Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V15_2/V15NO247.TXT

Internet Message Format | 1993-07-13 | 28KB

Date: Fri, 25 Sep 92 05:04:56
From: Space Digest maintainer <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Space Digest V15 #247
To: Space Digest Readers
Precedence: bulk


Space Digest                Fri, 25 Sep 92       Volume 15 : Issue 247

Today's Topics:
                              Alan Bean
                       Clinto and Space Funding
                  Clinton and Space Funding (3 msgs)
                 Clintonomics and Space (non) Funding
                      Galileo Update - 09/24/92
                                Help !
              Hubble is looking at pluto again followup
                        Lunar landing in 2002
          Mars Observer Update - 09/24/92 (1 Day to Launch)
                           Model ion engine
               Space Engineering Symposium 1992 tidbits
                         what use is Freedom?

    Welcome to the Space Digest!!  Please send your messages to
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 25 Sep 92 04:08:00 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Alan Bean
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Andy Clews) writes...
>Does anyone know if a book exists of [reproductions of] former Apollo 12
>astronaut Alan Bean's space-oriented paintings, especially the ones he's
>painted depicting lunar scenes? And, are prints of his paintings available
>from any source (I assume the originals are not for sale :-)
>
>If you can help, please email me with as much detail as possible.
>
>Thanks to all for listening.
>
>
>
>--
>Andy Clews, Computing Service, Univ. of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QJ, England
>JANET: [e-mail]      OTHER NETWORKS: [e-mail]


Andy and everyone else, there is a store here in Huntsville That sells limited
edition prints of Allan's works.  Drop me a line for more info.

Dennis, University of Alabama in Huntsville

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

Date: 24 Sep 92 16:17:59 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Clinto and Space Funding
Newsgroups: sci.space

Someone said:

>Contrary to popular belief, the majority of R and D money for the armed
>forced goes into communications, advanced IC technologies, computer
>technology, and various other non-lethal activities.  Sure some money does
>go into weapons research, but they are they ARMED FORCES aren't they.

The problem then is that the military fight tooth and nail to keep these
developments *out* of the public arena until they have something better. Look
at the mess with encrypting GPS etc. etc.

>Now
>don't get me wrong, I have no problem with reducing defense R and D spending
>as long as the money goes into other R and D activities and people don't
>lose their jobs.  Like it or not, the two main technology drivers for the
>last 5 decades

(In the USA perhaps)

>have been first the military and then the space program.

Japan and Germany have relatively little military spending, and as a result of
this they can spend more on government support of civilian R & D programs.

>Do you really think that it is a coincidence that
>the military and space budget cuts coincide with the Japenese gaining a
>technological edge?

Come on... They've had an edge for a *lot* longer than that!

>Please don't spout off about cutting defense spending
>until there are valid places for the money to go.  This idea of cutting
>first and then trying to figure out what to do with the money later does
>nothing for the country except increase unemployment and sacrifice our
>technological edge.

Military spending can help in really long term technology, as they can do more
'blue sky' research than a company which needs to justify its spending to
shareholders. However, the military will then try to protect any technological
advantage by stopping anyone else knowing the details of the technology or,
preferably, knowing that it exists at all (eg. Black programs).Goverment
backed civil R&D, on the contrary, can be just as 'blue sky', can be more
usefully directed (no money needs to be spent on killing people) and can be
readily disseminated to a larger community of people. This leads to more
effective developments, more diverse applications (as more people are thinking
about it) and greater confidance in the overall economy, since the money is
seen to be spent. This is what MITI does in Japan, and look how successful they
have been.

This is where that military money can and should be spent. However, the typical
Reagan/bushist freemarketeers are completely against this government
intervention in the marketplace, and, it seems from here, bury any attempt at a
US Industrial policy. The frequent cries that 'goivernment intervention doesn't
work' are plainly wrong. Look at Japan. Look at the EEC even, where
technological programmes seem to be coming together.

Of the US Presidential condidates only Clinton seems likely to get this sort of
scheme moving. This will help not only the general US economy, but will also
help space (a better economy means more money for *all* programs). Its also
something the UK government would do well to try.

--
================================================================================
Dave Clements, Oxford University Astrophysics Department
================================================================================
clements @ uk.ac.ox.vax            |  Umberto Eco is the *real* Comte de
dlc      @ uk.ac.ox.astro        |           Saint Germain...
================================================================================

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

Date: 25 Sep 92 03:47:36 GMT
From: Tom Nugent <[e-mail]>
Subject: Clinton and Space Funding
Newsgroups: sci.space

>> unemployment increase.  Do you really think that it is a
>coincidence that
>> the military and space budget cuts coincide with the Japenese
>gaining a
>> technological edge?

