Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V15_0/V15NO019.TXT

Text File | 1993-07-13 | 32KB | 817 lines

Date: Tue, 21 Jul 92 05:10:07
From: Space Digest maintainer <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Space Digest V15 #019
To: Space Digest Readers
Precedence: bulk


Space Digest                Tue, 21 Jul 92       Volume 15 : Issue 019

Today's Topics:
                Antimatter (was propulsion questions)
   Astronomy Lab for MS Windows 3.X - BETA TESTERS NEEDED (2 msgs)
                         does anyone know???
                              ESA Future
              If the sun went out-how long life survive?
             McDonald Douglas Irvine CA. -Address Wanted
                      message from Space Digest
NASA experiment could save lives, time and money [Release 92-115] (Forwarded)
            Need Testers for MS Windows Astronomy Program
                    Propulsion questions (2 msgs)
                 Something I picked up in soc.history
                        SPS and sky brightness
     Star Trek and public perception of space/science/engineering
          Testers for Astronomy  Lab:  NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS!!!
                    Visual acuity for MS (2 msgs)

    Welcome to the Space Digest!!  Please send your messages to
    "[e-mail]".  Please do **NOT** send (un)subscription
    requests to that address!  Instead, send a message of the form
    "Subscribe Space <your name>" to one of these addresses:
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    [e-mail] (Internet).
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1992 23:02:37 GMT
From: "Phil G. Fraering" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Antimatter (was propulsion questions)
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (SCOTT I CHASE) writes:

>In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Henry Spencer) writes...
>>
>>Antimatter isn't a very efficient explosive.  If you dropped an anti-iron
>>cannonball, it would just sit there and sizzle.  (The radiation would make
>>the immediate neighborhood very unhealthy, mind you.)  The security needed
>>to prevent *accidentally* dropping stuff that is worth billions of dollars
>>a gram should mostly suffice as protection against simple forms of malice.
>>It is, in any case, not something you can put in your pocket, because it's
>>stable only inside a substantial piece of equipment.

>This doesn't sound right.  What makes you think that the energy release would
>be so slow?  The outer surface would be continuously annihilating with
>air and whatever surface you drop it on.  It's not at all clear that
>things would be so nice as you describe.


It's called the Leidenfrost effect. The idea is, the outer layer blows
off and creates a thin vacuum-density layer of plasma insulating the
antimatter from the surrounding atmosphere...

_As I commented earlier_, this mechanism was once proposed as
the power source behind Ball Lightning. This would imply that
microgram amounts of antimatter were literally falling from the
skies.

It's very unlikely, but just imagine if it were true...

We could find out where all this stuff was coming from, send
a probe there, and "put the tiger in the tank."

BTW, Antimatter should also be rather stable at low temperatures.
Some of the positrons should boil off and be annihilated, leaving the
rest of the antimatter with a net negative charge. This should keep
electrons away, while keeping enough positrons bound to the set of
molecules to "screen" away protons and other positive nuclei...



--
Phil Fraering [e-mail] where the x is a number from 1-5.
Phone: [phone]
"There are still 201969 unread articles in 1278 groups" - nn message
"57 channels and nothing on" - Bruce Springsteen

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

Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1992 22:40:40 GMT
From: Richard Reiner <[e-mail]>
Subject: Astronomy Lab for MS Windows 3.X - BETA TESTERS NEEDED
Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms,comp.ibm.pc.misc,sci.astro,sci.space,sci.edu,comp.windows.ms.programmer,comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d

I'm another one.  My mail bounced repeatedly.

Name: Richard Reiner
US Mail Address: 547 Shaw, apt 1, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6G 3L5
E-Mail Address: [e-mail]
Version of MS-Windows: 3.1
Version of MS-DOS: 5.0
CPU: 386-33
Math Coprocessor (not required): Cyrix 387
Memory: 8 MB
Graphics Card: Trident 8900
Printer: QMS PS 820 Turbo, Star NX1000
--
Richard [e-mail]........416-538-3947

Learning, n.  The kind of ignorance distinguishing the studious.
  -- Ambrose Bierce, _The Devil's Dictionary_.

