Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V15_2/V15NO205.TXT

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Date: Wed, 16 Sep 92 05:00:21
From: Space Digest maintainer <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Space Digest V15 #205
To: Space Digest Readers
Precedence: bulk


Space Digest                Wed, 16 Sep 92       Volume 15 : Issue 205

Today's Topics:
               Bioeffects of magnetic field deprivation
                       Ethics of Terra-forming
                            Food in space
   James Oberg (was Re: Is NASA really planning to Terraform Mars?)
Ley and *Engineers' Dreams* (was Re: Terraforming needs to begin now)
               Pluto Direct Propulsion Options (3 msgs)
      Pluto Direct Propulsion Options Part II: The Silly Season
                   QUERY Re: Pluto Direct/ options
                     Re- Terra-forming, The E-ca
                                RL-10
                                 RL10
                        Space Digest V15 #199
             Space Platforms (political, not physical :-)
                   Terraforming needs to begin now
     Where is it, then? (was Re: Terraforming needs to begin now)
                    Who's an L5er? (was Re: Truax)

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

Date: 15 Sep 1992 07:37:44 GMT
From: Jeff Bytof <[e-mail]>
Subject: Bioeffects of magnetic field deprivation
Newsgroups: sci.space

>I'm not terribly impressed.  For one thing, it's really easy to figure
>out ways to run much better experiments, avoiding problems like possible
>chemical toxicity (e.g., house all animals in aluminum cylinders, and
>put mu-metal casings around the *outside* of some of them).  For another,
>if it does turn out to be an issue, simulating Earth's field should not
>be a big problem -- it's pretty feeble.

The US and Japan have excellent room-sized magnetically shielded
facilities.  Dr. Asashima used one for his newt experiments.  Even
UC San Diego (my alma mater and current employer) has one, but
it's used mainly for physics experiments.

As far as space travel is concerned, I agree that it would be very
easy to produce the appropriate Earth-like field in small volumes,
like a spacecraft cabin or small surface station on Moon or Mars.
It would be harder to generate a planet-sized field, which is what
you would like if you are terraforming.

This is an area were some good experiments could be done.  The
experiments don't have to go up on a shuttle.  It would be very
interesting to study and understand just how a magnetic field
interacts with biological processes, quite aside from the
implications for extended stays in deep space, where the natural field
strengths are generally quite low, compared with Earth.

Jeff Bytof
[e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 12:13:25 -0400
From: David O Hunt <[e-mail]>
Subject: Ethics of Terra-forming
Newsgroups: sci.space

>The only way you can logically make the situation on Mars the same as on
>Earth is to a) Demonstrate that life there affects life here, or
>b) Assert that life-in-general has value without Human life. (This
>choice is the route many greens take, and it is for this reason that many
>people correctly identify them as anti-life double-thinkers.  Anti-life
>non-double-thinkers have to be dead.)  You can also jump out of the system
>and c) claim that value exists seperate from Human Choice.
>
>To choose a) above is damn-near impossible, unless you follow Astrology.
>To choose b) or c) is in contradiction to your own existence.
>Therefore, terra-forming Mars is bad, if and only if you don't value Life.
>
>Only dead people can conclude that terra-forming Mars is bad.  I dare any
>of them to flame me :-)

FLAME!  And I'm not dead yet.  :)

I will confess that your ommision "If there is Mars life, before we terraform
let's assume we already understand it..."

Assume:   1)  There is life on Mars
          2)  We understand it _completely_  (how long will that take, anyway?)

Do we have a right to change their environment, which would most likely lead
to their extinction?

I answer no.  If hypothetical martians had done that to us, "our" life wouldn't
be here.  Of course, one could argue that we wouldn't be here to complain
about it!  :)

As to providing a "cushion" for safety - what about space colonies?  Asteroids?
Bubbleworlds?  Moon colonies?

I submit that you have a Mars fetish...   :P

David

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

Date: 14 Sep 92 14:24:11 GMT
From: Rui Sousa <[e-mail]>
Subject: Food in space
Newsgroups: sci.space

Anyone can tell me addresses or references on nutricional issues in space?
I.e. what do astronauts eat nowadays while in orbit and what studies are being conducted on this subject.

Thanks (i surely hope this is not a FAQ...)