>Huh?  Seems to me the Japenese gained their technological edge
>in many fields because we were spending so much money via
>big governemnt (often defense-related) programs.  Perhaps
>if RCA, GM, Motorolla, Intel, etc. didn't have to pay so much
>in taxes to support gigantic governemnt defense contracts (and
>to pay for defending countries that aren't doing near as much
>to defend themselves) we'd regain our edge.

On that last comment: if you are talking about the US defending Japan and
them not paying much themselves, that is not the case.  From what I understand,
Japan is among the top 5 defense spenders in the world.  That's big money,
especially for a country that (except for the tiny bit they just allowed to go
with the UN) doesn't have forces outside its borders.

"The future is a race between education and catastrophe."
        - H.G. Wells
--
Tom Nugent    voice:[phone]    e-mail:[e-mail]
"To be average scares the hell out of me." -- Anonymous

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

Date: 25 Sep 92 04:02:00 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Clinton and Space Funding
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] writes...
>> technological edge?  Please don't spout off about cutting defense
>spending
>> until there are valid places for the money to go.  This idea of
>cutting
>> first and then trying to figure out what to do with the money later
>does
>> nothing for the country except increase unemployment and sacrifice
>our
>> technological edge.
>>
>
>
>Ah... Might I propose that the best possible place to put it is in
>the wallet of the person who earned it in the first place?

If we cut the defense budget to zero we would still have a 100 billion dollar
deficit (assuming a 400 billion deficit like this year).  In addition there
would be about 5.5 million more unemployed a great fraction of which are high
tech oriented.  Add to this the unemployment and welfare benefits, which at
a conservative number of 10,000 a year comes to another fifty billion dollars
added to the deficit.  The shocks of all of this loss to the economy of
350 billion dollars per year (400 billion  - 50 billion benefits) is about
8 percent of a 4 trillion dollar GDP.  Can anyone say domino effect?

We currently live in a fantasy world where we borrow money from other countries
to pay our own internal debts.  This is creating instability worldwide. Let
us hope that someone out there has the guts to do what is necessary to cut
social programs enough to get us out of the mess.  Why not cut space? Because
space is the ONLY venture that is producing a viable future and not a Clinton
Gore fantasy future where all problems will be solved by taxing the 4% of
Americans that make over $200,000 dollars per year.

If we had just kept domestic spending growth 10% under what it has been in the
last 25 years we would have a surplus budget right now. No we had to try to
solve all of the worlds problems at one time.  Remember the "If we can send
a man to the moon why can't we...." catch phrase?  This was and still is the
rallying cry of shallow thinkers who think that we can make a heaven on earth.
We are reaping the harvest of this in our current budget crisis.

Making wealth is the only way out of the mess.  The only way to make more
wealth is to exploit the resources of the solar system for our benefit on
earth. Simple equation (No Space=No Future for the Human Race). That would
make a neat bumper sticker.

Dennis, University of Alabama in Huntsville

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

Date: 24 Sep 92 17:11:50 GMT
From: Richard Treitel <[e-mail]>
Subject: Clinton and Space Funding
Newsgroups: alt.politics.bush,alt.politics.clinton,sci.astro,sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Rob Healey) writes:
|>     What we REALLY need to do is convince investors that starting
|>     a colony on the moon in our time is as good of an idea as
|>     starting a colony in the new world was back in the 17th century.

I can't resist noting that a major economic motivation for starting colonies
in the New World back then was the cultivation of a highly addictive drug,
which is *still* connected with millions of deaths annually in Old and New
worlds.

I can just see it ... a crackhouse on the Moon ... maybe Lunar dust will
turn out to have other effects on astronauts besides abrading their suits.

                    - Richard {:-)

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

Date: 24 Sep 92 15:47:35 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Clintonomics and Space (non) Funding
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Tom) writes:
>
> If this goof gets elected after all but promising to raise taxes $1.5E11
> BEFORE the election, think of the things he'll do once he's in.  Brrr...
>

And what is Bush going to do if he gets back in now he's sold his soul to the
Fundamentalists like Pat Robertson????

This is about a *lot* more than space funding which, quite frankly, is a side
issue for *all* of these politicians.

