Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V15_4/V15NO427.TXT

Internet Message Format | 1993-07-13 | 36KB

Date: Mon, 16 Nov 92 05:17:18
From: Space Digest maintainer <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Space Digest V15 #427
To: Space Digest Readers
Precedence: bulk


Space Digest                Mon, 16 Nov 92       Volume 15 : Issue 427

Today's Topics:
                  Commercial Space News #18 [Part 2]
                                COSTAR
                       Hubble's mirror (2 msgs)
                 Lunar "colony" reality check, part 2
                    Mars Simulation in Antarctica
              New engines for NLS/ possible for shuttle?
                     Shuttle replacement (2 msgs)
                    Space suit research? (2 msgs)
          The First International Conference On Optical SETI
         Weekly reminder for Frequently Asked Questions list
               Where are shuttle research publications?

    Welcome to the Space Digest!!  Please send your messages to
    "[e-mail]", and (un)subscription requests of the form
    "Subscribe Space <your name>" to one of these addresses: listserv@uga
    (BITNET), rice::boyle (SPAN/NSInet), utadnx::utspan::rice::boyle
    (THENET), or [e-mail] (Internet).
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 14 Nov 92  11:52:37
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Commercial Space News #18 [Part 2]
Newsgroups: sci.space

Glavkosmos have claimed these sanctions are more driven by
commercial considerations by the US, with Kumaramangalam claiming
"U.S. objections to the sale of cryogenic engines for Indian rockets
by Russia was purely due to commercial considerations".
   This imbroglio has caused some real mudslinging and trading of
accusations and insults, and it is my opinion this issue has been
handled badly by the US State Department and the Russian government.
   Also in response, the Indian government has been searching for
alternative sources of supply for US-provided components which were
used by ISRO in the Indian space activities.  Apparently, India has
approached several countries including China and France to provide
equivalent components.  However, during a recent visit to France by
Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, the government of France stated
they would not approve any export licenses for space technology for
India. Specifically, the French Government insisted India sign the
MTCR before any space technology could be legally exported.
   Once these trade restrictions are lifted (and they are only for a
2 year period), Indian space technology will find a ready market for
some of their ingenious low-cost methods of applying space
technology.  Capturing 1 percent of the worldwide space activities
budget (which my my estimate is about $45,000 M, not including
Chinese or Russian activities), would be about $450 M a year in
annual sales, which is substantially above the Indian national space
budget. Looking just at the commercial market however (which I
estimate at about $8,000 M), would represent about $80 M per year,
and is probably achievable by the Indian industry and would
substantially boost Indian space activities.]

FINAL NOTES - Commentary
   As I stated in the preface, this column seems to be largely
influenced by changes occurring as ex-Soviet space systems are put
into the market.  I've been seeing a lot of activities with ex-
Soviet space systems, but only now have the potential of significant
impacts on the commercial space marketplace started to surface.
   These ex-Soviet systems can have a significant impact on the
commercial market place as ex-Soviet capabilities are being sold at
fire sale prices.  Some near term offerings that are appearing seem
to just be selling off surplus government-developed assets at
minimal costs to obtain hard currency cash flow, offering of ex-
government systems at VERY low prices to keep "national assets" in
existence, and trying to find commercial sponsors for ex-government
operations.  These are not necessarily positive influences on the
market.
   While the use of some of ex-Soviet space systems may offer a
quick boost to some near-term space activities by allowing a quick
expansion of cheap capabilities, these same systems can have a long-
term negative impact on commercial space ventures. This is
particularly dangerous if government-subsidized CIS space ventures
are not tested in the furnaces of the financial and business market
places and they are used to drive commercially-funded Western
ventures out of the market.
   Conversely, ex-Soviet space hardware and expertise can offer
substantial benefits to commercial space activities.  The
application of new techniques, new capabilities, and a hoard of
expertise and technologies can substantially benefit commercial
activities by expanding markets and opening up new applications for
commerce.
   Furthermore, in my opinion, the commercial space markets offer
the best means to transition programs from the crumbling base of CIS
state sponsorship to a sound financial and market base.  This
transition will not go easily or without problems, but commercial
sponsorship of ex-Soviet systems can provide an expanded base of
sustainable expertise and techniques that can be used to grow the
industry.
   What we have to guard against is the propping up of unprofitable
ventures for short-term political gain at the expensive of long-term
commercial opportunities.  Yes, it is probably prudent to provide
Western government support to ease this transition -- but it must be
done always with the eventual goal of realistic market pricing and
self-sufficency, which is a far cry from carving out a new "quota"
for Russian launches and systems.
   But that's enough flame on this topic.