Rui
--
*** Infinity is at hand!                               Rui Sousa
*** If yours is big enough, grab it!                   [e-mail]

                All opinions expressed here are strictly my own

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

Date: 15 Sep 92 08:17:33 GMT
From: Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey <[e-mail]>
Subject: James Oberg (was Re: Is NASA really planning to Terraform Mars?)
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (WENDY WARTNICK) writes:
> In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Edmund Hack) writes...
>>The probable origin of this rumor is a book by a contractor at
>>JSC (Jim Oberg) on how to terraform Mars. There have also been a few
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> Jim Oberg...now there's an interesting guy!  [...]
> he would do research to find out about cosmonauts who suddenly
> didn't exist anymore.  He has some great before and after slides--slides
> where guys were literally erased from the photo and a shrub painted in

Yes.  Some of the pictures to which Wendy refers can be seen in *Red
Star in Orbit*, James Oberg's excellent book on the Soviet space
program.  He has a number of other books on related topics, including
*Uncovering Soviet Disasters*.

His book on terraforming, *New Earths*, seems unrelated to these
matters, but it's also very good.

     O~~*           /_) ' / /   /_/ '  ,   ,  ' ,_  _           \|/
   - ~ -~~~~~~~~~~~/_) / / /   / / / (_) (_) / / / _\~~~~~~~~~~~zap!
 /       \                          (_) (_)                    / | \
 |       |     Bill Higgins   Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
 \       /     Bitnet:     [e-mail]
   -   -       Internet:  [e-mail]
     ~         SPAN/Hepnet:      43011::HIGGINS

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

Date: 15 Sep 92 07:00:51 GMT
From: Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey <[e-mail]>
Subject: Ley and *Engineers' Dreams* (was Re: Terraforming needs to begin now)
Newsgroups: sci.space

Is this thread getting away from space?  Is there a civil engineering
newsgroup?

In article <[e-mail]>,
[e-mail] (James Davis Nicoll) writes:
> In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Jeff Jackson) writes:
>
>     On terraforming  the  unpleasant bits of Earth:
>>I'm envisioning long salt-water canals running from the Med. Sea, or
>>Oceans running hundreds of miles inland.
>
>     I  think  the French have looked at digging a channel from  the
> Med to the depression between Libya and Egypt (Nuclear demo charges
> could do this quickly, but  I think they intended on using more mundane
> tools).

See Willy Ley's 1954 book *Engineers' Dreams*, a tome to make any good
Nineties environmentalist shudder.  Ley, of course, was the great
correspondent and historian of early rocketry, which provides a slim
connection to this newsgroup, but his principal career was pop-science
author.  His strengths were spaceflight, astronomy, and paleontology,
but this book was a foray into the Big Ideas of civil engineering--
what Frank Davidson later called "macroengineering."

Did you know that the Mediterranean loses more water to evaporation
than is replaced by the rivers flowing into it?  The difference is
made up from Atlantic waters.  Dam the Straits of Gibraltar and the
Med will gradually shrink, revealing new farmland all around its
shores.

Swell book, but hardly p.c. these days!  Since it deals with
engineering projects on a sub-continent scale, it might be worth
study by young terraformers before they tackle those planet-sized
jobs.  Jim Oberg's *New Earths* is of course obligatory, and Frank
Davidson's *Macro* might be of interest too.

     O~~*           /_) ' / /   /_/ '  ,   ,  ' ,_  _           \|/
   - ~ -~~~~~~~~~~~/_) / / /   / / / (_) (_) / / / _\~~~~~~~~~~~zap!
 /       \                          (_) (_)                    / | \
 |       |     Bill Higgins   Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
 \       /     Bitnet:     [e-mail]
   -   -       Internet:  [e-mail]
     ~         SPAN/Hepnet:      43011::HIGGINS

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

Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 08:43:34 GMT
From: Dave Tholen <[e-mail]>
Subject: Pluto Direct Propulsion Options
Newsgroups: sci.space

Phil G. Fraering writes:

> Just out of curiosity, is there a way to convince them to use post-early-
> 1960's technology, like an ion drive of some sort?