--
================================================================================
Dave Clements, Oxford University Astrophysics Department
================================================================================
clements @ uk.ac.ox.vax            |  Umberto Eco is the *real* Comte de
dlc      @ uk.ac.ox.astro        |           Saint Germain...
================================================================================

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

Date: 25 Sep 92 07:53:10 GMT
From: Ron Baalke <[e-mail]>
Subject: Galileo Update - 09/24/92
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary

Forwarded from Neal Ausman, Galileo Mission Director

                                    GALILEO
                         MISSION DIRECTOR STATUS REPORT
                                  POST-LAUNCH
                           September 18 - 24, 1992

SPACECRAFT

1.  On September 18, an Ultra-Stable Oscillator (USO) test was performed to
verify the health status of the USO and collect gravitational red shift
experiment data; long term trend analysis is continuing.

2.  On September 21, a NO-OP command was sent to reset the command loss
timer to 264 hours, its planned value for this mission phase.

3.  On September 24, real-time commands were sent to enable mission critical
CDS (Command Data Subsystem) latching relays and to disable the CDS master
enable. These actions prevent Spin Bearing Assembly (SBA) debris-induced
potential mission catastrophic failures by setting the mission critical
relays to their ultimate desired state and protects the master enable
function.

4.  The AC/DC bus imbalance measurements exhibited some change. The AC
measurement remained unchanged and reads 14 DN (3.3 volts). The DC
measurement has ranged from 123 DN (14.4 volts) to 131 DN (15.3 volts) and
now reads 129 DN (15.1 volts).  These measurement variations are consistent
with the model developed by the AC/DC special anomaly team.

5.  The Spacecraft status as of September 24, 1992, is as follows:

       a)  System Power Margin -  68 watts
       b)  Spin Configuration - Dual-Spin
       c)  Spin Rate/Sensor - 3.15 rpm/Star Scanner
       d)  Spacecraft Attitude is approximately 7 degrees
           off-sun (leading) and 22 degrees off-earth (lagging)
       e)  Downlink telemetry rate/antenna-40 bps (coded)/LGA-1
       f)  General Thermal Control - all temperatures within
           acceptable range
       g)  RPM Tank Pressures - all within acceptable range
       h)  Orbiter Science- UVS, EUV, DDS, MAG, EPD, and HIC are
           powered on
       i)  Probe/RRH - powered off, temperatures within
           acceptable range
       j)  CMD Loss Timer Setting - 264 hours
           Time To Initiation - 257 hours


UPLINK GENERATION/COMMAND REVIEW AND APPROVAL:

1.  The Dual Drive Actuator (DDA) pulse mini-sequence No. 4 memory load was
approved for generation by the Project on September 21, 1992.  This
mini-sequence covers spacecraft activities associated with the DDA 10-pulse
hammer test from October 12 to October 15.


TRAJECTORY

     As of noon Thursday, September 24, 1992, the Galileo Spacecraft
trajectory status was as follows:

    Distance from Earth         49,768,800 miles (.54 AU)
    Distance from Sun           133,617,100 miles (1.44 AU)
    Heliocentric Speed           58,200 miles per hour
    Distance from Jupiter        631,824,900 miles
    Round Trip Light Time        9 minutes, 2 seconds

SPECIAL TOPIC

1.  As of September 24, 1992, a total of 8230 real-time commands have
been transmitted to Galileo since Launch.  Of these, 3281 were pre-planned
in the sequence design and 4949 were not. In the past week, 24 real time
commands were transmitted; one was pre-planned in the sequence design and
23 were not. In addition, 5677 mini-sequence commands have been transmitted
since March 1991; 3519 were pre-planned and 2158 were not. In the past week,
no mini-sequence commands were transmitted.  Major command activities this
week included commands to reset the command loss timer, enable CDS latching
relays and disable the CDS master critical enable.
     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | Quiet people aren't the
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | only ones who don't say
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     | much.

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

Date: Fri, 25 Sep 92 10:23:54 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Help !

There is a terrifying article in the last issue of the French
"Sciences et Avenir" - a really serious popularization review.
They say that, on September 28, 2000, the Toutatis asteroid
(diameter 1 kilometer) may hit the earth. They say that
normally the distance would be the same as the Earth-Moon
distance, but that there is a rather big uncertainty. They
assure that their info comes from Nasa experts. This is the
main article in this issue.

J. Pharabod

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

Date: 24 Sep 92 23:42:10 GMT
From: Dave Tholen <[e-mail]>
Subject: Hubble is looking at pluto again followup
Newsgroups: sci.space

Phil G. Fraering writes:

>\The Hubble Space Telesope took some more images of Pluto and Charon
>/yesterday using its Wide Field/Planetary Camera.  The pair is about 25
>\arseconds from a nearby star.  The images were received and are
>/currently being analyzed.
>
>Well? What did they see?