   This issue turned out to be rather longer than I expected.  I
hope the net will indulge me on this, but the backlog of data and
other activities only seems to get worse each month.  I'm trying to
decrease my cycle time in turning out issues by being more
systematic about turning data into column articles, so that's
helping a little bit with the data deluge.  I'm also turning out a
small limited press run of hardcopy versions of these columns.
   And as always, I hope you folks find this stuff useful and
interesting -- Any and all comments are welcome.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------
 Wales Larrison                         Space Technology Investor
 "Keine Antwort is                           P.O. Box 2452
  auch eine Antwort."                   Seal Beach, CA 90740-1452

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

Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 00:57:30 GMT
From: Henry Spencer <[e-mail]>
Subject: COSTAR
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (John Roberts) writes:
>Also, I'm not sure where WF/PC is located relative to the other instruments.

WF/PC and the fine guidance sensors are arranged around the light path --
with pickoff mirrors directing part of the image into them -- just ahead
of the four big instruments.  Essentially, there's a ring of equipment
around the light path, divided into four quadrants, three for the FGSs
and one for the WF/PC.
--
MS-DOS is the OS/360 of the 1980s.      | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
              -Hal W. Hardenbergh (1985)|  [e-mail]  utzoo!henry

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

Date: 15 Nov 92 17:02:47 GMT
From: Greg Hennessy <[e-mail]>
Subject: Hubble's mirror
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space

Henry Spencer writes:
#This is rapidly becoming a contender for Technological Myth Of The Decade.

Err, correcting Dr. Jefferys on something to do with HST is best done
very carefully. Dr. Jefferys is the PI on the Fine Guidance Sensors of
HST, and has forgotten more about HST then most people have learned in
their lives.

--
-Greg Hennessy, University of Virginia
 USPS Mail:     Astronomy Department, Charlottesville, VA 22903-2475 USA
 Internet:      [e-mail]
 UUCP:        ...!uunet!virginia!gsh7w

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

Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 01:39:53 GMT
From: Henry Spencer <[e-mail]>
Subject: Hubble's mirror
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Greg Hennessy) writes:
>#This is rapidly becoming a contender for Technological Myth Of The Decade.
>
>Err, correcting Dr. Jefferys on something to do with HST is best done
>very carefully. Dr. Jefferys is the PI on the Fine Guidance Sensors...

To the best of my knowledge, the only statement in my posting which is
not a solidly-established fact -- verifiable by reference to the Allen
panel's report -- is my opinion that P-E management, having ignored two
indications of trouble (actually three, if you count the fact that the
reflective null corrector unexpectedly required extra spacing washers),
would have disregarded the results of other simple tests too, unless
they were absolutely unmistakable (i.e. an end-to-end imaging test).

If I am in error -- certainly possible -- I'd appreciate hearing about
it, preferably with enough detail so I can verify it.
--
MS-DOS is the OS/360 of the 1980s.      | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
              -Hal W. Hardenbergh (1985)|  [e-mail]  utzoo!henry

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

Date: 15 Nov 92 11:48:05 GMT
From: Nick Szabo <[e-mail]>
Subject: Lunar "colony" reality check, part 2
Newsgroups: sci.space,alt.sci.planetary

Lunar "colony" reality check, part 2:

* The claim that solar energy will be so cheap on the moon as
  to be an advantage, is absurd.  A lunar site spends a
  half-month long stretch every month out of sunlight.
  Solar cells are not economical for most uses on earth
  and would cost far more to transport on the moon.  Making
  them on the moon is even more absurd, see following comments
  on industrial capabilities.
* Lower launch costs benefit all large space operations, from
  DBS to comet mining.  Lunar bases do require a much larger and
  more improbable fall in launch costs than dozens of other
  space development activities which would actually make money.
* In addition to hydrocarbons or polymers, urea is a good
  bulk way to supply lunar operations with essential volatiles
  from earth.  However, these schemes require huge ongoing launches
  from earth.  They require large-scale, messy, difficult to maintain
  chemical plants designed for 1/6 g, as does the cracking of oxygen
  from lunar regolith.
* The industrial environment on the moon is vastly inferior to that
  on earth, and to that in space where there is microgravity,
  high-grade metal regolith and abundant volatiles.  The energy
  and thermal environment of the moon, as well as the lack of cheap
  volatiles, makes it an extremely poor place for chemical
  and industrial operations.
* Just as with Shuttle, astronauts will not be able to fix most
  broken equipment.  Most disabling breaks, no matter to how
  small a part, will require an entire replacement unit to be
  shipped from earth.  Since the astronaut's very lives will
  depend on recycling equipment, large numbers of spares will
  have to be shipped on the first trip.
* Redesigning equipment for 1/6 g will cost _more_ than
  redesigning it for 0 g, because the latter has been
  done for a much wider array of equipment on satellites
  & stations.
* Unlike the intrepid Biosphereans, lunar astronauts will
  not be able to cheat and come back to civilization to
  find good medical care.  In a lunabago will be found
  little more than a part-time doctor and a first-aid kit.
* There are no "resources" on the moon that could not be
  provided at lower cost from asteroids or comets, and the
  most important materials like volatiles and high-grade
  metal regolith are available only from the planetesimals.
* Transport costs to the moon are six orders of magnitude
  greater than transport costs to the North Slope.  Not only
  Ed's toilet paper but also the recycling equipment, spares,
  and volatiles (if brought from earth) will make the cost of
  supporting astronauts at least six orders of magnitude more
  expensive than the cost of hosting a worker at the North Slope.
  It should be noted that no families have permanently relocated
  to the North Slope; even the industrial workers themselves
  commute by airplane rather than live without their families for
  years on end.
* Submarines get to surface every month or more, and can come back to
  port for food & sex.  Nobody has a "submarine colony", even though
  it would be far less expensive and more functional than a lunar
  "colony".
* If scientific knowledge is an "economic resource", then what
  happened to NASA's planetary science budget?  Why can't they
  even find money for a lunar polar orbiter, which costs many
  orders of magnitude less than even a minimal lunar base?
  Why not let scientists decide where to spend the science budget?
  (Hint: lunar base isn't even _on_ their long list of priorities).
* Microgravity manufacturing, large platforms and other space
  industries could export $10's of billions per year to earth
  by using a large supply of cheap volatiles and high-grade metal
  regolith, available in abundance from planetesimals but absent
  on the moon.  With low thrust in microgravity, the power needed
  to move this material to earth orbit is orders of magnitude less
  than needed to get useless lunar material out of the moon's gravity
  well.

Our obsession with the Death Valley in front of us continues
to blind our eyes to the fertile valleys beyond, and the space
colonization movement remains mired in failure.


--
Nick Szabo                     [e-mail]

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

Date: 15 Nov 92 18:56:53 GMT
From: Pat <[e-mail]>
Subject: Mars Simulation in Antarctica
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> Lawrence Curcio <[e-mail]> writes:
>Is this rover the same robot we at CMU call, AMBLER? Big red sucker?
>Legs arranged like eggbeaters?

NO.  AMBLER and DANTES have entirely different missions.  AMbler was a test bed
to prove a concept in walking and to clear 1 meter ruts and climb
steep slopes.  ambler while impressive is only as impressive as his
power cord.

dante i believe is self powered and designed for the erebus mission.
hes got some on board chemical analyzers and will collect samples
from the volcano.

i saw both of them recently.  dantes is very finished and ready to go.
i am sure the CMU guys can provide full specs.

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

Date: 15 Nov 92 19:55:25 GMT
From: Pat <[e-mail]>
Subject: New engines for NLS/ possible for shuttle?
Newsgroups: sci.space

 saw something that for the NLS proposal, they want to use something
called the Space transportation Main Engine, which will have 1/10th
the parts count and three times the thrust of SSME's.

has anyone looked to see if these could replace the SSMEs???
i imagine they would drastically reduce the service costs of
the shuttle and improve reliability.  Are they compatible
or are the design frames way different?

