gravity should cause problems for pregnancies and growing
children

>..... terraforming Venus is more practical as a goal
>    since gravity is about the same, but I guess more difficult a task
>    to accomplish.
Terraforming is a difficult task, but it takes much longer and a much
larger/longer commitment over time
    To terraform Venus or Mars, bombarding them with very large comets
from the Ort cloud, would be a good start.  Moving a Moon sized body into
orbit around Venus would help too.  Then there is the scheme to put up an
umbrella.
--
 | suned1![e-mail] | * S.T.A.R.S.!   .       +      o       |
 | [e-mail]    | The Revolution has begun!   .     +    |
 | sun!suntzu!suned1!lev         | My Opinions are Mine mine mine hahahah!|

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

End of SPACE Digest V13 #487
*******************