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Date: Fri, 2 Apr 93 05:38:46
From: Space Digest maintainer <digests@isu.isunet.edu>
Reply-To: Space-request@isu.isunet.edu
Subject: Space Digest V16 #406
To: Space Digest Readers
Precedence: bulk
Space Digest Fri, 2 Apr 93 Volume 16 : Issue 406
Today's Topics:
Diffs to sci.space/sci.astro Frequently Asked Questions
Space FAQ 01/15 - Introduction
Space FAQ 02/15 - Network Resources
Tommy's Oil
Welcome to the Space Digest!! Please send your messages to
"space@isu.isunet.edu", 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 space-REQUEST@isu.isunet.edu (Internet).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 1 Apr 93 19:50:24 GMT
From: Jon Leech <leech@cs.unc.edu>
Subject: Diffs to sci.space/sci.astro Frequently Asked Questions
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,sci.answers,news.answers
Archive-name: space/diff
DIFFS SINCE LAST FAQ POSTING (IN POSTING ORDER)
(These are hand-edited context diffs; do not attempt to use them to patch
old copies of the FAQ).
===================================================================
diff -t -c -r1.18 FAQ.intro
*** /tmp/,RCSt1a06400 Thu Apr 1 14:47:22 1993
--- FAQ.intro Thu Apr 1 14:46:55 1993
***************
*** 101,107 ****
NASA Langley (Technical Reports)
NASA Spacelink
National Space Science Data Center
- Space And Planetary Image Facility
Space Telescope Science Institute Electronic Info. Service
Starcat
Astronomical Databases
--- 101,106 ----
***************
*** 130,135 ****
--- 129,135 ----
LLNL "great exploration"
Lunar Prospector
Lunar science and activities
+ Orbiting Earth satellite histories
Spacecraft models
Rocket propulsion
Spacecraft design
===================================================================
diff -t -c -r1.18 FAQ.net
*** /tmp/,RCSt1a06405 Thu Apr 1 14:47:24 1993
--- FAQ.net Thu Apr 1 14:46:57 1993
***************
*** 58,63 ****
--- 58,67 ----
elements are sent out on the list from Dr. Kelso, JSC, and other sources
as they are released. Email to elements-request@telesoft.com to join.
+ GPS Digest is a moderated list for discussion of the Global Positioning
+ System and other satellite navigation positioning systems. Email to
+ gps-request@esseye.si.com to join.
+
Space-investors is a list for information relevant to investing in
space-related companies. Email Vincent Cate (vac@cs.cmu.edu) to join.
***************
*** 223,227 ****
--- 227,241 ----
1030. If in fact you should should learn of unauthorized access, contact
NASA personnel.
+ Claims have been made on this news group about fraud and waste. None
+ have ever been substantiated to any significant degree. Readers
+ detecting Fraud, Waste, Abuse, or Mismanagement should contact the NASA
+ Inspector General (24-hours) at 800-424-9183 (can be anonymous) or write
+
+ NASA
+ Inspector General
+ P.O. Box 23089
+ L'enfant Plaza Station
+ Washington DC 20024
NEXT: FAQ #3/15 - Online (and some offline) sources of images, data, etc.
===================================================================
diff -t -c -r1.18 FAQ.data
*** /tmp/,RCSt1a06410 Thu Apr 1 14:47:26 1993
--- FAQ.data Thu Apr 1 14:46:54 1993
***************
*** 216,237 ****
Telephone: (301) 286-6695
Email address: request@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov
-
-
- SPACE AND PLANETARY IMAGE FACILITY
-
- Available 24 hours a day via anonymous FTP from pioneer.unm.edu. Has
- approximately 150 CD-ROM's full of imagery, raw, and tabular data. To
- start, get the file:
-
- pioneer.unm.edu:pub/info/beginner-info
-
- This will hopefully give you all of the information you need to get data
- from their machine. beginner-info has been translated to other
- languages, you should look inside pub/info for the particular language
- that meets your needs.
-
- Contact help@pioneer.unm.edu.
SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE INSTITUTE ELECTRONIC INFORMATION SERVICE
--- 216,221 ----
===================================================================
diff -t -c -r1.18 FAQ.math
*** /tmp/,RCSt1a06415 Thu Apr 1 14:47:28 1993
--- FAQ.math Thu Apr 1 14:46:56 1993
***************
*** 60,65 ****
--- 60,71 ----
Gives series to compute positions accurate to 1 arc minute for a
period + or - 300 years from now. Pluto is included but stated to
have an accuracy of only about 15 arc minutes.
+
+ _Multiyear Interactive Computer Almanac_ (MICA), produced by the US
+ Naval Observatory. Valid for years 1990-1999. $55 ($80 outside US).
+ Available for IBM (order #PB93-500163HDV) or Macintosh (order
+ #PB93-500155HDV). From the NTIS sales desk, (703)-487-4650. I believe
+ this is intended to replace the USNO's Interactive Computer Ephemeris.
_Interactive Computer Ephemeris_ (from the US Naval Observatory)
distributed on IBM-PC floppy disks, $35 (Willmann-Bell). Covers dates
===================================================================
diff -t -c -r1.18 FAQ.references
*** /tmp/,RCSt1a06420 Thu Apr 1 14:47:30 1993
--- FAQ.references Thu Apr 1 14:46:59 1993
***************
*** 93,100 ****
US Naval Observatory
202-653-1079 (USNO Bulletin Board via modem)
202-653-1507 General
- 202-653-1545 Nautical Almanac Office (info on the Interactive
- Computer Ephemeris)
Willmann-Bell
P.O. Box 35025
--- 93,98 ----
***************
*** 138,151 ****
SDI's SSRT (Single Stage Rocket Technology) project has funded a
suborbital technology demonstrator called DC-X that should fly in
mid-1993. Further development towards an operational single-stage to
! orbit vehicle is uncertain at present; for considerably more detail on
! the SSRT program, get the document
! ames.arc.nasa.gov:pub/SPACE/FAQ/DeltaClipper
! by anonymous FTP or through the email server.
HOW TO NAME A STAR AFTER A PERSON
Official names are decided by committees of the International
--- 136,151 ----
SDI's SSRT (Single Stage Rocket Technology) project has funded a
suborbital technology demonstrator called DC-X that should fly in
mid-1993. Further development towards an operational single-stage to
! orbit vehicle (called Delta Clipper) is uncertain at present.
! An collection of pictures and files relating to DC-X is available by
! anonymous FTP or email server in the directory
! bongo.cc.utexas.edu:pub/delta-clipper
+ Chris W. Johnson (chrisj@emx.cc.utexas.edu) maintains the archive.
+
HOW TO NAME A STAR AFTER A PERSON
Official names are decided by committees of the International
***************
*** 223,228 ****
--- 223,236 ----
University Press, 1970. Information about the Lunar Orbiter missions,
including maps of the coverage of the lunar nearside and farside by
various Orbiters.
+
+
+ ORBITING EARTH SATELLITE HISTORIES
+
+ A list of Earth orbiting satellites (that are still in orbit) is
+ available by anonymous FTP in:
+
+ ames.arc.nasa.gov:pub/SPACE/FAQ/Satellites
SPACECRAFT MODELS
===================================================================
diff -t -c -r1.18 FAQ.addresses
*** /tmp/,RCSt1a06435 Thu Apr 1 14:47:34 1993
--- FAQ.addresses Thu Apr 1 14:46:51 1993
***************
*** 75,80 ****
--- 75,85 ----
the latter, an SF 171 is useless. Employees are Caltech employees,
contractors, and for the most part have similar responsibilities.
They offer an alternative to funding after other NASA Centers.
+
+ A fact sheet and description of JPL is available by anonymous
+ FTP in
+
+ ames.arc.nasa.gov:pub/SPACE/FAQ/JPLDescription
NASA Johnson Manned Space Center (JSC)
Houston, TX 77058
===================================================================
diff -t -c -r1.18 FAQ.new_probes
*** /tmp/,RCSt1a06450 Thu Apr 1 14:47:38 1993
--- FAQ.new_probes Thu Apr 1 14:46:58 1993
***************
*** 8,13 ****
--- 8,19 ----
team, ISAS/NASDA launch schedules, press kits.
