Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V13_6/V13_691.TXT

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Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #691

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 13 : Issue 691

Today's Topics:
             Re: United Space Federation
         Re: Self-sustaining infrastructures
         Re: INFO: Clandestine Mars Observer Launch??
        INFO: Lunar Transient Phenomena - Paranet File

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: Tue, 4 Jun 91 12:11:51 PDT
From: [e-mail]
X-Vmsmail-To: UTADNX::UTSPAN::AMES::"[e-mail]"
Subject: Re: United Space Federation


In SPACE Digest V13 #587,
vax5.cit.cornell.edu![e-mail] (Rick Dobson) writes:

>         WHY IS A WORLD SPACE ORGANIZATION NEEDED ?!?
>...
>One -  Companies, Industries and Economies that where
>created and supported by the now crumbling era of war
>economies, are coming apart at the seams.  This is creating
>large amounts of unemployed and HUNGRY! people around the
>world.   A new  type of economy is needed to replace this
>old form; or industrial and technological nations will have
>no choice but to create new and imaginary threats, to
>satisfy their hunger and need to expand.

If you want to know why people create imaginary threats and wage war,
look into some books by the German author Alice Miller, specifically
_For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-rearing and the Roots of
Violence_ and _The Drama of the Gifted Child_.

Also, concerning this war economy stuff, military trade is a relatively
small fraction of the weapons producing countries' economies.  On the other
hand, military spending is a relatively large fraction of spending for
many of the countries which don't produce weapons.  So if this war economy
falls, then the rich countries might be hurt a little in the short term,
while the poor countries would benefit greatly, especially in the long
term.  Besides, at best, weapons are merely useless, a drag on the world
economy; at worst, when they are actually put to use, weapons destroy
productive capacity, so it is't as though the demise of the war economy
would hurt the world as a whole.

There may be good reaons to have a world space organization, but this
isn't one of them, and it only hurts your main thesis to use this argument.

_____________
Dale M. Greer, whose opinions are not to be confused with those of the
Center for Space Sciences, U.T. at Dallas, UTSPAN::UTADNX::UTDSSA::GREER
"Mars is essentially in the same orbit.  Mars is 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,
 there is oxygen.  If oxygen, that means we can breathe."
 -- J. Danforth Quayle, 11 August, 1989

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

Date: 5 Jun 91 00:49:44 GMT
From: iggy.GW.Vitalink.COM!widener!hela![e-mail]  (Allen W. Sherzer)
Subject: Re: Self-sustaining infrastructures

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Nick Janow) writes:

>> Humans are less reliable than machines?  When was the last time your joints
>> froze because of a temperature change, or the wires in your head became...

>Humans also get diseases, cancer, physical problems, psychological problems,

Hardly in the same league. I myself have only needed major repair (surgery)
twice in 33 years of life. I have fallen off a motorcycle at 50+MPH without
doing any dammage which needed repair by outside means. The operational
record of my car (dispite its much younger age) is nowhere near that
good.

>> Healthy humans are generally self-repairing...machines aren't.

>Actually, some are, at least to some extent.  Even the old systems on the
>Voyager probes were "healed", though by human intervention. ...

Yes we are getting good at building electronics which are fault tollerent.
How about machines wiht large numbers of moving parts (like satellite
repair robots)? How good are they at fixing themselves?

     Allen
--
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Allen W. Sherzer |   DETROIT: Where the weak are killed and eaten.         |
|   [e-mail]   |                                                         |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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

Date: 5 Jun 91 01:03:40 GMT
From: pacbell.com!tandem!netcomsv![e-mail]  (Tim Richardson)
Subject: Re: INFO: Clandestine Mars Observer Launch??

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Tim Richardson) writes:
=
=I have the 2 frames, both in "raw" and in a filtered version which was done
=by Loren Carpenter formerly of PIXAR.
=
=I have just posted this to alt.pictures, including Loren's original comments.
=--

OOPS!!!  I do not seem to have access to "alt.pictures" and therefore the
above statement is a lie.  I appologize for that.