Pluto, Charon, and a star!  Expecting something else, perhaps?  No, the
image wasn't taken to resolve the disk of Pluto, so there's nothing to
report about that.

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

Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1992 00:55:36 GMT
From: "Allen W. Sherzer" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Lunar landing in 2002
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Henry Spencer) writes:

>There is some hope for action on it if Bush gets reelected.  Nothing is going
>to happen on it for quite a while if Clinton replaces him.

Or if DC-Y is built and works.

  Allen

--
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Allen W. Sherzer | "If they can put a man on the Moon, why can't they     |
|  [e-mail]     |  put a man on the Moon?"                               |
+----------------------212 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX----------------------+

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

Date: 25 Sep 92 06:12:14 GMT
From: Ron Baalke <[e-mail]>
Subject: Mars Observer Update - 09/24/92 (1 Day to Launch)
Newsgroups: sci.space

Fowarded from Glenn Cunningham, Mars Observer Deputy Project Manager

                          MARS OBSERVER
                 DAILY ACTIVITIES STATUS REPORT
                            FROM THE
      KENNEDY SPACE CENTER/CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION

                       Launch Minus 1 Day

Date of report:     9-24-92        Time of report:     4:13 PM EDT


The Launch - 1 Day Mission Director's Readiness Review has
concluded with all participating agencies, except the Range, giving
their approval for proceeding with the launch of Mars Observer.
The Range is awaiting results of the Titan destruct system
initiator failure analysis.

Titan is still several hours behind their timeline.  The failed
Wideband Instrumentation System battery was found to have a pin-
hole leak been cells which is thought not be a generic problem.
Installation of the new battery was held up for Range approval.
Ordinance installation took longer than expected.  A new set of
destruct system initiators has been obtained and tested.

TOS (Transfer Orbit Stage) has discovered that they inadvertently
used two cadmium plated connector dust caps.  These were
dispositioned "use as is" at the L-1 review this morning.

As a result of the delays at the pad, the spacecraft has not been
powered on yet, and the MOC (Mars Observer Camera) and MOLA (Mars
Observer Laser Altimeter) covers have not been removed.  The power
on event may occur within the hour.  This delay is not an
impact to the spacecraft countdown schedule.  The cover removal may
be delayed until the time that the spacecraft enable plugs are
installed tomorrow morning, so as not to hold the crew here too
late today.

The Mission Operations System reports that they have discovered a
flight rule violation in the C1 sequence which requires a
modification before loading on Saturday.  A search for other
violations in the C1 sequence that may have been introduced by
changes in flight rules is underway.  Also, the Project Data Base

catalog was garbled last night by a possible hardware problem in a
file server.  An investigation is underway with a potential change
to a backup server being considered.  These issues are launch
constraints until they are resolved.

The weather predicts for lightning and precipitation for tomorrow
look good.  The toxic cloud movement constraint predict for
tomorrow has not yet been received.

This is launch minus 20 hours 14 minutes and counting........

     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | Quiet people aren't the
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | only ones who don't say
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     | much.

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

Date: 24 Sep 92 00:27:19 GMT
From: Ben Bailey <bailey!ben>
Subject: Model ion engine
Newsgroups: sci.space

A fellow I use to know used a transformer from a oil furnace to generate
the high voltages.  What's the output voltage from a rapid start transformer
used in flourescent bulbs?

Also, geiger mueller tubes need high voltages.  These use to be generated
using the equivalent of a bistable multi vibrator and a transformer (rated
for high output voltage).  I had one of the capacitors start to die,
increasing the frequency of the multivibrator to the point it blew up
my digital fluke when I was analyzing the circuit voltages.  Nowdays,
a 555 ic chip would create the required frequencies for use with the
transformer.

Ben
--
Ben Bailey                 [e-mail] -- bailey![e-mail]
12210 Shady Forest Dr.     [e-mail]
Riverview, Fl. 33569       -- The main thing is to keep the main
813-677-5021                  thing the main thing.  Mainly.

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

Date: 24 Sep 92 08:15:05 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Space Engineering Symposium 1992 tidbits
Newsgroups: sci.space

I have just attended the Space Engineering Symposium that was held in
Canberra, Australia. Here are some highlights that I think might be of
interest.

