Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V15_5/V15NO526.TXT

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Date: Thu, 10 Dec 92 04:59:58
From: Space Digest maintainer <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Space Digest V15 #526
To: Space Digest Readers
Precedence: bulk


Space Digest                Thu, 10 Dec 92       Volume 15 : Issue 526

Today's Topics:
                                Aurora
                dialog between D. Goldin and C. Sagan
                          ELV Manifest CY93
                      Galileo Update - 12/08/92
   NASA has 5 hand grenades still on the moon from Apollo missions
                       Orbit Question? (3 msgs)
Philanthropist Targets Science Community in Former Soviet Union with Largest-Ever Private Contribution
                 Rush Limbaugh and the SAUCER PEOPLE
         Rush Limbaugh says problems with HST are a DoD hoax!
                          Satellite Tracking
                 STS-48 and "SDI": Oberg vs. Hoagland
       Terminal Velocity of DCX? (was Re: Shuttle ...) (2 msgs)
             Voyager's "message"... What did it *say*?!?
                  YOU can do real cosmonaut training

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

Date: 8 Dec 92 22:19:48 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Aurora
Newsgroups: sci.space

Thought Y'all might find this interesting (those financial guys
always have the scoop.)

From Wall Street Journal...

Magazine Suggests Aircraft Has Flown Mach 8 for Years

    New evidence suggests that the U.S. is operating secret spy
planes, possibly cruising as fast as eight times the speed of
sound, and that such aircraft may have been flying for over three
years.
    An article prepared for Jane's Defence Weekly, a British
military-affairs journal, suggest strongly that a $1 billion plane
capable of far greater speed than the current world record-holding
SR-71 spy plane is indeed in service globally. The speculation is
based in part on a trained aircraft observer's recently reported
1989 sighting of a mysterious wedge-shaped aircraft, flying over
the north sea in a formation with the U.S. built F-111 bombers and
a KC-135 tanker.
    The description of the plane given by British oil-drilling
engineer and trained aircraft spotter Chris Gibson is sketchy-little
more, in fact, than an unfamiliar aircraft shape he says he
watched from his remote North Sea oil rig for about 90 seconds one
hazy August day three years ago.
    But in an intriguing analysis for Jane's, made available the
Wall Street Journal in advance of next week's scheduled publication,
the stealth technology expert who wrote the article uses the
sighting as the missing link in a chain of events he believes may
explain a number of U.S. military mysteries.
    Citing other experts in so-called hypersonic aviation, author
Bill Sweetman paints a picture of the hush-hush reconnaissance
plane that he believes replaced the Lockheed Corp.'s SR-71 Blackbird
when the U.S. took it out of service in early 1990. That jet,
which holds the official speed record of 2,193 mph, about Mach
3.3, would be a slow-poke compared to the Mach 8 aircraft (5,280
mph) that Mr. Sweetman suggests flew over Mr. Gibson that day in
the North Sea.

The Pieces Fall Into Place

    His article proposes that the new plane - rumored for years
to be called Aurora because that name mysteriously popped up as an
unexplained defence budget line item in 1984 next to the SR-71 -
is also build by Lockheed, with engines by Rockwell International
Corp.'s Rocketdyne division. The Jane's report suggests: The
planes cost about $1 billion each; they first flew in about 1985;
and they have been the source of a series of strange earth-quake-like
rumbles still occurring in Southern California and other areas of
the world.
    With "this last piece" of information, Mr. Sweetman says in
an interview, "there are so many things that fall into place." The
most important, he says, may be the mystery of why the U.S.
retired its last SR-71 spy plane in 1990 with the explanation that
it would rely instead on satellites to meet the reconnaissance
needs once satisfied by the aircraft, believed capable of operations
well above 100,000 feet.
    The Jane's article, echoing others suggestions that the
statement about satellites was intended as a cover for development
of a new spy plane, notes that aircraft have a certain reconnaissance
usefulness that orbiting cameras can't match.
    "The satellite system is believed to be capable of producing
imagery within 24 hours of a request: at Mach 8, however, the
flight time to any point on Earth is under three hours," the
article says. "Unlike a satellite, the aircraft can be scheduled
to pass over a target at any desired time of day," and flies
closer to the target.