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

Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 02:55:37 GMT
From: "Matt J. Martin" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Shuttle replacement
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle,sci.space

In article <s#[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Michael V. Kent) writes:
>
>NASA will not set a date to end Shuttle missions until a replacement system
>is online, but current thinking is that the Shuttle will fly through 2005.
>The flight rate will remain at about 8 flights per year, maybe slightly
>lower.  However with a reduced flight rate the per mission cost goes up.  A
>Rockwell consultant stated that the orbiters will likely last far beyond
>their design lifetime of 100 flights each.
>
>There are currently two major ideas for the replacement.
>
>...
>
>The Shuttle is a very versatile, albeit expensive, system.  It can launch
>satellites, retrieve them, ferry a crew and experiments to a space station,
>serve as a space station, serve as an orbital repair facility, and serve
>as a technology testbed.  In order to replace it you need to replace all
>of these functions with newer (hopefully better and less expensive) systems.
>
>Since designing a new vehicle to perform all of these functions will create
>a vehicle with nearly the same qualities as the Shuttle, this path should
>be avoided as unlikely to reduce costs enough to justify its development
>cost.  Gains can be more cheaply made by improving the current system
>instead of building a new one.  However, each individual function can be
>performed at reduced cost, and newer systems should be designed to do just
>that.  When all of the fuctions of the Shuttle have been off-loaded from
>it to other systems, the Shuttle will have been replaced.  But not until then.
>
  What about the SSTO DC-Y?  It's my understanding that the DC-1 should be
able to do just about everything that the shuttle can do (with the possible
exeption of carry the SpaceLab).  And a lot cheapter to boot.


  ##########################################################################
  ##   /   ##               Progress Before Peace!               ##   /   ##
  ##  //   ## Matt J. Martin, Technosociology and Space Politics ##  //   ##
  ## ///// ######################################################## ///// ##
  ##   //  ##        Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN       ##   //  ##
  ##   /   ##           [e-mail]            ##   /   ##
  ##########################################################################

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

Date: 16 Nov 92 03:40:41 GMT
From: "Michael V. Kent" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Shuttle replacement
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle,sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Brian Stuart Thorn) writes:
>I think it was a terrible mistake to offload all those payloads
>from the Shuttle in 1986-88. Of our unmanned boosters, only Delta seems to
>be operating reliably. It is my opinion that NASA should have continued
>using Shuttle for as many payloads as possible, while diverting as much
>booster development money as possible into NLS or some other unmanned
>launch system.

[Description of Titan IV problems deleted]

>Titan IV has flown 6 times since June, '89. STS has flown 22 missions in
>that time frame. Of course, STS is more expensive. But its already paid
>for, and all that money for Titan IV (not including Martin's Titan III
>program) has bought us little.

[more deleted]

>It seems to me
>that in 1992, Space Shuttle is offering one of the best returns on
>investment in the space community!

I agree wholeheartedly with that last statement, but I still believe that
removing commercial and non-Shuttle-unique payloads from the Shuttle was a
good idea.  As I explained in my previous post, the Shuttle is a very unique
and versatile vehicle.  It has tremendous capabilities no other vehicle can
touch, but it can only fly eight times a year.  In that situation, using it
to do things that can easily be done on other vehicles (e.g. launching spy
or commercial satellites) is a waste of a valuable resource.  The Shuttle
should be used exclusively for missions like the Hubble revisit, the Intelsat
satellite rescue, Tethered Satellite System, International Microgravity Lab,
Wake Shield Facility, etc.  There are no shortage of payloads to fly.  NASA
has no flight opportunities and less than a half dozen payload opportunities
between now and the start of Space Station operations.

According to the mission control status briefings, the astronauts were working
12 to 16 hour days.  Payload volume may not have been the active constraint
for STS-52.

Mike

--
Michael Kent                                   [e-mail]
McDonnell Douglas                              Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Tute Screwed Aero Class of '92                              Apple II Forever !!

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

Date: Sun, 15 Nov 92 18:30:26 EST
From: John Roberts <[e-mail]>
Subject: Space suit research?

-From: [e-mail] (Pat)
-Subject: Re: Space suit research?
-Date: 15 Nov 92 05:31:27 GMT
-Organization: UDSI

-In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (John Roberts) writes:
->Thanks for the confirmation. 8.4 psi sounds plausible - 10.2 seemed a little
->high, since they always depressurize somewhat in preparation for an EVA.

-What's the big push for a earth normal type atmosphere?
-apollo, etc, ran fine on low pressure pure O2,  does better pressure
-greatly improve cooling.

(1) Henry says it does.
(2) It "stands to reason" - five times as many molecules to conduct the
heat.