There was a talk given by Mike Ahern (a former Queensland premier) of Space
Transpotation Systems on the Cape York Spaceport Project. This project is
still ongoing. They are looking for "white knuckle" money of $A20M to start
the project. Once they have this money, they have been promised additional
money from other sources to complete the project. Total cost is $A815M with
$A560M for the launch compex and $A255M for the new township of Bradfield.
The Enviromental Inpact Statement is estimated to cost $A6.5M. If the money
doesn't come soon, STS will have to abandon the project. There are also other
proposals, e.g., from Cubic Corp. (which I know nothing about). They still
plan to launch Zenit's, starting in 1997 with four launches per year on
average.

New details on the Southern Launch Vehicle were given. This is a four stage
rocket to be launched from refurbished facilities in Woomera into polar orbit.
The launch site is to be the unused platform that was built for Blue Streak
in the late fifties (the used platform was used by ELDO for the ill-fated
Europa launch vehicle). The SLV is 21.0 m high and 2.36 m in diameter and can
carry up to 750 kg to a polar orbit (upgradable to 1500 kg). The first stage
is a 54 tonne Castor 120, second stage is a 3.5 tonne Star 63D, the third
stage is also a Star 63D, and the fourth stage uses 150 kg of monopropellant
hydrazine. Payload volume is 1.4 x 4.0 m or 1.7 m x 2.9 m. The companies
involved in the design are British Aerospace Australia, Hawker De Havilland,
and Auspace.

The formation of the Australian Space Council reporting directly to the
minister of the Department of Industry, Trade, and Technology was announced.
The aims of the ASC are:
Earth Observation Program - To earn a "seat at the table" by having a
substantial (30%) involvement in the Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer
to be flown by ESA and an Australian instrument to follow.
Communications - Support of the three Space Industry Development Centres,
systems for geosynchronous satellites, mobile (both geosynchronous and low-
earth orbit), and navigation and position fixing.
Launch Services - Cape York (?), SLV, and 3rd generation launcher technology
(meaning scramjet and hypersonics)
Science - to be not less than 10% of overall budget.

An update of the Endeavour Ultraviolet Telescope that was flown on STS-42 was
given. If you may remember, the door on the GAS can containing the telescope
failed to open during the mission. The reason for this was that the temperature
of the GAS cans compromising Endeavour (and of the other GAS cans as well)
greatly exceeded the expected temperature. Shuttle temperatures of 71 degress C
and greater were experienced in the shuttle payload bay. To prevent Endeavour
from destroying itself from the high temperatures it automatically shut itself
down once an internal temperature of 60 degress C was reached within the
telescope. It was found that during the outgassing period at T+32 hours and
before the temperatures became too high, that the door had indeed opened and
closed after 1 hour during the out-gassing period. The temperatures were so
high that rubber seals in Endeavour had vulcanised! Goddard Space Flight Center
manages the GAS program and had thought that STS-42 would be a "benign" mission
which turned out to be the hotest shuttle mission to date, with yellowing of
thermal blankets and bubbling of thermal tape! Apparantly, the Johnson Space
Center and the Kennedy Space Center had changed the mission profile during
a change in launch date without telling the GSFC. Other GAS cans that failed
from the heat were the "Brine Shrimp/Air Bubbles in Microgravity" experiment
where the shrimp were fried, the "Visual Photometric Experiment" from the
US Air Force where the door failed to open due to a relay failure, and
another experiment that also had a relay failure. Endeavour survived the heat
and it is hoped that NASA will refly Endeavour next year.

the door had

--
Steven S. Pietrobon,  Australian Space Centre for Signal Processing
Signal Processing Research Institute, University of South Australia
The Levels, SA 5095, Australia.      [e-mail]

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

Date: 25 Sep 92 03:34:29 GMT
From: Tom Nugent <[e-mail]>
Subject: what use is Freedom?
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (Nick Szabo) writes:

>_Now_ it's asked!  The question that comes to my mind is,
>why wasn't this asked in early 80's when NASA was first pushing
>for it (and when people like me lobby for it, I take part of the
>blame).  Why do we pursue this technology as a religious sacrament
>instead pursuing that which is useful to people?  The human

So you originally lobbied for the space station, but now you've changed
your mind and quit on it.  You didn't carry through.  You are almost
sounding like the NASA people you put down so much - just because the thing
isn't everything it was intended to be, you want to redesign, keep studying
the problem instead of goin out there, bending metal, and getting something
up!  Stopping Freedom now would be a catastrophe.  Something instead of
nothing is not always better, but in this case it is.  See all my previous
posts regarding the reasons to continue with SSF.

"The future is a race between education and catastrophe."
        - H.G. Wells
--
Tom Nugent    voice:[phone]    e-mail:[e-mail]
"To be average scares the hell out of me." -- Anonymous

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

End of Space Digest Volume 15 : Issue 247
------------------------------