+ ASUKA (ASTRO-D) - ISAS (Japan) X-ray astronomy satellite, launched into
+ Earth orbit on 2/20/93. Equipped with large-area wide-wavelength (1-20
+ Angstrom) X-ray telescope, X-ray CCD cameras, and imaging gas
+ scintillation proportional counters.
+
+
CASSINI - Saturn orbiter and Titan atmosphere probe. Cassini is a joint
NASA/ESA project designed to accomplish an exploration of the Saturnian
system with its Cassini Saturn Orbiter and Huygens Titan Probe. Cassini
***************
*** 98,115 ****
MAGELLAN - Venus radar mapping mission. Has mapped almost the entire
! surface at high resolution. Currently (11/92) in mapping cycle 4,
! collecting a global gravity map.
MARS OBSERVER - Mars orbiter including 1.5 m/pixel resolution camera.
! Launched 9/24/92 on a Titan III/TOS booster. MO is currently (3/93) in
transit to Mars, arriving on 8/24/93. Operations will start 11/93 for
one martian year (687 days).
! TOPEX/Poseidon - Joint US/French Earth observing satellite, launched in
! August 1992 on an Ariane 4 booster. The primary objective of the
TOPEX/POSEIDON project is to make precise and accurate global
observations of the sea level for several years, substantially
increasing understanding of global ocean dynamics. The satellite also
--- 104,121 ----
MAGELLAN - Venus radar mapping mission. Has mapped almost the entire
! surface at high resolution. Currently (4/93) collecting a global gravity
! map.
MARS OBSERVER - Mars orbiter including 1.5 m/pixel resolution camera.
! Launched 9/25/92 on a Titan III/TOS booster. MO is currently (4/93) in
transit to Mars, arriving on 8/24/93. Operations will start 11/93 for
one martian year (687 days).
! TOPEX/Poseidon - Joint US/French Earth observing satellite, launched
! 8/10/92 on an Ariane 4 booster. The primary objective of the
TOPEX/POSEIDON project is to make precise and accurate global
observations of the sea level for several years, substantially
increasing understanding of global ocean dynamics. The satellite also
===================================================================
diff -t -c -r1.18 FAQ.astronaut
*** /tmp/,RCSt1a06465 Thu Apr 1 14:47:43 1993
--- FAQ.astronaut Thu Apr 1 14:46:52 1993
***************
*** 162,174 ****
specific standards:
Distant visual acuity:
! 20/100 or better uncorrected,
correctable to 20/20, each eye.
Blood pressure:
140/90 measured in sitting position.
! 3. Height between 60 and 76 inches.
Pilot Astronaut Candidate:
--- 162,174 ----
specific standards:
Distant visual acuity:
! 20/150 or better uncorrected,
correctable to 20/20, each eye.
Blood pressure:
140/90 measured in sitting position.
! 3. Height between 58.5 and 76 inches.
Pilot Astronaut Candidate:
------------------------------
Date: 1 Apr 93 19:53:47 GMT
From: Jon Leech <leech@cs.unc.edu>
Subject: Space FAQ 01/15 - Introduction
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space,sci.answers,news.answers
Archive-name: space/intro
Last-modified: $Date: 93/04/01 14:39:10 $
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON SCI.SPACE/SCI.ASTRO
INTRODUCTION
This series of linked messages is periodically posted to the Usenet
groups sci.space and sci.astro in an attempt to provide good answers to
frequently asked questions and other reference material which is worth
preserving. If you have corrections or answers to other frequently asked
questions that you would like included in this posting, send email to
leech@cs.unc.edu (Jon Leech).
If you don't want to see the FAQ, add 'Frequently Asked Questions' to
your KILL file for this group (if you're not reading this with a newsreader
that can kill articles by subject, you're out of luck).
The FAQ volume is excessive right now and will hopefully be trimmed down
by rewriting and condensing over time. The FAQ postings are available in
the Ames SPACE archive in FAQ/faq<#>.