The 'Skunk Works' Legacy

    Lockheed won't comment on any secret programs it has going,
and refers questions about reconnaissance to the Air Force. But
Lockheed Advanced Development Co., the unit popularly known as the
"Skunk Works," long has been considered the shop likely to be
producing any future spy planes because it developed the last two
generations of U-2 and SR-71 planes in the 1950s and 1960s. Both
planes flew spy missions in total secrecy for years before being
acknowledged - in the U-2's case only after pilot Francis Gary
Powers was shot down in one in 1960. The California Skunk Works
also produced the F-117 Stealth Fighter, which also flew secretly
before its existence was acknowledged.
    The explanation of what he'd seen didn't become clear to Mr.
Gibson, a veteran of the now-disbanded Royal Observer Corps of
volunteer aircraft spotters, until he recently saw a drawing in an
aircraft magazine  of a putative hypersonic aircraft design that
matched the perfect triangle shape with its 75-degree nose.
    "I nearly spat my coffee out all over the floor," says the
30-year-old Mr. Gibson of his reaction to finally seeing a design
that seemed to explain what he'd seen three years earlier. In a
telephone interview from Houston, where he is attending an engineering
training program, Mr. Gibson says that while he couldn't make out
much detail of the mystery plane's underside, he easily eliminated
all other aircraft shapes that might explain planes of the same
size, including F-111s with wings in a swept-back position.
    According to the Jane's report, the "perfect 75-degree swept
triangle" described by Mr. Gibson corresponded "almost exactly" to
designs of Mach 5, or hypersonic, aircraft designed but not built
over the past 25 years. Mr. Sweetman took his collected data about
the size and shape of the plane and descriptions of unidentified
aircraft noise reported from such places as Edwards and Beale Air
Force bases in California, where secret planes are often held, and
presented them to Paul Czysz, an aerospace-engineering professor
at St. Louis University for an opinion. Prof. Czysz is quoted as
speculating that such a plane could be powered by liquid methane,
which could take it to a maximum cruise speed of Mach 8.
    As for selecting Lockheed and Rockwell as the likely makers,
the Jane's article notes that "Lockheed's financial figures have
indicated a continuing, large flow of income for 'classified' and
'special mission' aircraft." The engine responsible for the strange
noises that have been heard in California "is closer to a rocket
than to a turbojet," the article says. Lockheed and Rockwell
worked together on a losing bid to build the bomber that eventually
became Northrop Corp.'s B-2, the Jane's article says. And while it
isn't noted there, one industry official earlier this year confirmed
that the two companies had been involved in a classified project
for years.
    Figuring that the aircraft would likely be in very low
production - only 50 SR-71s or predecessor aircraft were made,
beginning in the early 1960s - the article says that "each
reconnaissance aircraft could easily cost as much as $1 billion."
Lockheed reported sales of aeronautical systems totaling $2.2
billion in 1991, an amount that has steadily fallen from the $4.2
billion recorded in 1987.
    Lockheed Aeronautical Systems spokesman Richard Stadler, a
veteran of having to decline comment on past classified programs,
says the company won't discuss revenues of any classified programs,
but adds that at the Skunk Works, "supporting the F-117 is the
largest program we've got now as far as active programs go."
    A spokesman for the Rockwell Rocketdyne division says the
company doesn't build engines for any reconnaissance aircraft,
although he adds that Rocketdyne does have some classified programs
that it can't discuss.
    The speculation about hypersonic aircraft flying over California
has special interest for that state's residents, many of whom have
felt what they thought were small rumbling earthquakes for nearly
a year and a half - only to be told by representatives of the U.S.
Geological Survey that some peculiar unreported aircraft were
probably responsible. Scientists have referred to the phenomena as
"airquakes" and even described the speed and size of the aircraft
that might cause them. The Jane's article suggests that the speed
and size correspond to those of the mystery spy plane.
    As an author, Mr. Sweetman has had considerable experience
studying secret aircraft, having written extensively on the Stealth
fighter before the Air Force disclosed the existence of that
program. He has since written a book on the program. His magazine
article engages in heavy speculation of course, calling its
findings "a tentative analysis."
    When asked about the sightings, a public affairs officer at
the Air Force, which for years denied the existence of the plane
now known as the F-117 says, "As far as the Air Force is
concerned, there is no such program," and satellites are doing all
reconnaissance work.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Waterman [Aqua] / NASA Space Shuttle Main Engine Avionics
[e-mail]
-------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1992 00:31:48 GMT
From: Richard Ottolini <[e-mail]>
Subject: dialog between D. Goldin and C. Sagan
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Richard Ottolini) writes:
>projects like Ulysseus to Saturn, now a four billion dollar, 20-year monster.