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

Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1992 20:45:39 GMT
From: Roger White <[e-mail]>
Subject: Astronomy Lab for MS Windows 3.X - BETA TESTERS NEEDED
Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms,comp.ibm.pc.misc,sci.astro,sci.space,sci.edu,comp.windows.ms.programmer,comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Brad Johanson) writes:
>Sorry, I know that I shouldn't post this, but the mail bounced when I
>tried to e-mail to you.

I'm sorry too but I had the same problem.  Guess this is the only recourse.

Name: Roger White
US Mail Address: Philips Laboratories
         345 Scarborough Road
         Briarcliff Manor, New York 10510
E-Mail Address: [e-mail]
Version of MS-Windows: v3.1
Version of MS-DOS: v.5.0
CPU: 386SX/16MHz
Math Coprocessor (not required): internal
Memory: 8 MB
Graphics Card: VGA
Printer: H.P. ThinkJet, Epson FX-85

I am interested in testing your program but I have very little experience in
astronomy.

Rog

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

Date: 20 Jul 92 09:29:02 GMT
From: Nitin Kale <[e-mail]>
Subject: does anyone know???
Newsgroups: sci.space

does anyone know how i can get in touch with Dr. Stephen Hawking ?
email , ph. no., address ????

thanx (sorry if this is the wrong newsgroup for such a question..)

nitin kale

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

Date: 21 Jul 92 02:53:45 GMT
From: Matthew DeLuca <[e-mail]>
Subject: ESA Future
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Henry Spencer) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Matthew DeLuca) writes:
>>Well, yes, but then they don't have independent acess to space, which was one
>>of the reasons ESA was founded in the first place.  Sort of pointless.

>Not at all.  Just make Russia an ESA member.  It *is* a European country!

Well, geographically it is partly in Europe, (it's as much Asian as
European, if we want to get picky) but socially, economically, and
culturally it is pretty far off...I can't see them getting into the ESA,
especially with all the petty bickering and infighting among the member
nations.

Besides...you'd have to get Ukraine in there as well, since they make
some of the rockets, and nobody knows how long Russia and they are going
to remain on speaking terms...

The best bet for Europe is to get their act together, decide what they
*really* want, and get it done, and not look to the outside for help.

--
Matthew DeLuca                      "I'd hire the Dorsai, if I knew their
Georgia Institute of Technology      P.O. box."
Office of Information Technology                - Zebediah Carter,
Internet: [e-mail]              _The Number of the Beast_

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

Date: 20 Jul 92 23:10:10 GMT
From: "Phil G. Fraering" <[e-mail]>
Subject: If the sun went out-how long life survive?
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (FRANK NEY) writes:


>If memory serves me correctly, a SF short story was written on this
>premise and was made into a show during the 'Golden Age' of radio.

>I forget the author, but the title was "A Bucket of Air."

"A Pail of Air" by Fritz Leiber.

>Frank Ney N4ZHG EMT-P  LPVa NRA ILA GOA CCRTKBA "M-O-U-S-E"
>Commandant and Acting President, Northern Virginia Free Militia
>Send e-mail for an application and more information
>----------------------------------------------------------------
>Vote Marrou/Lord in 1992.  And get all 535 bums out of congress!

How?

--
Phil Fraering [e-mail] where the x is a number from 1-5.
Phone: [phone]
"There are still 201969 unread articles in 1278 groups" - nn message
"57 channels and nothing on" - Bruce Springsteen

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

Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1992 21:16:59 GMT
From: Allen Ogden <[e-mail]>
Subject: McDonald Douglas Irvine CA. -Address Wanted
Newsgroups: sci.space

Hi.
I would like to exchange email with a friend working
at McDonald Douglas (Space Craft Div.) in or close to Irvine CA.
If anyone knows of a contact there and an email
address that I can send email to I would be very grateful.