Good summaries will be accepted in place of the answers given here. The
point of this is to circulate existing information, and avoid rehashing old
answers. Better to build on top than start again. Nothing more depressing
than rehashing old topics for the 100th time. References are provided
because they give more complete information than any short generalization.
Questions fall into three basic types:
1) Where do I find some information about space?
Try your local public library first. The net is not a good place to ask
for general information. Ask INDIVIDUALS (by email) if you must. There
are other sources, use them, too. The net is a place for open ended
discussion.
2) I have an idea which would improve space flight?
Hope you aren't surprised, but 9,999 out of 10,000 have usually been
thought of before. Again, contact a direct individual source for
evaluation. NASA fields thousands of these each day.
3) Miscellanous queries.
These are addressed on a case-by-case basis in the following series of
FAQ postings.
SUGGESTIONS FOR BETTER NETIQUETTE
Read news.announce.newusers if you're on Usenet.
Minimize cross references, [Do you REALLY NEED to?]
Edit "Subject:" lines, especially if you're taking a tangent.
Send mail instead, avoid posting follow ups. (1 mail message worth
100 posts).
Internet mail readers: send requests to add/drop to SPACE-REQUEST
not SPACE.
Read all available articles before posting a follow-up. (Check all
references.)
Cut down attributed articles (leave only the points you're
responding to; remove signatures and headers). Summarize!
Put a return address in the body (signature) of your message (mail
or article), state your institution, etc. Don't assume the
'reply' function of mailers will work.
Use absolute dates. Post in a timely way. Don't post what everyone
will get on TV anyway.
Some editors and window systems do character count line wrapping:
keep lines under 80 characters for those using ASCII terminals
(use carriage returns).
INDEX TO LINKED POSTINGS
I've attempted to break the postings up into related areas. There isn't
a keyword index yet; the following lists the major subject areas in each
posting. Only those containing astronomy-related material are posted to
sci.astro (indicated by '*' following the posting number).
# Contents
1* Introduction
Suggestions for better netiquette
Index to linked postings
Notes on addresses, phone numbers, etc.
Contributors
2* Network resources
Overview
Mailing lists
Periodically updated information
Warning about non-public networks
3* Online (and some offline) sources of images, data, etc.
Introduction
Viewing Images
Online Archives
NASA Ames
NASA Astrophysics Data System
NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (Mission Information and Images)
NASA Langley (Technical Reports)
NASA Spacelink
National Space Science Data Center
Space Telescope Science Institute Electronic Info. Service
Starcat
Astronomical Databases
Astronomy Programs
Orbital Element Sets
SPACE Digest
Landsat & NASA Photos
Planetary Maps
Cometary Orbits
4* Performing calculations and interpreting data formats
Computing spacecraft orbits and trajectories
Computing planetary positions
Computing crater diameters from Earth-impacting asteroids
Map projections and spherical trignometry
Performing N-body simulations efficiently
Interpreting the FITS image format
Sky (Unix ephemeris program)
Three-dimensional star/galaxy coordinates
5* References on specific areas
Publishers of space/astronomy material
Careers in the space industry
DC-X single-stage to orbit (SSTO) program
How to name a star after a person
LLNL "great exploration"
Lunar Prospector
Lunar science and activities
Orbiting Earth satellite histories
Spacecraft models
Rocket propulsion
Spacecraft design
Esoteric propulsion schemes (solar sails, lasers, fusion...)
Spy satellites
Space shuttle computer systems
SETI computation (signal processing)
Amateur satellies & weather satellites
Tides
6* Constants and equations for calculations
7* Astronomical Mnemonics
8 Contacting NASA, ESA, and other space agencies/companies
NASA Centers / Arianespace / ESA / NASDA / Soyuzkarta / Space
Camp / Space Commerce Corporation / Spacehab / SPOT Image
Other commercial space businesses
9 Space shuttle answers, launch schedules, TV coverage
Shuttle launchings and landings; schedules and how to see them
Why does the shuttle roll just after liftoff?