Sorry, I meant Cassini.

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

Date: 8 Dec 92 22:17:22 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: ELV Manifest CY93
Newsgroups: sci.space

Hello, Someone had asked me a while back for an expendable launch
manifest. A little late but here is what I managed to dig up.

ELV Launch Manifest for CY93 (from manifest dated 11/16/92)

Date        Vehicle        Pri/Sec Payload        Launch Site
01/93        Pegasus        ALEXIS            B-52/DFRF
01/93        Ariane 4 (42P)    GALAXY 4        French Guiana
03/93        Atlas I        UHF-1            CCAFS
03/93        Conestoga    COMET 1            WFF
03/93        Ariane 4 (44L)    HISPASAT 1B/INSAT 2B    French Guiana
03/93        Delta II    GPS?? / SEDS-1        CCAFS
05/93        Scout        RADCAL            VAFB
05/93        Pegasus        APEX            B-52/DFRF
05/93        Pegasus        LEAP-7            B-52/DFRF
05/93        Ariane 4 (44L)    ASTRA 1C/ARSENE        French Guiana
05/93        Delta II    GPS?? / PMQ        CCAFS
2Q/93        Atlas I        UHF-2            CCAFS
06/93        Atlas E        NOAA-I            VAFB
07/93        Scout        MSTI-II            VAFB
08/93        Pegasus        ORBCOMM FDM        L-1011
09/93        Pegasus        SEASTAR            L-1011
09/93        Ariane 4 (40)    EPOT-3/ASAP-4        French Guiana
10/93        Pegasus        SLV-1            L-1011
10/93        Atlas IIAS    TELSTAR 4/F1        CCAFS
10/93        Ariane 4 (44LP)    INTELSAT VII F1        French Guiana
11/93        Ariane 4 (44LP)    SOLIDARIDAD 1/MOP-3    French Guiana
12/93        Delta II    WIND            CCAFS
12/93        Atlas         GOES-I            CCAFS
12/93        Pegasus        STEP-2            L-1011
12/93        Delta II    NATO IV            CCAFS
12/93        Ariane 4 (44L)    DIREC-TV 1/THAICOM 1    French Guiana

This list is only what NASA is carrying on its unclassified
schedule. The GPS launches are only a guess on my part as the
manifest only list the secondary payloads for those launches. Even
though the local paper posts the launch date and time for GPS
missions the Air Force and McDonnell Douglas consider it to be
sensitive (I guess they don't read the paper :) )

This is also a first cut at this list. When I get updates I will
post them. Please Don't ask me what the payloads are (they could
be typos I got them from a Faxed copy of the manifest) also I'm
just an Main Engine guy and don't deal directly with the Payloads.

A final note since I come from the shuttle world naturally I don't
believe schedules (any schedule is out of date the moment it is
printed). For what it is worth.

----------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Waterman [Aqua] / NASA Space Shuttle Main Engine Avionics
[e-mail]
----------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: 9 Dec 92 11:31:39 GMT
From: Ron Baalke <[e-mail]>
Subject: Galileo Update - 12/08/92
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary

Forwarded from Bill O'Neil, Galileo Project Manager

                            GALILEO STATUS REPORT
                                Earth Flyby
                              December 8, 1992

     The Galileo Spacecraft is operating normally in the dual-spin mode and
is transmitting coded telemetry at 115.2 Kbps (115,200 bits/second).