Thanks in advance.
Allen

[e-mail]

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

Date: 20 Jul 92 23:17:20 GMT
From: "Phil G. Fraering" <[e-mail]>
Subject: message from Space Digest
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] writes:

>   The year is 2010. This is your last day on earth. Tomorrow you leave with
>the first civilian crew hand-picked by NASA to colonize the moon. NASA
>prepares your OFK - Offical Flight Kit - with all you need to survive
>physically on the moon. You are also allowed to take your PPK - Personal
>Preference Kit. It is the size of a traveler's shaving kit and must weigh no
>more than a pound. In it you must pack whatever you need to sustain you
>emotionally and spiritually in outer space.
>   What will you choose??

I will chose a handheld computer capable of linking into the Internet.

Why? I want to complain to everyone on the ground about a space program
so chickenshit that a 200 pound person is only allowed a pound of luggage...

Doesn't anyone out there think that once we get over the hump we
won't need weight limits like that any more, and before we get
over the hump, you better be a test pilot or Senator anyway because
otherwise noone's going?

--
Phil Fraering [e-mail] where the x is a number from 1-5.
Phone: [phone]
"There are still 201969 unread articles in 1278 groups" - nn message
"57 channels and nothing on" - Bruce Springsteen

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

Date: 21 Jul 92 00:45:56 GMT
From: Francis Vaughan <[e-mail]>
Subject: NASA experiment could save lives, time and money [Release 92-115] (Forwarded)
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Peter E. Yee) writes:

|>     The satellite system, an international program known as COSPAS-
|> SARSAT, has been responsible for saving more than 2,300 lives since it was
|> started in 1982.  Principal partners in this program are Canada, France,
|> Russia and the United States.
.....
|>     When an aircraft or ship is in distress, an emergency signal normally
|> will be transmitted.  The signal will be "heard" by one of the satellites,
|> which relays the information to ground stations around the world.  Alert
|> information, including identification and location, is forwarded by the
|> ground stations to search and rescue forces, and rescue efforts are begun.
.....
|>     With a PLB, he said, the emergency signal would be picked up by a
|> satellite within 55 minutes, the information sent to a rescue coordination
|> center, and the rescue party could be at the scene shortly thereafter.  In
|> pre-experiment trials, Caldwell said, the PLB has brought searchers to
|> within six-tenths of a mile and never more than 1.3 miles of the distress
|> situation.

Something that has been bothering me for a while.  Why not add a
GPS receiver to the beacon?  The beacon should then squark not only that
it exists, but provide a pretty accurate position fix.  It also has the
advantage that if the beacon fails (or sinks if the ship goes down) there
is a very good, last heard from position to start looking form.

>  beacons, which currently cost between $1,200 and $1,700

This would add a bit to the cost of the beacon, but with the falling
costs of GPS it should not be too much.  I can buy a Sony PYXIS for
about $1000US.  Maybe if this is successful the reverse idea would be
more useful.  Sony (and others) would add a PLB transmitter to their
GPS receivers, adding a little to the cost.  I don't believe that
a PLB is really worth $1200 to $1700, rather it is a victim of
small production run, small market costs.  When you think what
ICOM or Yaesu will sell you for that money it is crazy (OK I am
ignoring the ruggedness/reliability a bit here. )

This brings to mind a scheme I had been thinking about for a while.
The sudden availability of lots of emergency beacons will almost certainly
result in lots more false, maliciously false and prankster alarms.
This would place an extra burden on the rescue groups.  Each sale
of a beacon should include a levy paid toward the upkeep of the
system.  Ideally an annual would be nice, but probably impossible to
manage.  You can't refuse to rescue someone because they havn't paid
the rates.  Renting beacons to people entering areas where they
will be usefull any including a system upkeep levey as part of the rent
would probably work.  Mandating the use of a beacon for some areas would
both be a money spinner and a life saver.

To discourage pransters pretty stiff penalties would have
to be instututed.  (In reality they already exist but may need a bit
of re-enforcement.)


Just a few idle thoughts anyway.