I will continue to email this to anyone who asks.
--
Tim Richardson
Technical Network Products, Inc.  "techNET"
email: [e-mail]   {apple, amdahl, claris}!netcom!tim
*******************************************************************************
    "Those willing to give up a little liberty for a little security
     deserve neither security nor liberty".   ------   Benjamin Franklin
*******************************************************************************

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

Date: 2 Jun 91 22:28:53 GMT
From: cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!crdgw1!ge-dab!tarpit!bilver![e-mail]  (Don Allen)
Subject: INFO: Lunar Transient Phenomena - Paranet File

The following text comes from the ParaNet UFO echo. I'm posting
it to the NET as it seems to be interesting. NOTE to cross-posted
groups..BEFORE you flame me, how about keeping an OPEN MIND?

As I do NOT have alot of time available to pursue follow-ups
_exclusively_ , please direct all comments to me via mail.

The usual hate mail will get merrily dumped to dev/null, so flame
away if you must :-)

NOTE: This article re-printed without the express written consent
or permission of Paranet.

----Begin Included Text------------------------------------------



Message #6490 - INFO.PARANET
   Date : 29-May-91 17:00
   From : ParaNet(sm) Information Service
     To : All
Subject : Lunar Transient Phenomena

ParaNet(sm):  Freedom of Information for a better world!

(C) 1991 ParaNet(sm) Information Service.  All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
ParaNet File Number:
*****************************************************************
     With  all of the speculation about alien bases on  the  moon
and  strange  phenomena  being seen occurring  around  the  moon,
ParaNet did some research on this and found some very interesting
artilces  pertaining to this phenomena known as  Lunar  Transient
Phenomena.  Although it is far from being proof that aliens  have
set  up bases on the moon, it does provide for  some  interesting
reading.   During our search, we found a NASA publication  titled
"Chronological  Catalog  of  Reported  Lunar  Events."   This  is
contained  in  NASA Technical Report R-277,  published  in  July,
1968.   This  document details Lunar Transient  Phenomena  dating
back to 1540.  We will provide this document in another file, but
for  now,  we  did find an article that  details  the  scientific
communities concern now over this strange phenomena.
=================================================================
Reprinted from Sky & Telescope Magazine, March, 1991.

                    LUNAR TRANSIENT PHENOMENA

by  Winifred  Sawtell Cameron, La Ranchita de la Luna,  200  Rojo
Drive, Sedona, Arizona

     On  January 24, 1956 amateur lunar observer R. Houghton  was
drawing  the  crater  Liebig on the edge  of  Mare  Humorum  when
something  bright flashed in the field of his  7-inch  telescope.
The  flare came from the nearby crater Cavendish, which was  just
emerging from the lunar night. Closer inspection revealed that  a
peak on the crater's eastern wall was repeatedly flashing.
     Houghton called astronomer Brian Warner and told him what to
look  for.  Warner  too  saw the  flashes  and  called  them  "so
conspicuous that they were seen immediately." The other peaks  in
the vicinity remained normal.
     On  the  night  of November  2-3,  1958,  Soviet  astronomer
Nikolai  A. Kozyrev witnessed a strange phenomenon  while  making
spectrograms   of   the  crater  Alphonsus   with   the   Crimean
Astrophysical  Observatory's  50-inch reflector.  As  he  watched
through  the  telescope's guiding eyepiece, he saw  the  crater's
central  peak  blur  and  turn  an  unusual  reddish  color.  The
spectrograms  confirmed  his  visual impressions  of  a  volcanic
event;  they  showed an emission spectrum of carbon  vapor  (S&T:
February, 1959, page 184).
     On  July  19, 1969, the Apollo 11 command  module  had  just
achieved orbit around the Moon when the Mission Control Center in
Houston,  Texas, received word that amateur astronomers  reported
transient  phenomena in the vicinity of the  crater  Aristarchus.
Asked to check out the situation, astronaut Neil Armstrong looked
out  his window toward the earthlit region and observed an  "area
that is considerably more illuminated than the surrounding  area.
It  just has -- seems to have a slight amount of fluorescence  to
it."  Although he wasn't sure, Armstrong believed the region  was
Aristarchus.
     Accounts  of lunar transient phenomena (LTP'S) are not  new.
Over  the  past  30  years,  I  have  collected  close  to  2,000
observations dating from as far back as 557 A.D. Most are  visual
reports  of bright spots, flashes, hazes, and  curious  temporary
colorations  of  the  lunar soil.  Reputable  observers  such  as
William  Herschel,  Wilhelm Struve, and E. E. Barnard  have  seen
them. Some LTP's have even been photographed, as well as recorded
polarimetrically,  photometrically, and  spectroscopically.  Yet,
despite  a profusion of observations and six Apollo  missions  to
the Moon, the nature of LTP's remains elusive and their origin an
enigma.
     About   200  of  some  30,000  lunar  features  visible   in
telescopes  have  been recorded as LTP sources. Half  have  shown
activity  only  once.  Of the remainder, a  mere  dozen  features
contribute  three-fourths of all reports. One area,  Aristarchus-
Herodotus-Schroters Valley, is responsible for fully one-third of
the total number sighted.
     Most LTP activity occurs along the edges of the maria,  near
volcanic  features, like domes, sinuous rilles, and craters  with
dark  halos  or floors. But these regions, like the rest  of  the
Moon, have long been considered geologically dead. Circular maria
are  large, primordial impact basins that were filled  with  lava
about  3  billion  years ago. There is  evidence,  however,  that
volcanism  has occurred in some craters that are perhaps  only  a
million  years old. Could the bright flashes, hazes,  and  colors
reported at these sites be proof that the Moon is still active?