Actually, the Outer Planet Science Working Group did get a presentation
from one of the people promoting the development of advanced ion drive
propulsion technology.  Part of the problem is the old Catch 22 situation.
Nobody wants to say that their mission REQUIRES ion drive, because of the
very real potential for cost overruns and schedule slippage, due to the
technological developments that must take place to make it feasible for
such a mission.  Since nobody needs it, no money is being spent on further
development, but further development is exactly what is needed before
people feel safe choosing it as their preferred propulsion method.

Chemical rockets can get us to Pluto, and quite fast, so ion drive has
limited appeal.  And as someone else correctly pointed out, using such
a drive for a orbital mission, as opposed to a flyby, would require that
you start to slow down after reaching roughly the halfway point.  Flight
times would be much longer, and there is a sense of urgency to get there
as soon as possible, for a variety of reasons.

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

Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 09:50:05 GMT
From: Ian Taylor <[e-mail]>
Subject: Pluto Direct Propulsion Options
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Henry Spencer) writes:
>This particular
>mission is time-critical because of the impending freezeout of Pluto's
>atmosphere, so the fewer unknowns the better.
>
I am curious as to where all this knowledge about Pluto's atmosphere freezing
out around 2015 came from? Perhaps someone can enlighten me with a reference?

My understanding is that our current knowledge about Pluto is minimal, is it
established that Pluto even has an atmosphere?

BTW I fully support such a mission, although I'm not sure about the timing given
the current world "recession".

+-- I -------- fax [phone] --------------------- voice [phone] --+
| T a y l o r  Alcatel-ELIN Research, 1-7 Ruthnergasse, Vienna A-1210 Austria  |
+-- n ---- [e-mail] --- PSI%023226191002::SE_TAYLOR --- 20731::ian -----+

     Current signature under review for ISO 9000 compliance.

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

Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 15:40:31 GMT
From: Frank Crary <[e-mail]>
Subject: Pluto Direct Propulsion Options
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Ian Taylor) writes:
>I am curious as to where all this knowledge about Pluto's atmosphere freezing
>out around 2015 came from? Perhaps someone can enlighten me with a reference?

There is methane, nitrogen and carbon dioxide showing in Pluto's
spectrum. At perihelion, the (estimated) temperature would give
these constituants a substantial vapor pressure (a few microbars), but
at aphihilion, the temperature would be low enough that they would
(effectively) have no vapor pressure at all. This would suggest a
transient atmosphere around perihelion. (Sorry, on reference except
a seminar yesterday by Alan Stern, chairman of NASA's OPSWG.)

>My understanding is that our current knowledge about Pluto is minimal, is it
>established that Pluto even has an atmosphere?

Yes: There was a stellar occultation in 1990 (? might have been 1989).
The gradual drop in the observed light not only demonstrated the
existance of an atmosphere, but also suggested some kind of structure
(odd density-temperature profile or a haze layer...)

                                                      Frank Crary
                                                      CU Boulder

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

Date: 15 Sep 92 07:52:10 GMT
From: Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey <[e-mail]>
Subject: Pluto Direct Propulsion Options Part II: The Silly Season
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] ("Phil G. Fraering") writes:
>
> hs>It is extremely difficult to combine a reasonable payload and a manageably
> hs>short trip time with an orbiter mission.  Pluto is *a long way away*; to
> hs>get there in under a decade, the probe has to be fast.
>
> dm>Aerobrake?
> Since Nick hasn't said it yet, I will...
>
> Lithobrake!

Believe it or not, this has actually been proposed for the Moon, I
think by Kraft Ehricke.  See his "Lunar Slide Lander" proposals, in
early-80s *Acta Astronautica*, among other places.

Moira Higgins on entertainment:      Bill Higgins
"The effects on the new              Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
*Star Trek* make the old one         Internet: [e-mail]
look like a Sixties TV show!"        Bitnet:   [e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 15 Sep 92 05:51:45 GMT
From: Mark Brader <[e-mail]>
Subject: QUERY Re: Pluto Direct/ options
Newsgroups: sci.space

Several slingshot trajectories have been proposed as alternatives to the
direct Pluto flight, but not the one that I would have thought obvious:
a simple Jupiter slingshot.  Jupiter should be in the right position
for a period of, I would guess, some weeks or months, at intervals of
about 12 years.

Is it the case that, by the time a probe could be readied, we would have
just missed the launch window?  Or is there some other objection to this
method this time?