-or are there long term bio effects????

There *may* be. For example, one of the Apollo astronauts, after a busy day
on the moon, had bleeding under his fingernails - thought to be mainly a
result of the low pressure. Little indications like that made NASA uneasy. :-)

John Roberts
[e-mail]

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

Date: 16 Nov 92 00:53:16 GMT
From: Henry Spencer <[e-mail]>
Subject: Space suit research?
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Pat) writes:
>What's the big push for a earth normal type atmosphere?
>apollo, etc, ran fine on low pressure pure O2,  does better pressure
>greatly improve cooling.  or are there long term bio effects????

The cooling issue is a serious one.  Apollo didn't have that concern --
since doing an EVA required depressurizing the entire cabin, air-cooled
equipment could not be used at all.  This was okay, more or less, for
Apollo, but simply isn't appropriate for a laboratory environment:
air cooling is by *far* the easiest way to cool electronics, and the
cost of the hardware goes way up without it.

And yes, there is some concern about possible long-term biological
effects, although there is little firm knowledge.
--
MS-DOS is the OS/360 of the 1980s.      | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
              -Hal W. Hardenbergh (1985)|  [e-mail]  utzoo!henry

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

Date: 16 Nov 92 03:49:26 GMT
From: Stuart A Kingsley <[e-mail]>
Subject: The First International Conference On Optical SETI
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space

        From the author of the January 1992 six-part EJASA (THE ELECTRONIC
    JOURNAL OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE ATLANTIC) article (Vol. 3,
    No. 6A-6F) on Optical SETI (OSETI).

        You are encouraged to remail this material to anyone you know with
    interests in SETI or to print it out and pin it up on your astronomical
    society, company, faculty, or school notice board.  The following
    material, which has been slightly modified, was featured in the October
    1992 issue of EJASA (Vol. 4, No. 3):



                                   OE/LASE '93

               THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE (SETI)
                             IN THE OPTICAL SPECTRUM

                            SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1867

    Location: Los Angeles Airport Hilton Hotel, Los Angeles, California,
    USA.

    Conference Chairman: Dr. Stuart A. Kingsley, Fiberdyne Optoelectronics.
    Co-chair: Dr. Monte Ross, Laser Data Technology, Inc.


             SESSION 1 - INTRODUCTION AND CONVENTIONAL MICROWAVE SETI

    Session Chairman - Dr. Stuart A. Kingsley, Fiberdyne Optoelectronics.

    Thursday, January 21, 1993

    Afternoon
    1:30 to 6:00 pm

        "Let there be light"
        (Keynote Address)
        Arthur C. Clarke
        Chancellor - International Space University, Sri Lanka.
        (30 minutes)
        Recorded video address from his home in Sri Lanka, followed by a
        live question and answer period via telephone.
        (1867-01)


        "The NASA search for evidence of extraterrestrial technologies"
        (Keynote Paper)
        David Brocker
        (30 minutes)
        Project Manager, HRMS
        SETI Office
        NASA Ames Research Center
        (1867-02)


        "Strategies for SETI target selection"
        Dr. David W. Latham and Dr. David R. Soderblom
        (20 minutes)
        Dr. David W. Latham
        Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

        Dr. David R. Soderblom
        Associate Astronomer
        Space Telescope Science Institute
        (1867-03)


        "High-resolution microwave all-sky survey"
        Dr. Michael J. Klein and Dr. Samuel Gulkis
        (20 minutes)
        Dr. Michael J. Klein
        HRMS Program Manager
        Jet Propulsion Laboratory

        Dr. Samuel Gulkis
        Jet Propulsion Laboratory
        (1867-04)


        "SETI - a waste of time!"
        (Invited Paper)
        Professor Frank Tipler
        (30 minutes)
        Physics Department
        Tulane University
        (1867-05)


        "Using modern analytical philosophy (MAP) to sweep the MOP clean:
        Non-optical reflections upon untapped data, bad arguments and the
        nonexistence of Von Neumann interstellar probes."
        Clive Goodall
        (30 minutes)
        Department of Philosophy
        The Ohio State University
        (1867-06)


        "The decoding problem: do we need to search for extra terrestrial
        intelligence to Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence?"
        Professor Neil W. Tennant
        (30 minutes)
        Department of Philosophy
        The Ohio State University
        (1867-07)


    Evening

    Reception for the authors from this conference and the Free-Space Laser
    Communications V conference.