                 THOUGHTS ON THE ORIGIN OF LTP'S

     Possible explanations for LTP's are not lacking. One of  the
earliest  proposals  was made by Jack Green of  Douglas  Advanced
Research  Laboratories  in Huntington  Beach,  California.  While
studying  the standing levels of water and oil in deep wells,  he
found  that  the  levels  varied  in  concert  with  the   Moon's
anomalistic  month (27.55 days, from perigee to perigee),  as  if
the  strength of the Moon's tidal force affected the tiny  cracks
in  the bedrock through which oil and water move. Based  on  this
idea,  he  suggested that LTP's are degassing  phenomena  brought
about  by  the  Earth's  tidal  effects  on  the  Moon.   Maximum
degassing, he believed, would occur at the Moon's most  eccentric
apogees  and  a minimum at the least  eccentric  perigees.  After
analyzing  1,200 observations, however, I could not find  such  a
relationship.


     Some  LTP  phenomena may be caused by  sunlight  interacting
with  the  lunar soil. On October 30, 1963, James  Greenacre  and
Edward Barr observed red spots sparkling on the southwest wall of
the crater Aristarchus, the east wall of Schroter's Valley, and a
hill between them (S&T: December, 1963, page 316). The  phenomena
was observed visually by others and recorded spectroscopically as
well.  At the same lunar phase a month later, Greenacre and  Barr
saw a similar event. Since sunrise on these features occurs  when
the  Moon  is about 11 days old, Greenacre thought that  the  low
lunar Sun was somehow responsible. Indeed, thermoluminesence  mat
be  the cause. Gases in the lunar soil, frozen during the  night,
could heat up and escape near sunrise.
     Could  high-energy solar particles impacting the  Moon  also
trigger LTP activity? Shortly after a large flare erupted on  the
Sun  in  1963,  Zdenek Kopal and Thomas Rackham at  Pic  du  Midi
Observatory  in southern France photographed a local  brightening
around  the  craters Copernicus, Kepler, and  Aristarchus.  Kopal
proposed  that  energetic particles from the flare  caused  lunar
rocks to fluorescence. Such activity might be expected especially
at   full  phase  when  the  Moon  passes  through  the   Earth's
magnetosphere, where solar wind particles become trapped.

                            ANALYSIS

     LTP  sightings  fall  into  five  categories:  brightenings,
darkenings,   reddish   colorations,  bluish   colorations,   and
obscurations.  When plotted against the lunar anomalistic  month,
the  data show that LTP activity peaks somewhat when the Moon  is
moving  from apogee to perigee, especially about halfway  between
these points when the Moon is approaching Earth the most rapidly.
When  the Moon is opposite that point in its orbit, LTP  activity
is  at  a deep minimum.  Since tidal stressed  build  from  lunar
apogee to perigee, one might expect such a pattern.
     When LTP phenomena are plotted against the Moon's phases, it
appears  that  the most phenomena occur around the time  of  full
Moon  (though  LTP's  have been  observed  throughout  the  lunar
cycle).   Also,  more  are seen near the sunrise  line  than  the
sunset line, though that might be simply because far more  people
observe the waxing Moon in the evening than the waning Moon after
midnight.  Gaseous phenomena and anomalistic brightenings seem to
peak when the Moon is a waxing crescent.