                        Francis Vaughan

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

Date: Mon, 20 Jul 92 20:16:10 GMT
From: Jay Brinkmeyer <[e-mail]>
Subject: Need Testers for MS Windows Astronomy Program
Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms,comp.windows.ms.programmer,sci.astro,sci.space,sci.edu,comp.ibm.pc.misc

> Add me to the list too, please - my mail bounced as well.  How about another
> address?
>
> Jay Brinkmeyer -     Compaq Computer Corp.            E-mail address:
> 20555 SH 249         Houston, TX 77070                uunet!cpqhou!jayb
> [phone]
>

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

Date: 20 Jul 92 21:44:58 GMT
From: "John S. Novak III" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Propulsion questions
Newsgroups: sci.space

Nick Haines writes:

>BTW, John Novak and I have had a short email discussion about
>anti-matter propulsion. He suggested using naked anti-protons rather
>than anti-hydrogen, so that you can keep it in a magnetic bottle. I
>thought there was something wrong with this idea, and I was right: the
>energy needed to put anti-protons (in any quantity) in a bottle is
>significantly _larger_ than that generated by annihilating them.
>Specifically, if you have a bottle size d (metres) with N anti-protons
>in it, the mass energy is

>    1.5e-10 N joules

>And the energy it took to put them there (to overcome the repulsion) is

>    1.5e-28 (N^2/d)    joules

>So for a kilogram of anti-protons in a one-metre bottle, mass energy =
>9e16 J but potential energy = 5e25 J.

Hmm.
Fine.  Confuse me with facts, why don't you?
We can improve this marginally if we assume anti-deuterium or
anti-tritium nuclei.  However, do neutron-antineutron reactions
prove as useful as proton-antiproton reactions?

Still kinda self-defeating.

Also, is there a way to use all the kinetic energy of the
anti-particles as they slam out of the particle generators?  Or
is it all dissipated and lost as they're cooled into storable
formats?

>So the anti-proton idea seems to die. So how _do_ you contain
>anti-hydrogen?

Funny you should ask...  Having read part of _Mirror Matter_ just
recently (like, last night and this afternoon in class) I can
answer this one-- store it just like regular hydrogen ice.
Molecular hydrogen ice is slightly diamagnetic, and exhibits a
magnetic moment under magnetic fields.  Thus, tiny balls of anti
H2 ice can, in theory, be stored in a magnetic bottle as well.
In fact, the procedure has been shown to work for mundane water
ice-- the stumbling block with H2 ice is the temperature
required, which is about 1 K.  Currently, however, there are 70
kilogram refridgerators dumping heat into room temperature from
1.5 K that work on about 2 KW power.

Now, _getting_ the anti-H2 might prove a bit more difficult.

Now, a question of my own-- if neutron-antineutron reactions are
usable, does an antineutron's internal structure give it a
magnetic moment, and can we use that to store antineutrons?

--
"This is not a happy graph...  You object to anthropomorphization of graphs?"
          -John S. Novak III, 09-16-91
John S. Novak, III        [e-mail]

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

Date: 20 Jul 92 22:54:08 GMT
From: "Phil G. Fraering" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Propulsion questions
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (John S. Novak III) writes:

[snip! censorship strikes again in sci.space!]


>Now, a question of my own-- if neutron-antineutron reactions are
>usable, does an antineutron's internal structure give it a
>magnetic moment, and can we use that to store antineutrons?

I suppose you could store an antineutron. Keep in mind, though,
that in an unbound (i.e. outside of a nucleus) neutron or
antineutron has a half-life of ~930 seconds.

Given the likely high cost of producing antimatter of any sort,
this would be the ultimate in terms of having money burning a hole
in your pocket.


--
Phil Fraering [e-mail] where the x is a number from 1-5.
Phone: [phone]
"There are still 201969 unread articles in 1278 groups" - nn message
"57 channels and nothing on" - Bruce Springsteen

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

Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 03:05:39 GMT
From: "Phil G. Fraering" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Something I picked up in soc.history
Newsgroups: sci.space

I thought y'all might find something useful in here. I  filed
it away from soc.history a while back (the thread has prob.
expired)...