                            SESSION 2 - OPTICAL SETI I

    Session Chairman - Dr. Monte Ross, Laser Data Technology, Inc.

    Friday, January 22, 1993

    Morning
    8:30 to 11:30 am

        "Fundamental factors affecting the optimum frequency range for SETI"
        (Invited Paper)
        Dr. Bernard M. Oliver
        (30 minutes)
        Deputy Chief, NASA SETI Office
        NASA Ames Research Center
        (1867-08)


        "The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) in the optical
        spectrum and professional optical SETI: a review"
        Dr. Stuart A. Kingsley
        (30 minutes)
        President
        Fiberdyne Optoelectronics
        (1867-09)


        "An economic rationale for extraterrestrials using lasers for SETI"
        Dr. Monte Ross
        (20 minutes)
        President
        Laser Data Technology, Inc.
        (1867-10)


        "Infrared SETI"
        Professor Charles H. Townes
        (30 minutes)
        Department of Physics
        Space Sciences Laboratory
        University of California, Berkeley
        (1867-11)


        "Use of lasers for interstellar beacons, communications and travel"
        Dr. John Rather
        (20 minutes)
        NASA Headquarters
        (1867-12)


        "Optical SETI from the southern hemisphere"
        Dr. Guillermo A. Lemarchand, Dr. Gregory M. Beskin,
        Dr. Fernando R. Colomb, and Dr. Mariano Mendez
        (20 minutes)
        Dr. Guillermo A. Lemarchand
        Visiting Fellow
        Center for Radiophysics and
        Space Research
        Cornell University

        Dr. Gregory M. Beskin
        Special Astrophysical Observatory
        Soviet Academy of Science

        Dr. Fernando Raul Colomb
        Director
        Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomia

        Dr. Mariano Mendez
        Researcher
        Observatorio Astronomico de La Plata
        (1867-13)



                            SESSION 3 - OPTICAL SETI II

    Session Chairman - Dr. James R. Lesh, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

    Friday, January 22, 1993

    Afternoon
    1:00 to 2:00 pm

       "Application of one measure of search merit to optical SETI"
        Dr. D. Kent Cullers
        (20 minutes)
        Signal Detection Sub-System Manager
        SETI Project
        NASA Ames Research Center
        (1867-14)


        "Large M-ary pulse position modulation and photon buckets for
        effective interstellar communications"
        Dr. Monte Ross
        (20 minutes)
        President
        Laser Data Technology, Inc.
        (1867-15)


        "Amateur optical SETI"*
        Dr. Stuart A. Kingsley
        (20 minutes)
        President
        Fiberdyne Optoelectronics
        (1867-16)


        Workshop/Panel Discussion
        4.00 - 6.00 pm

    Moderator - Professor Charles H. Townes, University of California,
    Berkeley.

        General Discussion Roundtable


  * The last conference paper will give preliminary details of the design of
    the world's first Amateur Optical SETI Observatory, presently under
    construction in the author's back-yard.

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

        To receive a copy of the Advance Technical Program from SPIE which
    also provides information about registration, accommodation and costs to
    attend this conference (see details below), contact Rosa Cays
    ([e-mail]) or Terry Montonye ([e-mail]) at:

        SPIE
        P.O. Box 10
        Bellingham
        WA 98227-0010
        Tel: [phone]
        Fax: [phone]


        The manuscript due date is December 21.  It will be possible to
    accept a couple of late papers on Microwave and Optical SETI.  For
    more information, the conference organizer Stuart Kingsley can be
    contacted at:

        Fiberdyne Optoelectronics
        545 Northview Drive
        Columbus
        Ohio 43209
        Tel: [phone]
        Fax: [phone]
        OSETI Bulletin Board System (BBS): [phone]
        Internet: [e-mail]
        CompuServe: 72376,3545


    OE/LASE '93 includes symposia over the period 16-23 January 1993 on the
    following subjects:

    Free-Space Laser Communications V (January 20-21, 1993).
    The Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in the Optical
    Spectrum (January 21-22, 1993).
    Laser Engineering (January 17-22, 1993).
    Optoelectronic Processing and Interconnects (January 17-23, 1993).
    Biomedical Optics '93 (January 16-22, 1993).

