Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V16_2/V16NO297.TXT

Internet Message Format | 1993-07-13 | 32KB

Date: Wed, 10 Mar 93 05:03:05
From: Space Digest maintainer <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Space Digest V16 #297
To: Space Digest Readers
Precedence: bulk


Space Digest                Wed, 10 Mar 93       Volume 16 : Issue 297

Today's Topics:
                         Acceleration of ice
            A question about Serveyor model 1 ( 1965-64A)
           Earth, Enceladus, Neptune GIFs at JPL Info site
                            JPL Fact Sheet
                          Latest on Geminga
 LOCAL DISTURBANCE - a new method of quantutative flow visualization
                         Lunar Ice Transport
                           PFF Instruments
               Proposed Jupiter f/c/b mission (3 msgs)
         Road & Track road tests 1996 JPL Rocky IV Microrover
                            Strange lights
         unnecceary violence (was: Nobody cares about Fred?)
           Was it an UFO or a Soviet satellite??? (2 msgs)
                          Will Huygens Float

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

Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1993 00:53:14 GMT
From: Daniel Seeman <[e-mail]>
Subject: Acceleration of ice
Newsgroups: sci.chem,sci.engr.chem,sci.space,sci.physics

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (John Papp) writes:
>Hello,
>
>I am currently doing a design project which requires the acceleration
>of a block of ice to about 1500 m/s in an almost pure vacuum (space).
>This block of ice will be under about 6.4e6 Pascals of acceleration
>pressure (m*a/area) in about a 100 K environment.  Once this block has
>reached 1500m/s, the acceleration will be removed.
>
>Assumptions.  The block will be ice when it begins accelerating.
>              The acceleration will build to a constant value
>                 and will then be removed when the ice has reached 1500m/s.
>
>My question are:
>     Will the ice liquify or sublime under the acceleration
>        even under the zero pressure of the environment?
>     If the ice liquifies, will it refreeze when the acceleration stops?
>     If the ice liquifies, will it explode when the acceleration stops?
>     If the ice liquifies, will some of it escape when the
>        acceleration stops but most of it refreeze?
>
>As of yet, I know of no experiment that was done to answer these questions
>and phase diagrams of water are somewhat lacking to what happens during
>transition or just do not go down to the pressure and temperature values
>stated.

Hi,

I have no answers, but a comment.  Aren't there ice crystals in the trailing
stream of a commet?  I don't know how fast they are traveling, or if they
just appear in the trailing stream because of some condensation process (I
doubt it, though).  But you may want to research this for some additional
insights...

dks.

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

Date: Tue, 09 Mar 93 14:07:04 +0300
From: "Voevodin S.A." <[e-mail]>
Subject: A question about Serveyor model 1 ( 1965-64A)
Newsgroups: sci.space

     When the Serveyor model 1 (1965-64A) did decay?
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sergey A. Voevodin
8 Okruzhnoy proezd 11-2, 156014 Kostroma, Russia
e-mail: [e-mail]          tel: [phone]

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

Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1993 23:31:53 GMT
From: JPL Public Information <[e-mail]>
Subject: Earth, Enceladus, Neptune GIFs at JPL Info site
Newsgroups: sci.space

GIF IMAGES AVAILABLE AT JPL INFO SITE

Several GIF images have been added to the JPL Info public access
computer site.  JPL Info may be accessed by Internet via
anonymous ftp to pubinfo.jpl.nasa.gov (128.149.6.2); or by dialup
modem at [phone], up to 9600 bps, parameters N-8-1.
The GIF files are in the directory \news for the first 30 days,
after which they are moved to the directory \images.

The following GIF files were converted electronically from
digital spacecraft data.  The default version of each GIF is
sized for 640x480 displays; a larger version is also provided.

  EARTH.GIF      91K    Galileo image of Earth from 1st flyby P-37330
  EARTHX.GIF    225K    Larger (800x800x256) version of EARTH.GIF
  ENCELAD.GIF   169K    Voyager image of Saturn moon Enceladus P-23955
  ENCELADX.GIF  259K    Larger (600x600x256) version of ENCELAD.GIF
  NEPTUNE.GIF   119K    Voyager image of Neptune P-34611
  NEPTUNEX.GIF  211K    Larger (650x650x256) version of NEPTUNE.GIF

Hardcopy prints of these images may be ordered with the "P"
number from the contractor company Newell Color Lab, 221 N.
Westmoreland Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90064 USA, telephone
[phone], fax [phone].