                         ARE THEY REAL?

     Some  astronomers dismiss all LTP's as  either  aberrational
effects   in  Earth's  atmosphere,  changes  in  lunar   lighting
conditions,  or  outright illusions.  Such  skepticism,  however,
flies  in  the  face  of  those  who  have  devoted  decades   to
familiarizing  themselves with the Moon, and who very  well  know
these  common  observational  effects.  *   LTP's  are  localized
phenomena.   They are regions or features that experience  change
while the rest of the Moon remains normal.
     No  doubt  some  apparent LTP's are  caused  by  atmospheric
effects.   One is the "ashen glow."  Here, sunlight scattered  by
Earth's  clouds is cast onto the Moon's night surface,  resulting
in   LTP's   that  simply  reflect  changes  in  the   level   of
illumination.    Another  pseudo-LTP  concerns  bright   features
fringed  with  blue  (north) and red (south)  seen  against  dark
backgrounds.   These  probably are aberrational  effects,  namely
atmospheric  dispersion near the observer, perhaps enhanced by  a
lingering temperature inversion.
     Sightings  of  a  starlike point on the  Moon  may  also  be
disregarded  as an LTP.  This is the only transient phenomenon  I
have  ever  observed  myself.   But I  suspect  it  is  merely  a
reflection  effect  from  flat facets on  areas  of  large  rocky
outcrops  when  the  Sun and observer are  at  just  the  correct
angles.   (High  magnifications  spread the light  into  an  area
instead of a point.)
     Even if we eliminate the three types of non-LTP's  discussed
here,  that  still  leaves more than 40 percent  of  the  reports
unexplained.
     There  is  evidence that the remaining LTP's  are  of  lunar
origin.   a  substantial number of sightings  were  independently
confirmed.   Professional astronomers have recorded them on  film
and  spectrograms, as well as with photoelectric photometers  and
polarization  equipment.   Experiments  on  the  Apollo  missions
detected  trace outgassings of the radioactive elements radon  an
polonium,  suggesting that more substantial amounts  of  commoner
substances  were  released  at the  same  time.   One  experiment
possibly  detected  water vapor during the largest  moonquake  on
record  (Richter 4).  the epicenter of that quake was near or  in
the large, fractured crater Gauss north of Mare Crisium.  To  me,
this  is  the  one lunar feature that looks as  if  it  had  been
covered  with a thin crust of glass subsequently shattered by  an
impact.
     While  in  lunar  orbit,  Harrison  Schmitt  of  Apollo   17
witnessed  a  flash  near the crater  Grimaldi  west  of  Oceanus
Procellarum.   Since he was dark adapted, it's possible he saw  a
cosmic-ray flash within his own eyeball.  But it's also  possible
he saw a lunar event.  In the past, Grimaldi had been responsible
for more than a dozen reports of flashes.  The crater Plato  near
Mare Imbrium is another source of flashes.  Although many craters
responsible  for  LTP sightings have central  peaks  with  summit
craters, Plato has none.
     So the Moon may not be such a cold, lifeless neighbor  after
all.  It still breathes through the action of LTP's, which in  my
opinion  are  probably gentle outgassings  of  less-than-volcanic
proportions.   Whatever they are, thanks to the LTP's,  the  Moon
remains a curious place.


--The author directs the lunar transient phenomena section of the
Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers.

                  SOME POSSIBLE CAUSES OF LTP's

--The  following  is  a  condensation of  remarks  by  J.  Hedley
Robinson   in  the  December,  1986,  Journal  of   the   British
Astronomical Association.

     At  least  11 possible causes of lunar  transient  phenomena
(LTP's)   have  been  discussed.   As  a  stimulus   to   further
discussion, it may be helpful to summarize and comment on these.

     1.  Tidal.  There is a greater stress by the Earth when  the
Moon  is at perigee than at other parts of its orbit.  The  tidal
pull  may release strains in the crust and permit the release  of
trapped  gases.   The tidal effect of Earth on the Moon  is  32.5
times greater than the effect of the Moon on the Earth.

     2.    Albedo  changes  due  to  dust  movement.   There   is
essentially no atmosphere on the Moon to raise dust, so this does
not seem likely as an explanation.