--
Mark Brader        For I do not believe that the stars are spread over a
Toronto            spherical surface at equal distances from one center;
utzoo!sq!msb        I suppose their distances from us to vary so much that
[e-mail]        some are 2 or 3 times as remote as others.   -- Galileo

This article is in the public domain.

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

Date: 15 Sep 92 13:00:05 U
From: "Steve Abrams" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re- Terra-forming, The E-ca

GatorMail-Q                   Re: Terra-forming, The E-ca
> But everything I've ever read says that converting crude oil into burnable
> fossil fuels, then converting that into electricity, then converting that
> into motion, is less efficient than skipping the electric step.  With ceramic
> car engines (higher engine temperatures) I'm not sure how burning-in-the-
> plant will be more efficient than buring-in-the car.  Perhaps you could
> post some excerpts from your TECHNICAL articles?
>


However, if D-He3 fusion comes to pass, you go straight from nuclear energy to
electricity. The fusion releases high energy electrons from which the energy
can be extracted by magnetic fields. The electric car isn't really a great
saver until fossil fuel plants are replaced. There are arguments about
centralizing the pollution in one spot, but I'm not sure I buy that. The
biggest pollution savings in cars would be remote sensing to catch the
couple percent of cars that cause virtually all of the pollution effects. Some
States are considering utilizing spot checks instead of other more expensive

and intrusive means of decreasing auto pollution.

And since the nearest source of He3 comes from lunar soil...


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Subject: Re: Terra-forming, The E-car

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

Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 11:25:53 GMT
From: Hartmut Frommert <[e-mail]>
Subject: RL-10
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (Gary Coffman) writes:

>On Atlas' first flight, June 11, 1957, it went boom. On Atlas-Centaur's
>first flight, May 8, 1962 the Centaur went boom. The next to last Centaur
>went boom on a March 26, 1987 launch attempt.
[..]
>Titan first flew February 6, 1959 and they still go boom occasionally.
>Three of five 34D's failed. Since 1960, 12 Delta boosters have gone boom.
>These 30 year old designs have not had stellar success records.

But of the 32 Saturn's, ZERO went boom.
--
 Hartmut Frommert                 <[e-mail]>
 Dept of Physics, Univ of Constance, P.O.Box 55 60, D-W-7750 Konstanz, Germany
                                           -- Eat whale killers, not whales --

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

Date: Tue, 15 Sep 92 16:27:28 BST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: RL10

> As I noted in the part you deleted, after 30 years they are still
going
> boom. After 30 years, the Wright Flyer was replaced by the DC-3.
There's
> a limit to how many times you stretch old designs before you get
out a
>


INCORRECT. After 30 years and 200 flights with no failures, 2 flights
have had similar faults in which one of two engines have failed to
light. Neither went boom: they were boomed by the RSO intentionally.
Sort of like blowing up your car because the engine turned over but
didn't catch after the first two tries. (Or like parking your car in
front of City Hall in Belfast: the army comes and blows it up for
you.)

The first failure had an additional problem that a restart was not
attempted because the threshold was set for the deceleration level
that occured only if BOTH engines failed to ignite. In the most
recent failure, this problem was solved. The automatic restart
procedure detected that one engine failed to ignite; it shutdown the
other engine and then went through a full restart attempt with the
same result. After the second try, the RSO decided that allowing
further restarts would be unlikely to end in a different result. At
that point he blew it up. The pieces are sitting at -19000 MSL. If
you want more details, refer to 7-Sept Avleak.

It would seem that the problem is more an production one than
anything else. Also, as Alan has said, neither of these failures
would have caused harm to a DCX. A simple shutdown of the opposing
engine and an RTLS or AOA would be performed. Remember that there
will be 4 pairs of RL10 engines.

Does anyone know for sure whether AOA would be possible with one pair
out?

And yes, I would agree that a new, improved engine would be lovely.
Just as soon as the private market is large enough to demand it AND
TO PAY FOR ITS DEVELOPMENT FROM PRIVATE FUNDS AND MASS PRODUCE IT.

Until then the RL10 is the nearest thing to a commercial, mass
produced engine we've got.

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

Date: Mon, 14 Sep 92 10:46:54 CDT
From: Gerald McCollum <[e-mail]>
Subject: Space Digest V15 #199

This is my first time to reply to this list even is I have been on it for
over 4 years.  I am hoping this is where I send this post!?!