Phil

Newsgroups: soc.history
Path: rouge!tulane!wupost!sdd.hp.com!cs.utexas.edu!torn!csd.unb.ca!morgan.ucs.mun.ca!kean.ucs.mun.ca!olaf
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Norse in Vinland (Church)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Lines: 70
Sender: [e-mail] (NNTP server account)
Organization: Memorial University. St.John's Nfld, Canada
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1992 00:57:52 GMT

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Peter Cash) writes:
> In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
> ...about the attempted settlement of Vinland by Greenlanders...
>
>>...Ordinarily, this might have provided the desired
>>incentive to try once again to settle and develop Vinland, but
>>now (and not in the 10th-11th century) political conditions
>>finally came into play; the conservatism and power of the
>>Christian church in medieval Greenland by then exercised a great
>>restraint on daring, even radical solutions to Greenland's
>>problems, such as expansion to Vinland.
>
> I'm curious whether you say this because you know of specific instances in
> which the Church in Greenland discouraged colonization efforts directed
> toward Vinland, or because you are simply convinced that the Church _must_
> have opposed such progressive ideas.
>
>
>
> --
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>              |      Die Welt ist alles, was Zerfall ist.     |
> Peter Cash   |       (apologies to Ludwig Wittgenstein)      |[e-mail]
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[B[B

The power of the Church in Greenland

Sorry for the delay in responding; I was away at a conference. My
earlier comments concerning the power of the Roman Catholic
Church in medieval Greenland were based in part on a work which
(I believe) I already cited, namely Tom McGovern's "The Vinland
Adventure: A North Atlantic Perspective," in NORTH AMERICAN
ARCHAEOLOGIST XI: 4(1980/81): 285-308. McGovern cites
archaeological evidence as well as the oral/written tradition of
the sagas to paint a picture of Norse Greenland in which "The
Greenlandic bishops and secular leaders did not dedicate the
[Greenland] colony's modest surpluses to repeated attempts to
settle Vinland, but rather channeled the Greenlanders' productive
efforts into a program of church construction (including a
monastery, nunnery, and a bishop's palace) that has left behind
some of the most impressive ceremonial architecture in the entire
North Atlantic area." (p. 298) McGovern continues by observing
how "conditions in west Greenland in the critical 11th and 12th
centuries seem to have favored a rapid transition from the
colonizing...phase to a more conservative strategy emphasizing
local adaptation." (p. 298) He adds that "many lines of evidence
(faunal species ratios, location, cattle byre and storage shed
size, imported artifacts, documentary sources) u\indicate that
Norse society in Greenland became increasingly hierarchical as
the Middle Ages progressed. The erosion of the independence and
status of the small-holder was a widespread feature of
Scandinavian society in the later medieval period, and may have
been accelerated and accentuated in Greenland by the patchy
distribution of pasture and the vital resources that flowed from
pasture....Decision-making  was thus concentrated in a secular
and ecclesiastical elite, which profited from maintenance of the
status quo and looked to Europe for administrative authority,
church design, and even clothing styles." (p. 299)

But look, don't take my word for this; look up the sources I've
already cited, as well as Gwyn Jones, THE NORSE ATLANTIC SAGA:
BEING THE NORSE VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT TO ICELAND,
GREENLAND AND NORTH AMERICA (Oxford University Press, rev. ed.,
1986); T. McGovern, "The economics of extinction in Norse
Greenland," in Wigley, et al, CLIMATE AND HISTORY, pp. 404-433;
J. Berglund, "The Decline of the Norse Settlements in Greenland,"
ARCTIC ARCHAEOLOGY XXIII: 1-2(1986): 109-136; and Gad's HISTORY
OF GREENLAND, vol. I (London, 1970).