     Yesterday, part 2 of the EE-11 Earth encounter memory load sequence
was uplinked.  Moon closest approach occurred at approximately 7:58 PM PST.
The stored sequence controlled Sun vector update was performed.  Continuous
tracking was scheduled over DSS-12 (Goldstone 34 meter antenna), DSS-14
(Goldstone 70 meter antenna), DSS-16 (Goldstone 26 meter antenna), DSS-42
(Canberra 34 meter antenan), DSS-43 (Canberra 70 meter antenna), DSS-61
(Madrid 34 meter antenna) and DSS-63 (Madrid 70 meter antenna).

     Today, December 8, 1992, Earth closest approach occurred at approximately
7:09 AM PST.  Real-time commands are being sent to enable the Sun algorithms,
set the Command Loss Timer to 11 days, and update attitude control bright body
vectors.  Near continuous tracking is scheduled over DSS-12, DSS-16, DSS-42,
DSS-43, DSS-46 (Canberra 26 meter antenna) and DSS-63.

     Tomorrow, Earth closest approach and SSI (Solid State Imaging camera)
zoom movie observations are continuing.  A GOPEX (Galileo Optical
Communications Experiment from an Earth-based Xmitter) experiment is scheduled
to begin.  Tracking is scheduled over DSS-14, DSS-43 and DSS-63.

                            ####

[Below I've summarized some of the highlights of Galileo's 1992 Earth-Moon
 encounter.
          Ron Baalke
]

   Dec 7  - Moon observations.  Galileo will be passing three times closer
            to the Moon than it did in its first Earth flyby two years ago.
            It passed over the North Pole of the Moon at a distance of
            110,288 km (68,530 miles).  Observations include multi-spectral
            coverage and mapping of the Moon, and searching for indications
            of water at the North Pole.

            Earth observations. Examinations of the dark side of the Earth
            in search for lightning and aurorae for comparison with Venus
            measurements and future Jupiter observations.

   Dec 8 -  Fields and particles observations of the Earth's magnetosphere
            which will be taken over a period of 28 days.  Data will be
            correlated with those taken by other spacecraft such as Ulysses,
            Geotail, IMP-8 and Mars Observer.

            Closest approach to Earth over the South Atlantic at an
            altitude of 304 km (189 miles).

            Obtain multispectral SSI images of the Andes mountain range
            shortly after closest approach.  This area has been extensively
            studied by Earth satellites which provides excellent "ground
            truth" comparisons for the Galileo instruments.

            Evaluate low light level imaging of the SSI camera by observing
            the city lights on Hawaii before dawn.  Also observed later
            in the day will be the city lights, possible volcanic eruptions,
            and lightning from tropical storms over southeast Asia and
            Indonesia before dawn.

            Detected and characterize the polar stratospheric clouds over
            the Antarctic using the NIMS (Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer).
            These clouds are catalysts for the ozone destruction and will
            be monitored for changes from the Galileo observations made in
            1990.

            Acquire SSI coverage of as much as possible of the land area
            of the Earth.  This will go on for 48 hours and the images will
            be assembed to form a time-lapse zoom movie of the receding
            Earth.

   Dec 9 -  GOPEX, an experiment to demonstrate the capability of a
            deep space probe to receive and distinguish laser signal from
            Earth.  A laser will be pulsed at Galileo from the Table Mountain
            Observatory near Los Angeles and from the Starfire Optical Range
            in New Mexico, and the SSI camera will be shuttered while slewing
            across the Earth resulting in a series of illuminated dots in
            the image.

            Continue acquiring SSI images for the zoom movie.

   Dec 10 - Continue GOPEX experiment.

            Continue acquiring SSI images for the zoom movie.

            Observe Asteroid Toutatis 4179 using the EUV (Extreme
            Ultraviolet Spectrometer) instrument.

   Dec 11 - Continue GOPEX experiment.

   Dec 12 - Continue GOPEX experiment.

            Perihelion.  Galileo reachest the closest point to the Sun
            during this flyby at 0.98 AU.

   Dec 14 - Continue GOPEX experiment.

   Dec 15 - Continue GOPEX experiment.

   Dec 16 - Continue GOPEX experiment.