How to receive the NASA TV channel, NASA SELECT
Amateur radio frequencies for shuttle missions
Solid Rocket Booster fuel composition
10 Planetary probes - Historical Missions
US planetary missions
Mariner (Venus, Mars, & Mercury flybys and orbiters)
Pioneer (Moon, Sun, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn flybys and orbiters)
Ranger (Lunar lander and impact missions)
Lunar Orbiter (Lunar surface photography)
Surveyor (Lunar soft landers)
Viking (Mars orbiters and landers)
Voyager (Outer planet flybys)
Soviet planetary missions
Soviet Lunar probes
Soviet Venus probes
Soviet Mars probes
Japanese planetary missions
Planetary mission references
11 Upcoming planetary probes - missions and schedules
Cassini
Galileo
Magellan
Mars Observer
TOPEX/Poseidon
Ulysses
Other space science missions
Proposed missions
12 Controversial questions
What happened to the Saturn V plans
Why data from space missions isn't immediately available
Risks of nuclear (RTG) power sources for space probes
Impact of the space shuttle on the ozone layer
How long can a human live unprotected in space
How the Challenger astronauts died
Using the shuttle beyond Low Earth Orbit
The "Face on Mars"
13 Space activist/interest/research groups and space publications
Groups
Publications
Undocumented Groups
14 How to become an astronaut
15 Orbital and Planetary Launch Services
NOTES ON ADDRESSES, PHONE NUMBERS, ETC.
Unless otherwise specified, telephone numbers, addresses, and so on are
for the United States of America. Non-US readers should remember to add
the country code for telephone calls, etc.
CREDITS
Eugene Miya started a series of linked FAQ postings some years ago which
inspired (and was largely absorbed into) this set.
Peter Yee and Ron Baalke have and continue to spend a lot of their own
time setting up the SPACE archives at NASA Ames and forwarding official
NASA announcements.
Many other people have contributed material to this list in the form of
old postings to sci.space and sci.astro which I've edited. Please let me
know if corrections need to be made. Contributors I've managed to keep
track of are:
0004847546@mcimail.com (Francis Reddy) - map projections
ad038@yfn.ysu.edu (Steven Fisk) - publication refs.
akerman@bill.phy.queensu.CA (Richard Akerman) - crater diameters
alweigel@athena.mit.edu (Lisa Weigel) - SEDS info
aoab314@emx.utexas.edu (Srinivas Bettadpur) - tides
awpaeth@watcgl.waterloo.edu (Alan Wm Paeth) - map projections
aws@iti.org (Allen W. Sherzer) - Great Exploration
baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov (Ron Baalke) - planetary probe schedules
bankst@rata.vuw.ac.nz (Timothy Banks) - map projections,
variable star analysis archive
bern@uni-trier.de (Jochen Bern) - German mnemonic translation
brosen@pioneer.arc.nasa.gov (Bernie Rosen) - Space Camp
bschlesinger@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov (Barry Schlesinger) - FITS format
cew@venera.isi.edu (Craig E. Ward) - space group contact info
chapin@cbnewsc.att.com (Tom Chapin) - planetary positions
cunnida@tenet.edu (D. Alan Cunningham) - NASA Spacelink
cyamamot@kilroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Cliff Yamamoto) - orbital elements
datri@convex.com (Anthony Datri) - PDS/VICAR viewing software
daver@sjc.mentorg.com (Dave Rickel) - orbit formulae
dlbres10@pc.usl.edu (Phil Fraering) - propulsion
eder@hsvaic.boeing.com (Dani Eder) - Saturn V plans, SRBs
eugene@eos.arc.nasa.gov (Eugene N. Miya) - introduction,
NASA contact info, started FAQ postings
french@isu.isunet.edu (Patrick M. French) - space group contact info
g@telesoft.com (Gary Morris) - amateur radio info
gaetz@cfa.harvard.edu (Terry Gaetz) - N-body calculations,
orbital dynamics
grandi@noao.edu (Steve Grandi) - planetary positions
greer%utd201.dnet%utadnx@utspan.span.nasa.gov (Dale M. Greer) - constants
henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) - survival in vacuum,
astronaut how-to, Challenger disaster, publication refs, DC-X
higgins@fnal.bitnet (William Higgins) - RTGs, publishers,
shuttle landings, spysats, propulsion, "Face on Mars"
hmueller@cssun.tamu.edu (Hal Mueller) - map projections,
orbital dynamics
jbh55289@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Josh Hopkins) - launch services
jim@pnet01.cts.com (Jim Bowery) - propulsion, launch services
jnhead@pirl.lpl.arizona.edu (James N. Head) - atmospheric scale heights
jscotti@lpl.arizona.edu (Jim Scotti) - planetary positions
kcarroll@zoo.toronto.edu (Kieran A. Carroll)- refs for spacecraft design
ken@orion.bitnet (Kenneth Ng) - RTGs
kjenks@gothamcity.jsc.nasa.gov (Ken Jenks) - shuttle roll manuever
klaes@verga.enet.dec.com (Larry Klaes) - planetary probe history
leech@cs.unc.edu (Jon Leech) - crater diameters
lfa@ssi.com (Lou Adornato) - orbital dynamics
maury.markowitz@egsgate.fidonet.org (Maury Markowitz) - propulsion
max@west.darkside.com (Erik Max Francis) - equations
mbellon@mcdurb.Urbana.Gould.COM - N-body calculations
mcconley@phoenix.Princeton.edu (Marc Wayne Mcconley) - space careers
msb@sq.com (Mark Brader) - Mariner 1 info.
mwm@cmu.edu (Mark Maimone) - SPACE Digest
nickw@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Dr. Nick Watkins) - models, spysats
ohainaut@eso.org (Olivier R. Hainaut) - publishers, STARCAT
oneil@aio.jsc.nasa.gov (Graham O'Neil) - Lunar Prospector
panama@cup.portal.com (Kenneth W Durham) - cometary orbits, IAU
paul.blase@nss.fidonet.org (Paul Blase) - propulsion
pjs@plato.jpl.nasa.gov (Peter Scott) - RTGs
pschleck@unomaha.edu (Paul W. Schleck) - AMSAT, ARRL contact info
rdb@mel.cocam.oz.au (Rodney Brown) - propulsion refs
rja7m@phil.cs.virginia.edu (Ran Atkinson) - FTPable astro. programs
rjungcla@ihlpb.att.com (R. Michael Jungclas)- models
roelle@sigi.jhuapl.edu (Curt Roelle) - German mnemonic translation
seal@leonardo.jpl.nasa.gov (David Seal) - Cassini mission schedule
shafer@skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov (Mary Shafer) - photos, shuttle landings
smith@sndpit.enet.dec.com (Willie Smith) - photos
stephen@gpwd.gp.co.nz (Stephen Dixon) - shuttle audio frequencies
sterner@warper.jhuapl.edu (Ray Sterner) - planetary positions
stooke@vaxr.sscl.uwo.ca (Phil Stooke) - planetary maps
ted_anderson@transarc.com (Ted Anderson) - propulsion
terry@astro.as.utexas.edu (Terry Hancock) - NASA center info
thorson@typhoon.atmos.coloState.edu (Bill Thorson) - FITS info
tm2b+@andrew.cmu.edu (Todd L. Masco) - SPACE Digest
tom@ssd.csd.harris.com (Tom Horsley) - refs for algorithms
veikko.makela@helsinki.fi (Veikko Makela) - orbital element sets
Wales.Larrison@ofa123.fidonet.org (Wales Larrison) - groups & publications
wayne@csri.utoronto.ca (Wayne Hayes) - constants
weemba@libra.wistar.upenn.edu (Matthew P Wiener) - Voyager history
yamada@yscvax.ysc.go.jp (Yoshiro Yamada) - ISAS/NASDA missions
yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter Yee) - AMES archive server,
propulsion
In Net memoriam:
Ted Flinn
NEXT: FAQ #2/15 - Network Resources
------------------------------
Date: 1 Apr 93 19:54:32 GMT
From: Jon Leech <leech@cs.unc.edu>
Subject: Space FAQ 02/15 - Network Resources
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space,sci.answers,news.answers
Archive-name: space/net
Last-modified: $Date: 93/04/01 14:39:15 $
NETWORK RESOURCES
OVERVIEW
You may be reading this document on any one of an amazing variety of
computers, so much of the material below may not apply to you. In
general, however, systems connected to 'the net' fall in one of three
categories: Internet, Usenet, or BITNET. Electronic mail may be sent
between these networks, and other resources available on one of these
networks are sometimes accessible from other networks by email sent to
special 'servers'.