--
Phil Fraering [e-mail] where the x is a number from 1-5.
Phone: [phone]
"There are still 201969 unread articles in 1278 groups" - nn message
"57 channels and nothing on" - Bruce Springsteen

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

Date: Mon, 20 Jul 92 22:42:06 EDT
From: Tom <[e-mail]>
Subject: SPS and sky brightness

About this idea that SPS will destroy observational astronomy...

Can't we assume that if we had so many SPS birds up there, we'd be doing
observational astronomy somewhere else, perhaps the Moon?

What about the fact that cheap electricty (a definite necessity, if SPS
exists) will make all cities, even small ones, brighter?  Our observatory
(MSU; E. Lansing Michigan, USA) is located in a really dark place, if you
happened to have made it there before 1975 or so.  Professionals are quite
used to going to obscure, difficult to live places on Univeristy Grant
accounts to get good data.  Most of the ones I know would have no trouble
traveling to that new 'scope on the dark side, if that's the only way to
get their data.    If SPS makes lights cheaper, the light they produce
as astronomical objects may be invisible in the light they produce as
industrial objects.

And since SPS will (might?) use microwaves, perhaps anyone doing a calculation
about sky brightness effects might include these emmissions as well.

I wonder if a large number of them could be turned slightly to illuminate
dark parts of the world in emergency situations?  Like a big city in black-out.

-Tommy Mac                     .  "  Malcolm X:      +
.------------------------  +                      *       +
|   Tom McWilliams; scrub       ,     .  You've seen the hat,  "        +
|  astronomy undergrad, at     *       +;.     .  '
| Michigan State University   '                      .    "
|   [e-mail]                        '      ,  *
|       [phone]       ;  +  '  now catch the movie!           *
'-----------------------

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

Date: 20 Jul 92 22:45:56 GMT
From: "Phil G. Fraering" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Star Trek and public perception of space/science/engineering
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (Derek Wee) writes:


>One problem: TV doesn't realy help stimulate thinking. In fact, it dampens
>it.  I suppose not many teachers have tried using commercial programs
>(instead of  the ones made by the education dept) which are more popular.
>But TV in terms  of subversive quality rates very high indeed.
>---

If TV taught creativity and stimulated thinking, then it really
would be subversive. But all it seems to do is peddle the same old
collectivist bull.

I know I'm not the only one who has noticed that bioengineering and
genetic engineering has always been presented negatively, in
_both_ Star Trek series... Hell, if anyone ever starts a terraforming
project somewhere, you know some Professional Idiot over in Congress
or Parlaiment or the Diet or the Supreme Soviet is going to stand up
and say "But how do we know there isn't some life there we can't even
begin to imagine, like that episode of Star Trek?"

Pessemistically Yours,

Phil
--
Phil Fraering [e-mail] where the x is a number from 1-5.
Phone: [phone]
"There are still 201969 unread articles in 1278 groups" - nn message
"57 channels and nothing on" - Bruce Springsteen

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

Date: Tue, 21 Jul 92 00:47:39 GMT
From: Eric Bergman-Terrell <[e-mail]>
Subject: Testers for Astronomy  Lab:  NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS!!!
Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms,comp.windows.ms.programmer,comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc,sci.astro,sci.space,sci.edu

*** Beta Testers Needed for Windows 3.X Astronomy Program ***

*************************************************************************
* Sorry about the unreliable e-mail address.  I have a new one that     *
* should work: uunet!edoc9!erict                                        *
*************************************************************************

I need people to text version 1.09 of Astronomy Lab for MS Windows 3.X.
If you are interested, please send me an e-mail message containing the
following information:

(If you've already sent me your information, see if your e-mail address
is in the list at the bottom of this posting)

Name:
US Mail Address:
E-Mail Address:
Version of MS-Windows:
Version of MS-DOS:
CPU:
Math Coprocessor (not required):
Memory:
Graphics Card:
Printer:

Beta testers must agree to not distribute the test version of the software.
Beta testers will be sent the final version of the software when testing
is complete.  Astronomy Lab is shareware.