            Obtain periodic 3-filter SSI coverage of the Earth and Moon during
            conjunction period, to produce color time-lapse movie sequence.
            These images will be taken over a 14 hour period.


   SSI Image Summary:
                              No. of Images
   Moon (multi-spectral)          1067
   Earth (multi-spectral)         3594
   Conjunction Movie (3-color)     168
   GOPEX (Green filter)            160
   Navigation Images               102
   Calibration Images             1722
                                  -----
                    Total         6813
     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | The 3 things that children
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | find the most fascinating:
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     | space, dinosaurs and ghosts.

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

Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1992 03:17:29 GMT
From: Adrian Hassall Lewis <[e-mail]>
Subject: NASA has 5 hand grenades still on the moon from Apollo missions
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (Gary Coffman) writes:

>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>>
>>The propellant in modern firearms does not need oxygen from the air to work,
>>the oxidizer is built in.  Oxygen from the air is negligible in helping
>>to fire a gun.
>>
>>However, having said that, I read that black powder (the old style gunpowder,
>>not used in most modern firearms) will not ignite in a vacuum, NOT because
>>it needs the oxygen from the air (it is built in), but because it needs the
>>pressure.  It works just fine in an atmosphere of argon or any other inert gas.

>Black powder will ignite just fine in vacuum. It generates it's own
>pressure in the confines of a cartridge or muzzleloading firearm to
>accelerate the burn rate to sufficient levels to generate the 50,000
>PSI working pressure of a firearm.

>Black powder, unlike smokeless powder, can explode when unconfined.
>It's rated as an explosive while smokeless powder is rated as a
>combustible solid. It may be that *unconfined* black powder would
>not explode in vacuum and instead just burn vigorously, as it often
>does down here in atmosphere when spread out enough. But it would
>certainly work as advertised in the confined space of a firearm.

>There's a feedback mechanism at work with burning generating gases
>that increase pressure which then increases burn rate which generates
>more gases, etc. Pressure stops increasing when the projectile moves
>fast enough to increase chamber volume faster than burning generates
>additional gas.

>Gary


While black powder may burn in vacuum, there are a number of explosives
that will not detonate without some atmosphere.  Some of the primary
explosives show this behavior.  Thus your main charge may be fine, but
your detonators fail (unless they are sealed 8^)).

Static pressure can be quite important in explosives.  For example, it
might seem strange, but if ANFO is compacted too much (ie high static
pressure) it becomes "dead-pressed" and will not explode, but the very
high dynamic pressure of ANFO exploding does the exploding (if you know
what I mean).  There are a whole bunch of other pressure effects which
I won`t go into.

ajax

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

Date: 9 Dec 92 01:40:59 GMT
From: Philip Young <[e-mail]>
Subject: Orbit Question?
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] writes:
|> Your polar geosyncronous satellite takes out one equatorial geosynchronous
|> satellite every 24 hours as it passes over the equator at 24,000 miles
|> altitude.....
|>
|> --- Maximus 2.00

If you have enough muscle to counteract the rebound, you should be able
to  collect one every 12 hours (probability proportional to satellite
density in GEO).

--
Philip R. Young
Data General Australia Pty. Ltd.


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

Date: 8 Dec 92 20:08:56 -0500
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Orbit Question?
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Pat) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>>Your polar geosyncronous satellite takes out one equatorial geosynchronous
>>satellite every 24 hours as it passes over the equator at 24,000 miles
>>altitude.....
>>
>>--- Maximus 2.00
>
>A the odds of collision are low.  big space, small satellite theory.
>also,  you can really avoid the collision by putting giant fuel tanks
>on it, and essentially hovering over the poles.  it's theoretical
>if ridiculous.
What about using ion thrusters powered by solar arrays on the satellite?
[e-mail]