_________________________________________________________________
earth.gif:
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109.  TELEPHONE [phone]

PHOTO CAPTION                                             P-37330
                                                         12/19/90
                                                      GLL-EM7 SSI

This color image of the Earth was obtained by Galileo at about
6:10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on Dec. 11, 1990, when the
spacecraft was about 1.3 million miles from the planet during the
first of two Earth flybys on its way to Jupiter.  The color
composite used images taken through the red, green and violet
filters.  South America is near the center of the picture, and
the white, sunlit continent of Antarctica is below.  Picturesque
weather fronts are visible in the South Atlantic, lower right.
This is the first frame of the Galileo Earth spin movie, a 500-
frame time-lapse motion picture showing a 25-hour period of
Earth's rotation and atmospheric dynamics.  This GIF file was
converted electronically from original digital spacecraft data.

                              #####
_________________________________________________________________

encelad.gif:
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91109. TELEPHONE [phone]

PHOTO CAPTION                                       Aug. 28, 1981
                                                      P-23955C/BW
                                                           S-2-50

This Voyager 2 mosaic of Enceladus was made from images taken
through the clear, violet and green filters Aug. 25, 1981, from a
distance of 119,000 kilometers (74,000 miles).  In many ways, the
surface of this satellite of Saturn resembles that of Jupiter's
Galilean satellite Ganymede.  Enceladus, however, is only
one-tenth Ganymede's size.  Some regions of Enceladus show impact
craters up to 35 kilometers (22 miles) in diameter, whereas other
areas are smooth and uncratered.  Linear sets of grooves tens of
kilometers long traverse the surface and are probably faults
resulting from deformation of the crust.  The uncratered regions
are geologically young and suggest that Enceladus has experienced
a period of relatively recent internal melting. The rims of
several craters near the lower center of the picture have been
flooded by the smooth terrain.  The satellite is about 500
kilometers (310 miles) in diameter and has the brightest and
whitest surface of any of Saturn's satellites.  Features as small
as 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) are visible in this highest-
resolution view of Enceladus.  The Voyager project is managed for
NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.  This
image was converted electronically to GIF format from original
digital data.

                              #####
_________________________________________________________________
neptune.gif:
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE [phone]

PHOTO CAPTION                                    August 21, 1989
                                                         P-34611
                                                   Voyager 2-N29

During August 16 and 17, 1989, the Voyager 2 narrow-angle camera
was used to photograph Neptune almost continuously, recording
approximately two and one-half rotations of the planet. These
images represent the most complete set of full-disc Neptune
images that the spacecraft acquired. This picture from the
sequence shows two of the four cloud features which have been
tracked by the Voyager cameras during the past two months. The
large, dark oval near the western limb (the left edge) -- dubbed
by Voyager scientists the Great Dark Spot -- is at a latitude of
22 degrees south and circuits Neptune every 18.3 hours. The
bright clouds immediately to the south and east of this oval are
seen to substantially change their appearances in periods as
short as four hours. The second dark spot, at 54 degrees south
latitude near the terminator (lower right edge), circuits Neptune
every 16.1 hours. This image has been processed to enhance the
visibility of small features, at some sacrifice of color
fidelity. The Voyager Mission is conducted by JPL for NASA's
Office of Space Science and Applications.  This GIF file was
converted electronically from digital spacecraft data.

                              #####

- end -

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

Date: 9 Mar 1993 20:58 UT
From: Ron Baalke <[e-mail]>
Subject: JPL Fact Sheet
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Jeff Bytof) writes...
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Dave Michelson) writes:
>>From: [e-mail] (Dave Michelson)
>
>>>Mars; Mariner 7, launched in 1969 to Mars; Mariner 8 and 9,
>>>launched in 1971 to orbit Mars.
>
>>Interesting summary, but I would hardly classify Mariner 8 as a
>>"successful Mariner" :-(
>
>Was Mariner 8 a launch abort?
>
Mariner 8 was deposited at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean when a
circuit chip failed in the Centaur upper stage.
     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | It's kind of fun to do
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | the impossible.
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     | Walt Disney

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

Date: 10 Mar 1993 01:14:20 GMT
From: "Patrick L. Nolan" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Latest on Geminga
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro

Dick Edgar ([e-mail]) wrote:
: In article <richard.731642207@astro> [e-mail] (Richard M. Mathews) writes:
:  <stuff omitted>
: So to paraphrase:  *if* only 1% of the spin-down energy comes out in gamma
: rays (and where does the rest go?  The gamma/x-ray luminosity ratio is
: over 1000...), and *if* the radiation is isotropic, then the pulsar is
: about 38 parsecs away.  Anyone who knows pulsars care to comment?
:
There's an upcoming paper in Ap. J. by Halpern & Ruderman in which they
argue for a distance of 100-400 pc, with a best estimate of 250 pc.
This is based mainly on the shape of the X-ray spectrum, with some
help from estimates of interstellar matter and the brightness of
the optical source.  The 1% figure is appropriate for the Vela pulsar.
Until about a year ago, Vela and the Crab were the only known
gamma-emitting pulsars.  Both of them are quite young and rapidly-
spinning.  As the older and slower of the two, Vela was thought to
be the more appropriate model for Geminga, which is much older and
slower.  Now we also know about another gamma pulsar, 1706-44.
Its distance is pretty well known, and its gamma efficiency is a
bit higher than Vela's.  It's starting to look as if old, slow
pulsars can have very large gamma efficiencies.  Of course the
theoreticians are scrambling to show that they predicted it all
along.
--
*   Patrick L. Nolan            [phone]                 *
*   W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory (HEPL)       *
*   Stanford University                                       *
*   Bitnet: PLN@SLACVM    Internet: [e-mail]   *

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

Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1993 15:57:06 GMT
From: "Dmitry V. Stepanov" <[e-mail]>
Subject: LOCAL DISTURBANCE - a new method of quantutative flow visualization
Newsgroups: sci.space

LOCAL  DISTURBANCE  -  a   new   method   of   quantitative   flow
visualization!
        Method is very effective for high temperature flows up to 5000K
( tested in the range 1000K-3500K), but can also be  used  at  a  lower
temperatures. Workable in  dusted  and  chemically  active  flows  not
transparent  for  light.   In   some   modifications   applicable   for
visualization on the burning surfaces,  solid  propellant  surface  for
example. Range of velocities tested from 5-10 m/s up to  1000  -1500m/s.
In  most  cases  direction  and  module  of  velocity  vector  are  got
simultaneously on a grid of test points,  covering  the  surface  under
examination.  Special  equipment  needed  for   realization   no   more
complicated then for oil specters method.
        Examples of realizations can be presented.
        Searching for method application for solving different problems.
        Dr. Sergey K. Savelyev
        EMBC,Box 222,St.-Petersburg,197022,Russia
        tel. [phone] or (812) 2344930
   or Home: Altayskaya str., 12,34,St.-Petersburg,196066,Russia
      Home tel. [phone]

        E-mail [e-mail].

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

Date: Tue, 9 Mar 93 20:01:56 GMT
From: Ross Borden <[e-mail]>
Subject: Lunar Ice Transport
Newsgroups: sci.space

    In all the Lunar ice transportation proposals that I've seen,
nobody has mentioned what would be, on Earth, the most obvious: overland
hauling.
    To maintain high through-put, a continuous stream of vehicles
would haul ice from the polar ice mines to the equatorial processing
plants, and then dead-head back (unless there was some return cargo.)
    The trucks would be big.  A standard tractor pulls a trailer
with a cargo area 8'x8'x40'-60', plus that again with a super-B.  The
rigs I see would be twice as wide and twice as high (at least), with
a cargo area ~30,000 ft^3.  It might be possible to string several
'cars' together behind a 'locomotive'.
    The only feasible power source would be nuclear.  Chemical would
require too much fuel mass and solar would be useless in the long lunar
night.
    The labour costs involved with having two shift drivers in each
truck on such a long route, combined with the mass of life-support needed
for a ~2 week trip necessitates automated trucks.  The route taken would
be completely surveyed beforehand and stored in the onboard computers.
Solar/battery powered radio beacons along the route would provide distance
and bearing references for the trucks.
    The only insurmountable problem might be the terrain between the
pole and the processing plant.  If there are lots of cliffs, mountains,
chasms, and craters that are unavoidable, the bridges and tunnels
necessary would be too expensive.  On the other hand, if the terrain is
relatively even, and the trucks can skirt any big obstacles, it would be
possible.
    Intuition tells me that it would be doable in the mares but the
highlands could cause problems.
    So, where exactly is the processing plant going to located?
And are there lunar maps with sufficient resolutions to chart a route?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|I shot a man just to watch him die;     |    Ross Borden                     |
|I'm going to Disneyland !               |    [e-mail]              |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: 9 Mar 1993 17:29:45 GMT
From: Steve Derry <[e-mail]>
Subject: PFF Instruments
Newsgroups: sci.space