Beta software will be sent via e-mail as uuencoded .zip files.  You
will need to uudecode the files, and then unzip them on your PC.
UNIX users:  do a "man uudecode" for further information.

Testers will send feedback via e-mail to uunet!edoc9!erict (new address!)

Eric Bergman-Terrell
uunet!edoc9!erict

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

Astronomy Lab is one of the most versatile and comprehensive astronomy
programs available for Microsoft Windows 3.X.  Astronomy Lab produces 7
movies that simulate a host of astronomical phenomena, 15 graphs that
illustrate many fundamental concepts of astronomy, and 14 printed reports
that predict the most important astronomical events.  All movies, graphs,
and reports are customized for the user's time zone and location.

Astronomy Lab requires Microsoft Windows 3.X or later running in standard
or enhanced mode, 1 megabyte of available memory, and a mouse.  Reports,
graphs, and movie frames can be printed on any Windows compatible printer.
Astronomy Lab will use an 8X87 compatible math coprocessor if one is
installed.

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

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

Date: 21 Jul 1992 00:54:06 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Visual acuity for MS
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>
[e-mail] (Claudio Egalon) asks about the change from
20/100 to 20/150 for eyesight of mission specialists.

Yes, after a great deal of sometimes-accrimonious review by the space
medicine community, the restriction was changed from 20/100 to 20/150.
But there's a whole lot more than just the one number to be
considered.  Astronauts, like pilots, can't be colorblind.  They
have to be able to recognize warning colors.

>                   [...]  I noticed that back in the 60's the
>visual acuity requirement for astronaut-scientist was more strict.

Odds are, they'll lower it again.  But don't count on it happening
soon.

-- Ken "20/200" Jenks, NASA/JSC/GM2, Space Shuttle Program Office
      [e-mail]  [phone]

     "Good ideas are not adopted automatically.  They must be driven into
       practice with courageous impatience." -- Admiral Hyman G. Rickover

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

Date: 20 Jul 92 14:03:00 GMT
From: "Michael K. Heney" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Visual acuity for MS
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Claudio Egalon) writes:
>Most of the literature  that  I have read about the visual acuity
>requirements for Missions Specialists, MS, says that the applicant
>must have a 20/100 uncorreted *however* last time that NASA put a
>pamphelet describing the requirements for MS (which was the last
>time when  they were accepting applications for the astronaut corps)
>they were talking about a visual acuity of 20/150 uncorreted! Was it a
>misprint, a misinterpretation of mine or NASA indeed relaxed its
>requirements for  MS??? Detail: I noticed that back in the 60's the
>visual acuity requirement for astronaut-scientist was more strict.
>
>[e-mail]

I noticed that myself.  I'm waiting for them to get it down to 20/275
uncorrected, then I can apply!  (They'd best hurry - I'm 35 now ...)
BTW - I asked about surgery to improve visual acuity, and was told
that that's an instant disqualifier.

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

Date: 
P
From: 
P
Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms,comp.ibm.pc.misc,sci.astro,sci.space,sci.edu,comp.windows.ms.programmer,comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d

From: 25651-say <rruxc!andys>
Subject: Re: Astronomy Lab for MS Windows 3.X - BETA TESTERS NEEDED
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 92 20:18:44 GMT
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
References: <[e-mail]>
Sender: USENET System Software <[e-mail]>
Source-Info:  Sender is really [e-mail]
Source-Info:  Sender is really [e-mail]

Well as mail from here CONTINULOUSLY bounces...  I will try and contact you
the only other way posible.  Talk to your sysadm as to why the following
occurs:

   ----- Transcript of session follows -----
While talking to nyx.cs.du.edu:
>>> RCPT To:<[e-mail]>
<<< 550 <[e-mail]>... User unknown
550 nyx.cs.du.edu!ebergman... User unknown

Requested information:

Andy Say
[e-mail]
Windows 3.1
MS-DOS 5.0
486DX/33MHz
8 Meg RAM
ATI Ultra Graphics Card
Postscript printer

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

End of Space Digest Volume 15 : Issue 019
------------------------------