The space and astronomy discussion groups actually are composed of
several mechanisms with (mostly) transparent connections between them.
One mechanism is the mailing list, in which mail is sent to a central
distribution point which relays it to all recipients of the list. In
addition to the general lists for space (called SPACE Digest for
Internet users, and SPACE on BITNET), there are a number of more
specialized mailing lists described below.
A second mechanism is Usenet 'netnews'. This is somewhat like a bulletin
board operating on each system which is a part of the net. Netnews
separates contributions into hundreds of different categories based on a
'group name'. The groups dealing most closely with space topics are
called 'sci.space.news', 'sci.space', 'sci.space.shuttle', 'sci.astro',
and 'talk.politics.space'. Contributors 'post' submissions (called
'articles' in netnews terminology) on their local machine, which sends
it to other nearby machines. Similarly, articles sent from nearby
machines are stored locally and may be forwarded to other systems, so
that an article is posted locally and eventually reaches all the Usenet
sites interested in receiving the news group to which the article was
posted.
Gateway machines redirect the Usenet sci.space group into Internet and
BITNET mailing lists and vice versa; the other Usenet groups are not
accessible as mailing lists. If you can receive netnews, its more
flexible interface and access to a wider range of material usually make
it the preferred option.
MAILING LISTS
SPACE Digest is the main Internet list, and is now being run by the
International Space University (in only its second change of management
in over a decade). Email space-request@isu.isunet.edu (message body
should be in the format 'subscribe space John Public') to join. Note
that the moderated SPACE Magazine list is defunct at present for lack of
a moderator. Old copies of SPACE Digest since its inception in 1981 are
available by anonymous FTP. Retrieve
julius.cs.qub.ac.uk:pub/SpaceDigestArchive/README
for further details.
Elements is a moderated list for fast distribution of Space Shuttle
Keplerian Elements before and during Shuttle flights. NASA two line
elements are sent out on the list from Dr. Kelso, JSC, and other sources
as they are released. Email to elements-request@telesoft.com to join.
GPS Digest is a moderated list for discussion of the Global Positioning
System and other satellite navigation positioning systems. Email to
gps-request@esseye.si.com to join.
Space-investors is a list for information relevant to investing in
space-related companies. Email Vincent Cate (vac@cs.cmu.edu) to join.
Space-tech is a list for more technical discussion of space topics;
discussion has included esoteric propulsion technologies, asteroid
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NEXT: FAQ #3/15 - Online (and some offline) sources of images, data, etc.
------------------------------
Date: 1 Apr 93 16:11:02 GMT
From: Del Cotter <mt90dac@brunel.ac.uk>
Subject: Tommy's Oil
Newsgroups: sci.space
mccall@mksol.dseg.ti.com (fred j mccall 575-3539) writes:
>will@rins.ryukoku.ac.jp (William Reiken) writes:
>
>> A Question: Has oil been found anywhere eles in our Solar System
>> in the raw form that we dig it up in here on earth?
>
>Since oil comes (primarily) from the remains of living organisms (we
>think), this probably is not going to happen. There was a geologist
>who thought that it was feasible for oil to have been created by
>purely geological forces on non-living carbons. They started out
>doing some drilling looking for traces (up in Sweden, I think, because
>of required conditions for this to work) and results looked rather
>promising, but they ran out of money before they actually managed to
>prove anything.
I believe that was no geologist, that was Thomas S Gold, an astronomer.
Tommy Gold is a pal of Fred Hoyle. 'Nuff said.
>All that is from memory, so it may well be wrong.
Ditto.
--
',' ' ',',' | | ',' ' ',','
', ,',' | Del Cotter mt90dac@brunel.ac.uk | ', ,','
',' | | ','
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End of Space Digest Volume 16 : Issue 406
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