Since there will be two PFF spacecraft, would it make sense for the two to
carry slightly different science payloads?  For example, the second spacecraft
could carry a magnetometer in place of the UV spectrometer.

This would allow a broader science return while remaining within mass and
power constraints (although program costs and risk would increase slightly).

--
Steve Derry
<[e-mail]>

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

Date: 9 Mar 1993 21:02 UT
From: Ron Baalke <[e-mail]>
Subject: Proposed Jupiter f/c/b mission
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Henry Spencer) writes...
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] ("Phil G. Fraering") writes:
>>Earth-moon or earth-sun lagrange point?
>>
>>It looks like you're talking about the earth-sun L1 point, but
>>isn't that a little far?
>
>Sounded to me like Earth-Sun, and it's only about 1.5 million km away.
>A halo orbit around the Earth-Sun L1 is a good place to park something
>that wants to be well away from Earth and in continuous sunlight.

That is exactly where the Soho spacecraft will be placed, in halo orbit
around the Earth-Sun L1 point.  It is due to be launched in 1995.
     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | It's kind of fun to do
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | the impossible.
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     | Walt Disney

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

Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1993 22:08:51 GMT
From: Henry Spencer <[e-mail]>
Subject: Proposed Jupiter f/c/b mission
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Ron Baalke) writes:
>>A halo orbit around the Earth-Sun L1 is a good place to park something
>>that wants to be well away from Earth and in continuous sunlight.
>
>That is exactly where the Soho spacecraft will be placed, in halo orbit
>around the Earth-Sun L1 point.  It is due to be launched in 1995.

Soho actually has several more reasons to use that orbit, in fact.
Since it's a solar observatory, it wants an uninterrupted view of the
Sun.  It prefers an orbit where the component of orbital velocity
along the Soho-Sun line is zero, to avoid having to correct observations
for constantly-changing Doppler shift.  And being "upwind" of the Earth
in the solar wind has several advantages, including giving near-Earth
sensors some early warning of interesting events.
--
C++ is the best example of second-system| Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
effect since OS/360.                    |  [e-mail]  utzoo!henry

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

Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1993 00:17:21 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Proposed Jupiter f/c/b mission
Newsgroups: sci.space

Responding to my post of info about Paul Feldman's proposed Jupiter Discovery
series mission, Phil Fraering wrote:
PGF|Earth-moon or earth-sun lagrange point?
PGF|
PGF|It looks like you're talking about the earth-sun L1 point, but
PGF|isn't that a little far?

And Henry Spencer followed with:
HS|Sounded to me like Earth-Sun, and it's only about 1.5 million km away.
HS|A halo orbit around the Earth-Sun L1 is a good place to park something
HS|that wants to be well away from Earth and in continuous sunlight.

Yes, that's what I understood from Paul.  You want steady sunlight on the
solar arrays (those detectors use a fair amount of current), no problems
with Earth or Moon occultations for long periods of time, and many months
of continuous visibility of Jupiter.

Then Ron Baalke added:
RB| That is exactly where the Soho spacecraft will be placed, in halo orbit
RB| around the Earth-Sun L1 point.  It is due to be launched in 1995.

I *think* that the L1 "point" is large enough for several spacecraft to
stay there at a time.  It _is_ one of the astable Lagrange points, so
stationkeeping will be necessary to hold it there lest it drift off.

-Bill Gawne,  Space Telescope Science Institute

 "Forgive him, he is a barbarian, who thinks the customs of his tribe
  are the laws of the universe."                       - G. J. Caesar

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

Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1993 22:10:51 GMT
From: Dillon Pyron <[e-mail]>
Subject: Road & Track road tests 1996 JPL Rocky IV Microrover
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] ("S.K. Whiteman") writes:
>For anyone who in interested the April 1993 issue of Road & Track
>contains a road test of the Microrover. Some of the stats:
>
>Price as tested: $2,500,000
>Top speed        0.037 MPH
>0 to 0.037 mph  like right now
>1/4 mile        24,139.0 sec
>
>All-in-all the article is not as tongue in cheek as one might
>expect.