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

Date: 8 Dec 92 20:14:24 -0500
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Orbit Question?
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Josh 'K' Hopkins) writes:
>[e-mail] writes:
>
>[On the subject of statites (stationary satellites)]
>
>>Okay I understand what you are saying about the geo sync orbit, but what if the
>>body you wanted to remain over one of the poles was able to produce its own
>>electricity (i.e. very large solar array) which would be used to power ion
>>thrusters to keep it in place?
>
>Ion thrusters still require fuel their just much more efficient than chemical
>rockets.  The only system that can stay stationary over long terms is a solar
>sail.  Nature may permit some neat tricks with magnetodynamic tethers but I
>can't think of any that would work in this situation.
>
>--
>Josh Hopkins                                          [e-mail]
>                        Ho^3     !=L
Okay, I understand what you are saying.
What about using the solar array itself as the solar sail and have it so that
it could be moved to control how it would move away from the Earth and side to
side, etc. Just a thought.
[e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 09 Dec 1992 00:29:11 GMT
From: Nigel Allen <[e-mail]>
Subject: Philanthropist Targets Science Community in Former Soviet Union with Largest-Ever Private Contribution
Newsgroups: sci.chem,talk.politics.soviet,soc.culture.soviet,sci.bio,sci.astro,sci.space,sci.math,sci.environment,sci.archaeology

Here is a press release from the International Science Foundation
for the Former Soviet Union.

 Philanthropist Targets Science Community in Former Soviet Union
with Largest-Ever Private Contribution
 To: National and Foreign desks, Science Writer
 Contact: Deirdre Cohen or Cynthia Case, 202-223-1300, for
          the International Science Foundation for the Former
          Soviet Union

   WASHINGTON, Dec. 7  -- In an unprecedented private
effort, George Soros, the Hungarian-born founder and
president of The Soros Foundations will commit $100 million of his
personal funds to save science from economic collapse in the
republics of the former Soviet Union.
   The contribution is the largest ever by a private citizen to an
international cause.
   The announcement will be made at a press briefing, to be held on
Wednesday, Dec. 9, at the National Academy of Sciences, 2100 C St.,
N.W., at 11 a.m.  Soros will be joined at the press briefing by
Dr. Frank Press, president of the National Academy of Sciences, and
other eminent scientists.
   Soros will outline the establishment of the International
Science Foundation for the former Soviet Union, which will support
science in the newly independent states at a time when economic
hardship there is seriously affecting scientists and their research
activities.
   The Soros Foundations are a network of private organizations in
18 Central and Eastern European countries, which support educational,
cultural and economic restructuring projects in these countries.
Soros is also the founder of The Central European University, with
campuses in Prague and Budapest.
 -30-
--

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

Date: Tue, 8 Dec 1992 21:28:43 GMT
From: "Edward V. Wright" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Rush Limbaugh and the SAUCER PEOPLE
Newsgroups: sci.space

In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] ("Phil G. Fraering") writes:

>I didn't hear his statement but Mr. Limbaugh, when I listened
>to him many years in the past, frequently engaged in satire.

Unfortunately, there is a small group of subtly brain-damaged
individuals who are unable to recognize satire, or any other
form of humor, unless it is followed by three symobols: :-)

A small group compared to the world as a whole, that is.  Although
people suffering from this incurable condition, known as smiley-
face addiction, make up less than 1% of the population as a whole,
almost every one of them is on the Internet, where they make up
over 90% of the users.


(No, dammit I will not put a smiley face here and feed their
addiction.)

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

Date: Tue, 8 Dec 1992 21:21:14 GMT
From: "Edward V. Wright" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Rush Limbaugh says problems with HST are a DoD hoax!
Newsgroups: sci.space

In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Kevin William Ryan) writes:

>    I've seen his late night TV show. He's a sensationalist media guy,
>not a serious reporter or anything. Note the 'radio personality' title
>you give him rather than 'journalist'. He certainly doesn't know
>anything about astronomy

So, exactly how does that separate him from being a "journalist?"

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

Date: 7 Dec 92 20:48:51 GMT
From: "Mr. C. Brown" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Satellite Tracking
Newsgroups: sci.space

Traksat can be found on micros.hensa.ac.uk
Chris

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

Date: Wed, 09 Dec 92 11:58:08 +1100
From: glenn durden <[e-mail]>
Subject: STS-48 and "SDI": Oberg vs. Hoagland
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic,sci.astro,sci.space,alt.alien.visitors

[e-mail] (Benito E. Villanueva) writes:

> I seem to have caught this debate half way through and I have not seen
> the video in question. Is this video available anywhere- everyone else
> seems to have seen it? How can I view a copy?
> Any info would be greatly appreciated.
> Thanks
> Steven Villanueva


I've seen it.
Its a moving point of light.     A bit of ice.
IMHO, find something more useful to get your hands on.