        There are also educational short courses (January 17-22, 1993) and
    two technical exhibitions, the Medical Exhibition (January 16-17, 1993),
    and the Laser and Sensor Exhibition (January 19-21, 1993).


    Registration
                              Member         Working         Non-
                                              Group         Member
    Full Conference*          $355            $380           $415
    Author (full conf.)       $290            $310           $340
    One day                   $165            $175           $190
    Author (one day)          $140            $150           $165
    Students (no lunch)       $ 60            $N/A           $ 70

    *Rate for a three-day conference.

    **There is no separate registration rate for the SETI conference.

        Attendees for the SETI conference will have to pay for two days.  If
    you can spare the time, attendees are recommended to take in the
    Wednesday morning and afternoon, and Thursday morning sessions of the
    Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies V conference, as this
    technology is very relevant to Optical SETI.  The cost for the full
    conference period (three days) is little more than for the two day OSETI
    conference alone.


    SPIE Proceedings Volume 1867              $ 35

        These proceedings will also include a copy of Dr. Lesh's large
    review paper on NASA's optical communications activities, which is to be
    presented at the Free-Space Laser Communication Technologies V
    conference.


    Accommodation

    Los Angeles Airport Hilton Hotel (OE/LASE '93 Conference Center)
    5711 West Century Boulevard
    Los Angeles, California 90045, USA
    Tel: [phone]
    Fax: [phone]

    Rates:
    Single or double (government)              $81
    Single or double                           $89 - $109


    Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel
    5855 West Century Boulevard
    Los Angeles, California 90045, USA
    Tel: [phone]
    Fax: [phone]

    Rates:
    Single or double (government)              $80
    Single or double                           $85 - $105

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

Date: 15 Nov 92 19:04:18 GMT
From: Jon Leech <[e-mail]>
Subject: Weekly reminder for Frequently Asked Questions list
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,sci.space.shuttle

    This notice will be posted weekly in sci.space, sci.astro, and
sci.space.shuttle.

    The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list for sci.space and sci.astro is
posted approximately monthly. It also covers many questions that come up on
sci.space.shuttle (for shuttle launch dates, see below).

    The FAQ is posted with a long expiration date, so a copy may be in your
news spool directory (look at old articles in sci.space). If not, here are
two ways to get a copy without waiting for the next posting:

    (1) If your machine is on the Internet, it can be obtained by anonymous
FTP from the SPACE archive at ames.arc.nasa.gov (128.102.18.3) in directory
pub/SPACE/FAQ.

    (2) Otherwise, send email to '[e-mail]'
containing the single line:

help

    The archive server will return directions on how to use it. To get an
index of files in the FAQ directory, send email containing the lines:

send space FAQ/Index
send space FAQ/faq1

    Use these files as a guide to which other files to retrieve to answer
your questions.

    Shuttle launch dates are posted by Ken Hollis periodically in
sci.space.shuttle. A copy of his manifest is now available in the Ames
archive in pub/SPACE/FAQ/manifest and may be requested from the email
archive-server with 'send space FAQ/manifest'. Please get this document
instead of posting requests for information on launches and landings.

    Do not post followups to this article; respond to the author.

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

Date: 15 Nov 92 21:07:53 GMT
From: Claudio Egalon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Where are shuttle research publications?
Newsgroups: sci.space

I do not know any specific journal that publishes only Shuttle
Research but I do remember  of having seen an issue of Science
describing the research done during the  Spacelab-1 mission (do not
remember the issue number but, for sure, it was published after the
mission). It was a very comprehensive article and I recall that some of
the authors were Bob Parker and Owen Garriott (crewmembers of the
Spacelab mission).

May be another way of  finding out research articles of experiments
performed during a Shuttle mission, would be to try to get one of
these NASA booklets that are published just before a mission or even
the NASA Press Kit of the mission itself. These publications include
the name of the PI's and the experiments that are going to fly. By
knowing at least the name of the PI you can later on make a literature
search using the name of the PI and then get the article about the
experiment that flew in the Shuttle.

Another way to find out about that would be to contact anyone at
University of Alabama in Huntsville. They have a lot of people there
that fly experiments in the Shuttle and, for sure, they must have
articles published in scientific, archival journals.

Claudio Egalon

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

End of Space Digest Volume 15 : Issue 427
------------------------------