They have also done reviews on the crawler, a unicycle (tread = 0, wheelbase =
0) and, my favorite, the Goodyear blimp (the only vehicle they tested whose
test weight was less than its curb weight, and one of two measured with a
bathroom scale).

I've been collecting the April reviews.  They really seem to enjoy poking fun
at themselves.
--
Dillon Pyron                      | The opinions expressed are those of the
TI/DSEG Lewisville VAX Support    | sender unless otherwise stated.
[phone] (when I'm here)     |
[phone] (when I'm home)     |When in fear, or in doubt
[e-mail]          |Run around, scream and shout.
PADI DM-54909                     |

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

Date: Tue, 09 Mar 93 22:26:04 EST
From: Tom <[e-mail]>
Subject: Strange lights

Jim Jaworski sez;

>Recently while walking to the grocery store, I saw a bright star like
>object in the night sky.  When I was on the way TO the store this
>star-sized light was in the western sky, about 14 deg. elev.  A few hours
>later, about 6 hours, I saw the same thing, only this time it was in the
>eastern side of the sky.  Do you know what this could be?  Is it Hubble?
>It's easy to describe because its the brightest star/satellite out there.

Sounds to me like you saw Venus and Jupiter.  Venus is in the Western
sky early on, the Jupiter rises in the East a couple hours after Venus
sets.  Also, they are about the same brightness right now, and always
about the same color.

Look again tonight.

-Tommy Mac
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom McWilliams | 517-355-2178 (work) \\     Inhale to the Chief!
[e-mail]  | 336-9591 (hm)\\  Zonker Harris in 1996!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: 9 Mar 93 13:34:29
From: Steinn Sigurdsson <[e-mail]>
Subject: unnecceary violence (was: Nobody cares about Fred?)
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Allen W. Sherzer) writes:

   In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Steinn Sigurdsson) writes:

   >   My solution would be to have them work in a larger self sustaining
   >   space economy.
   >This would be ideal, the problem is the transition, a lot people
   >can't hang around for 3-5-10 years until the funds diverted have
   >bootstrapped a new system,

   Well then those people will need to find new jobs. As a displaced
   aerospace worker myself, I can tell you that they won't need as much
   retraining as the popular wisdom seems to think.
   Since the new system will be far larger and provide more and better
   jobs it seems a good trade. Do you agree?

Yes, I do, _if_ you are right. Problem is you seem to want to
dismantle the existing system, which is working, however poorly,
in favour of an as yet unrealised dream. That was one of the STS
mistakes (IMHO) and I don't think it should be repeated.

   >instead they go get an MBA and start pushing paper,

   Well I didn't.

Bent much metal recently? ;-)

   >and then you have to train a new group and recover
   >all the lost expertise

   If true, so what? The funds to pay for that training will come from
   the growth of the space sector. It is a strong win.

Not necessarily, depending on the cost of training it may
be cheaper to float the current pool of talent. It honestly
is sometimes cheaper to keep a pool of skilled workers idling then
to retrain from scratch - at least if you don't have to show
a monotonically increasing profit on a quarterly basis...
Doubly so when all your funds are
year-year allocations. Recall Wales's comment on how NASA always
favours low current cost and high ongoing costs and think
about _why_ this is given how they get their funding.

   >    Rather than the buggy-whip analogy, consider the idea of
   >disbanding the armed forces including reserves during peacetime,
   >after all they're not actually carrying out their mission then,

   I bet to differ. I peacetime their job is to preserve the peace
   by providing a credible deterence. Many (myself included) think
   that *IS* their job.

Well, here in California the current thought, as expressed very
vocally by the taxpayers funding them and their elected
representatives, is that the true purpose of the US armed forces
is to provide a captive set of customers for local 7-11s and
video stores.
In either case, the reason for funding a sizable standing army
and reserves is precisely because of cost and time to retrain
a new corps should they be needed actively - part of the deterrence
is that the trained group exists and is ready to act. It is my
impression that a substantial part of the motivation for the US
space program is from current and future national security
imperatives, and no more amenable to commercial operation than
the US Army would be to relying on a floating pool of mercenaries for
manpower. Of course I could be wrong, I don't make the determination.