MOST of the time I am a reader to this list, but recently I have read posts
about Clinton and Gore and their views on SPACE related topics.
For those who are Clinton/Gore supporters, I want to say the following is
my own humble opinion as well as experience!  Please no flames, I feel
strongly for the continued support that NASA needs to continue into the
next century and beyond, so I feel very compeled to speak my 2 cents.
I was born and raised in Arkansas, and have rooted my own family into the
hills of Northwest Arkansas, so I feel qualified when I say Clinton is a
fraud,fake,phony,etc.,etc.
There are so many topics that I could start with relating to his smoke
and mirrors tactics that I don't know where to start.
First, the man is NOT A MODERATE as he claims to be.  He is very much
liberal(anti-tech) in his thinking and actions.
Second, he has a POOR record on education funding and support here in the
state of Arkansas.  If you don't beleve me, look at the bottom of the latest
list of where states rank in schooling there children, Arkansas will show-up
DEAD LAST!
Third, Arkansas shows poorly when it comes to per-capita pay for workers,
first for things like teenage pregnacies, drop-outs from school, poverty
level,.......well I'm getting off on a tangent, you get the idea.
Back to space, what I am saying is simply if you want the best for NASA and
the related industries, don't vote for Clinton/Gore, NASA will suffer as bad
and probably worse than in the pre-Reagan days, when a Democrat was in the
White House!

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS' FIRST BS ASTRONOMY MAJOR IN WAITING........

GERALD W. MCCOLLUM                   INTERNET:[e-mail]
NETWORK SYSTEM PROGRAMMER            UNIX:C0067
COMPUTING SERVICES                   [phone] (OFFICE)
155 RAZORBACK ROAD                   [phone] (FAX)
FAYETTEVILLE, AR 72701

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

Date: Tue, 15 Sep 92 17:36:09 BST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Space Platforms (political, not physical :-)

> Nick, Dale, Anyone?  Equal space for all parties, right?
>

> If no-one knows, maybe I'll take the initiative and call the HQ
myself...
>


Due to distance (that little pond in between), I've not been as
closely involved with the campaign this term as last one. (I wrote
Ron Paul's space position papers in '88). But I can say that space
settlements are mentioned in the platform as something positive that
should be persued privately and that will come about more rapidly in
a free society.

There are quite a few space settlement types in high places in the
party. I sold buttons with sayings of Lazarus Long to several of the
National Committee. The former National Committee Chairman has been a
supporter from back in the L5 days.

Unlike the Demopublicans, the Libertarian party is technologically
literate at all levels.

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

Date: Tue, 15 Sep 92 17:19:56 BST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Terraforming needs to begin now

>  This keeps cropping up among the uniformed.

I'm not uninformed. I just happen to believe in absolute property
rights held under clear titles.

> Let me see if I can  phrase this succinctly. Parts of OZ are
> privately owned, the rest is crown land.

I'm saying it should ALL be privately owned by whoever has the
clearest title. In practice that means the original inhabitants own
most of it, and those parts that have been developed and in use by
new comers should be granted clear title to their land. Ie, Melbourne
can not be handed over to non-residents.

> That means it is owned by _all_ Australians, not just by a minority
> group.

Socialist ownership of land went out of fashion with the USSR. More
seriously: when land is held in commons, it is exploited, abused and
ruined because no one has a real stake in protecting it. US range
lands and national lands are prime examples.

> The Aboriginies do _not_ , except in their imaginations, own
> Australia any more. They ceased to own it some 200 odd years ago.

At which time it was taken from them at gunpoint. No, you cannot turn
back the clock and give them the continent anymore than you could do
so in the United States. Ireland isn't big enough to hold all the
claimants to Irish ancestry in the two places :-) But that does not
also mean that the "Crown" holds clear title to other lands. It holds
it only by right of the gun, not by clear title traced back through
the original owners.

> They are one small part of a multi-cultural society, and they're

> going to have to accept this fact and learn to love it.

That's because they didn't have a good enough education system to
properly aculturate all the alien immigrants into the being proper
Australian citizens :-) Waving multi-cultural has nothing whatever to
do with title to land.