.........................................................
glenn durden
[e-mail]  Unique Computing Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia
The opinions expressed above are that of the author only.

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

Date: Tue, 8 Dec 1992 20:50:55 GMT
From: "Edward V. Wright" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Terminal Velocity of DCX? (was Re: Shuttle ...)
Newsgroups: sci.space

In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Gary Coffman) writes:

>Or a 747???? I don't think so. I believe that spacecraft have to push
>the envelope a lot harder than an airliner just to achieve orbit.
>Otherwise, lets just fit a big oxygen tank to a 747 and forget all
>this high tech stuff.

Okay, a 747 doesn't have the thrust-to-weight ratio of a spacecraft.
But the F-15 does, and it has a pretty good safety record (an excellent
safety record for a fighter).  Your assumption that "high thrust-to-
weight ratio" means flying dangerously close to the edge of the
envelope does not hold up.

The flight envelope is not a rigid domain in which all aircraft operate.
Every aircraft has its own envelope, determined by its design specs.
An SSTO in operational service would not push the edge of its envelope
any more than a 747 does.


>Look, I'm not trying to be dense here, but in circuit design we know
>that the more parts you have in a circuit, and the harder you push
>them, the more likely you'll have a failure. So you try to simplify,
>and beef up what remains to stand the maximum expected stress.

Well, obviously, then, you don't know anything fault-tolerant circuits,
which increase the number of parts in order to reduce the probability
of a failure.  Aircraft engineers were designing fault-tolerant and
fail-safe systems before anyone even heard of electronic engineers.

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

Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1992 03:41:02 GMT
From: Hugh Emberson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Terminal Velocity of DCX? (was Re: Shuttle ...)
Newsgroups: sci.space

>>>>> On Tue, 8 Dec 1992 16:01:56 GMT, [e-mail] (Aaron Sawdey) said:

Aaron> In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (_Floor_) writes:

Aaron> Actually, the difference in mass is significant. A formula 1 engine
Aaron> would fit into the engine bay of my Honda CRX -- I think they're
Aaron> usually about 1.5 liters displacement with LOTS of turbocharging --

They used to be 1.5 litres and turbocharged or 3 litres and naturally
aspirated, but now they are 3.5 litres and naturally aspirated.



Hugh

--
Hugh Emberson -- CS Postgrad
[e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 08 Dec 92 15:52:27 CST
From: slack <[e-mail]>
Subject: Voyager's "message"... What did it *say*?!?
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space

[e-mail] (Simon E. Booth) writes:

>
> Pardon the odd question, but is there a recording of the "Voyager Record"
> available?
> I've always been interested in exactly what was recorded on it.
>
> Simon

Hello Simon!

       There is a CD-ROM out called "Murmurs of Earth: The Voyager
Interstellar Record" from Warner New Media. Check with your local
Software ETC store.....Saw it in a flyer from them....Also, there
might be a phono record out with the audio portions on it, if memory
serves correctly....Don't know where to go for it though.....

                          -=D.E.Brown=-
?

--
[e-mail] (slack)
The Eternal Apprentice BBS, Norman, OK -- [phone]

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

Date: Wed, 9 Dec 92 13:12:20 EET
From: @fuug.fi:[e-mail] (F.Baube x554)
Subject: YOU can do real cosmonaut training

>From: George Hastings <[e-mail]>
>
>     The trip in February, 1993 will fly from the U.S.A. to
> Helsinki, Finland.  The trip from Helsinki to Moscow will be
> via the Russian national airline, AEROFLOT.

Experienced borderhoppers say that Finnair is a better idea,
unless you happen to like snarly stewardesses, and the patterns
formed by the frost on the inside surface of your window ..

/fred :: [e-mail]

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End of Space Digest Volume 15 : Issue 526
------------------------------