   >and it's certainly not a jobs program, so why not fire them
   >and get new recruits if you need them later.

   the analogy doesn't hold. The current system is making space more
   expensive. It is hindering development for all so that a few can
   keep their jobs.

   It would be like preventing Ford from building cars because we want
   to preserve a few well paying buggy whip makers.

No, it's like shutting down all the horse carriage makers and horse
breeders because some crazy guy thinks he can build an automobile.
We still haven't seen if the DC is a Ford or a Stanley.

|  Steinn Sigurdsson    |I saw two shooting stars last night        |
|  Lick Observatory    |I wished on them but they were only satellites    |
| [e-mail] |Is it wrong to wish on space hardware?        |
| "standard disclaimer"    |I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care - B.B. 1983    |


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

Date: 9 Mar 1993 17:42:39 GMT
From: CLAUDIO OLIVEIRA EGALON <[e-mail]>
Subject: Was it an UFO or a Soviet satellite???
Newsgroups: sci.space

I have a friend who claims that the Gemini 4 crew members saw a UFO during
their mission. According to this friend of mine, untill today we do not know exactly
what the object was but he did contend that there was a possibility that this UFO
was a Soviet satellite. This information is new for me and I know if do my own
digging I will find out whether this is true or not however posting here in the NET
is much easier and I may get the information faster. So, I would like to know if
anyone in the NET has any information on that. Any references would help too...

[e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1993 00:48:58 GMT
From: Dave Michelson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Was it an UFO or a Soviet satellite???
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (CLAUDIO OLIVEIRA EGALON) writes:
>I have a friend who claims that the Gemini 4 crew members saw a UFO during
>their mission.

The story is true, in that what they saw remains "unidentified".

Any discussion of the incident must be prefaced by a notation that because
of the distances involved, astronauts are rarely close enough to satellites
to even see them with the naked eye let alone resolve much detail...

I don't have references handy but, as I recall, Jim McDivitt reported
seeing a satellite with wings and other appendages some distance away...
Flight controllers at first suspected that he was merely observing the
second stage of their Titan II but McDivitt could see that as well.  Flight
controllers suggested that perhaps he was looking at von Braun's Pegasus
meteoroid detection satellite but later analysis showed that the closest
Pegasus was over 1000 miles away at that time.  I vaguely recall that
McDivitt took some pictures but they were rather inconclusive.

If their booster was still in their vicinity, the event must have taken place
in their first few revolutions and before White's spacewalk.

Hope this helps...

---
Dave Michelson                             University of British Columbia
[e-mail]                                  Antenna Laboratory

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

Date: 9 Mar 1993 22:46:29 GMT
From: "Kevin W. Plaxco" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Will Huygens Float
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (R.D.Lorenz) writes:

>Huygens will float, as Ron said.

>As for density, methane is about 450 kg/m3, Ethane 650, Nitrogen 800.

I'd love to hear a little more about the design of the probe. Does
it include bouancy tanks?  How will it handle a landing on ammonia
boulders?  Is the camera mounted high, pointing towards the horizon,
or will it be submerged/buried?

>My own
>little experiment measures impact forces to deduce the nature of the
>surface when Huygens hits the deck.

What is the impact speed?  As I recall, its decent will last a couple
of hours and utilize a parachute.  Will it freefall the last few
meters? Does it have an altimeter?

What instraments are included?  MS, GC, anerometer, barometer,
thermometer, optical camera/spectrometer?  With regard to the
camera (please excuse my excessive fascination with pictures,
it's due to my primate origins.  My pet dog is quite excited
about the ms/gc results) what are postulated light levels?
How many pics can we expect?

Fun stuff.  I'm only sorry I have to wait 11 years to see the results.

-Kevin



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From: Pat <[e-mail]>
Newsgroups: sci.space,alt.sci.planetary
Subject: Re: Huygens will float....
Date: 9 Mar 1993 15:31:57 -0500
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Question.

Does it matter if the descent imager is  immersed?

why not design the probe so it floats listed over, so that both probe
sensors stick above the "Fluidline".

sure, the antenna won't be vertical, but so what.

pat

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End of Space Digest Volume 16 : Issue 297
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