> Guilt trips over events which happened hundreds of years ago,
> under far different conditions than any of us can understand,
> serve no useful purpose.
>


I can understand the conditions perfectly. People with more firepower
came in and raped, killed, stole and otherwise exploited the people
who lived there. The same thing happened in my country (the USA).
Less so in Canada and more so in Central and South America. These are
rather nonlibertarian activities. I am suggesting that the crown
lands are not the property of "the crown" but are the property of the
original residents. Would you suggest that if I came to your home
with an AK-47 and told you that it was now my house and that you were
going to work for me or move elsewhere that your children or
grandchildren would not come back and try to recover the stolen
property? Hell, the it's going on in the courts in Eastern European
countries right now. They are trying to sort out title to properties
that were likewise stolen at gunpoint: first by the Nazi's and then
by the Communists. I really don't see any difference at all. In fact,
I don't even see any difference when "western" governments steal land
under "eminent domain" except that they pay you "fair market value".
What is the fair market value of a home in which three or four or
five generations of your family have lived and that you had no
intention of EVER selling? Hmmm?  Armed robbery is still armed
robbery no matter what pretty legalistic terms you put on it.

It goes for the US and Canada and Israel and anywhere else where
property is stolen at gunpoint. As I said, it can never be put back
as it was. But much property can be returned to its rightful owners.
That is a matter for courts, preferably international ones that are
beyond the power of local special interests. They can then sell,
sublet, develop, preserve, subdivide or whatever they wish to do with
it.

I might add that there is more to the problems of the aborigines than
just land rights. They still seem to accidentally hang themselves a
lot in New South Wales after they get arrested for drinking a bit too
much or some other trumped up charge. Funny thing that. Just another
nigger huh? :-(

Nuff said in this forum...

A comment on the original thesis. I believe that Israel has done some
work with salt ponds covered by black plastic for heat storage and
water collection. Someone else might have the details at hand. (It's
fine with me so long as you do it with permission of the land owners
:-)

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

Date: 15 Sep 92 07:38:53 GMT
From: Shari L Brooks <[e-mail]>
Subject: Where is it, then? (was Re: Terraforming needs to begin now)
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
(Josh 'K' Hopkins) writes about Terraforming the Sahara:

>      Keep in mind that the
>    countries that need this are dirt poor.  Come to think of it, all the
>    countries of the world seem to be broke about now.

Then who has the money?  The people don't; the corporations are posting losses;
the govt's have deficits; the black market isn't *that* big of a black hole.

Wait, I got it.  It must be the space aliens.  They have taken the world's
money to pay for the carving of the Mars Face...



Sorry, it's late and I'm tired...

--
 Shari L Brooks                  |      [e-mail]
 NAVSOC code NSOC323D            |             [e-mail]
 NAWS Pt Mugu, CA 93042-5013     |  ==> this will change by the end of Sept <==
The US Navy probably disagrees w/all statements/opinions above, which are mine.

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

Date: 15 Sep 92 07:30:56 GMT
From: Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey <[e-mail]>
Subject: Who's an L5er? (was Re: Truax)
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Phil G. Fraering) writes:
> [e-mail] (Haus Der Luge) writes:
>
>>PS:  On the subject of Truax ... are there any L-5 types around here ???
>
> Yah, but we're outnumbered by the local friendly "Just lie back
> and NASA will fix everything with Freedom and NLS" crowd.

I'm here.  Am I an "L-5 type?"  I was a member before the L5 Society
went away. I co-wrote the song parody "Home on Lagrange" (which
actually pokes fun at ardent L5ers).  I'm a friend of Keith Henson's.
I love indulging in far-reaching technical speculation.

But I'm kind of conservative when it comes to space policy.  And I
once shook hands with Wernher von Braun, which should put me on the
dull NSI (National Space Institute) side of things, right?

On the other hand, I stuck my neck out raising funds for Lunar
Prospector.

So how can I tell whether I'm an L5 type or not?

Submarines, flying boats, robots, talking         Bill Higgins
pictures, radio, television, bouncing radar       Fermilab
vibrations off the moon, rocket ships, and        [e-mail]
atom-splitting-- all in our time.  But nobody     [e-mail]
has yet been able to figure out a music           SPAN:  43011::HIGGINS
holder for a marching piccolo player.
                     --Meredith Willson, 1948

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End of Space Digest Volume 15 : Issue 205
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