     3.   Thermal  shock.  The lunar surface  temperature  varies
from 125 degrees to -80 degrees Celsius during a two-hour  period
at  both  sunrise and sunset, and most LTP's occur  within  three
days  of local sunrise or sunset.  LTP's could be related to  the
fact  that dissimilar materials expand and contract at  differing
rates.  Although the maria heat and cool more rapidly than  other
parts  of the Moon's surface, at a depth of just 10 cm  the  rock
temperature  is constant.  Thermal conditions may be regarded  as
incidental to LTP's rather than the main cause.

     4.  Magnetic.  Solar plasma bombards the lunar surface, even
when  the Moon is in the Earth's magnetic tail, and the  movement
of  the  Moon in and out of the magnetic tail changes  the  field
strength.   But charged particles penetrate the lunar surface  to
only  one-third the depth reached by the Sun's thermal rays.   If
thermal  shock  is  considered to be insufficient  to  cause  LTP
phenomena, then the much weaker electromagnetic effect below  the
surface must also be discounted.

     5.    Ultraviolet  radiation  from  the  Sun   might   cause
fluorescence  at visible wavelengths, because there is  virtually
no  atmosphere  to shield the lunar surface.  I  doubt  that  the
effect  is strong enough to produce visible reactions as  bright,
or as large, as the usual LTP's.

     6.  Solar-wind plasma impacting the surface could produce an
electric discharge, but I doubt that the energy involved is great
enough to cause an effect visible from Earth.
     LTP's  could,  however,  be  caused  by  the  explosion   of
chemically reactive molecules and free radicals in small hollows;
and  solar  wind plasma may produce such  reactive  molecules  in
rocks.  But solar-wind plasma hardly looks like a prime cause.

     7.    Spectral   diffraction   from   surface   grains    or
irregularities  too  small for telescopic  resolution  may  cause
color.   The lunar surface presents many angels to the  observer,
and  these vary with libration in both latitude and longitude  as
well  as with diurnal libration.  With the varying lunar  surface
slopes, many simultaneous diffraction angles should be presented.
But if this were the cause of LTP's, the effects should show  all
over the disk from time to time, whereas they in fact show  local
preferences.

     8.   Meteor  strikes.  These have been  claimed  frequently.
One  of  the  best  observed  was  reported  by  the  Smithsonian
Institution  near  the  Apollo 14 site on May 13,  1972,  when  a
meteor  impact released an energy equal to that of 1,000 tons  of
TNT.   But  meteor strikes cover only a small area on  the  lunar
surface when compared to the size of LTP's.

     9.   Moonquakes are often deep seated but very weak, with  a
preference for times of perigee or apogee.  There seems to be  no
obvious  connection  between  the  frequency  of  moonquakes  and
sightings of LTP phenomena.

     10.   False color is a regular feature in larger  telescopes
due  to terrestrial atmospheric conditions.  This can be  guarded
against by comparing a suspected LTP event with the appearance of
other  formations on the lunar surface at the same time,  and  is
well recognized by practiced observers.

     11.   The piezoelectric effect is well known on  Earth,  for
example  when rock strain generates a strong electric field  that
ionizes the air above the rock, causing a glow.  The field  moves
with  the  strain  source.  There are  Soviet  reports  that  the
magnetic  field  drops  suddenly  when  underground  tension   is
released.

     Conclusion.   The  foregoing  indicates  courses  that   our
thinking  and  research might follow.  I am of the  opinion  that
tidal strain or thermal shock causing outgassing and producing  a
piezoelectric effect might be the most plausible explanation.

J. Hedley Robinson
Helmington, 21 Inverteign Dr.
Teignmouth, Devon TQ14 9AF
England

END

PARANET FILE NAME:  LUNAR.TXT

----EOF---


--
-* Don Allen *-  InterNet: [e-mail]  // Amiga..for the rest of us.
USnail: 1818G Landing Dr, Sanford Fl 32771 \X/ Why use anything else? :^)
UUCP: ..uunet!tarpit!bilver!vicstoy!dona      0110 0110 0110 Just say NO!
Illuminati < MJ-12|Grudge|TLC|CFR|FED|EEC|Bush > WAR = "New World Order"

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

End of SPACE Digest V13 #691
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