Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT/SPACEDIG/V16_5/V16NO531.TXT

Internet Message Format | 1993-07-13 | 33KB

Date: Wed,  5 May 93 07:43:04
From: Space Digest maintainer <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Space Digest V16 #531
To: Space Digest Readers
Precedence: bulk


Space Digest                Wed,  5 May 93       Volume 16 : Issue 531

Today's Topics:
                 ALTERNATIVE Comet Rendezvous Mission
           ASTRONAUTS---What does weightlessness feel like?
                  Cape York is dead; Long Live PNG!
                       Commercials on the Moon
                   Communication satellite station
 Coriolis (was Re: ASTRONAUTS---What does weightlessness feel like?)
      Galileo & lasers (was Re: Communication satellite station)
             HST Servicing Mission Scheduled for 11 Days
                         Info about JSC tours
                               Level 5?
            Long Term Space Voyanges and Effect NEwsgroup?
          moon image in weather sat image...<snide comment>
           SARSAT for tracking payload deployed by tether.
           satellite orbit boost due to tesseral harmonics
                         Vandalizing the sky.
          Will NASA's Mars Observer Image the Face on Mars?

    Welcome to the Space Digest!!  Please send your messages to
    "[e-mail]", and (un)subscription requests of the form
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    (BITNET), rice::boyle (SPAN/NSInet), utadnx::utspan::rice::boyle
    (THENET), or [e-mail] (Internet).
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 4 May 93 19:56:03 -0600
From: [e-mail]
Subject: ALTERNATIVE Comet Rendezvous Mission
Newsgroups: sci.space

                      ALTERNATIVE Comet Rendezvous Mission

               The two proposed NASA comet rendezvous and sample return
          missions are expected to cost BILLIONS of dollars, take
          nearly 20 years from now to complete, and could FAIL in
          DOZENS of ways!

               Therefore, I believe that NASA, the United States, and
          the project scientists and engineers, should all SWALLOW
          THEIR PRIDE and ask the Russians for help.  The Russians have
          some equipment that could COMPLETE a MANNED comet rendezvous
          and sample return mission, ROUND TRIP, in a matter of only a
          couple of MONTHS!  In spite of their economic and political
          problems, they are FAR AHEAD in space, militarily and
          scientifically.

               Most of the following information came from the late Dr.
          Peter David Beter, a well respected Washington, DC attorney,
          Doctor of Jurisprudence, and expert and consultant in
          international law, finance, and intelligence, who received
          most of his information from many associates in the CIA and
          other intelligence groups of other countries who disapproved
          of many of the things happening or being planned behind the
          scenes.  [See especially the 2-7-80, 5-14-81, 5-21-81, 5-27-
          82, and 10-14-82 back-issues of WISCONSIN REPORT newspaper,
          P.O. Box 45, Brookfield, WI  53005; and The Dr. Beter Audio-
          Letters (AL) #64, #79, and #53.]

               The Russians have spacecraft called "COSMOSPHERES",
          which were originally built and used for "Starwars" defense.
          They are spherical in shape, INvisible to radar beyond about
          50 miles away, atomic-powered [possibly Migma fUsion],
          electro-gravitic (can hover against gravity), and equipped
          with "Psycho-energetic Range Finding" (PRF) which tunes-in to
          the actual atomic signature of an object or target.

               The 3rd-generation JUMBO Cosmospheres occupy more volume
          than the Hindenburg blimp, and are ELECTRO-MAGNETICALLY
          PROPELLED (can accelerate continuously and rapidly, and make
          it to Saturn in three WEEKS!).  [Many of them are armed with
          charged-particle beam weapons, neutron beam weapons, and/or
          microwave brain-scrambling equipment!]

               I would not be surprised if the Russians have already
          COMPLETED a comet rendezvous and sample return mission and
          have data and samples to share.



          AIR BOOMS, 1977-78

               I wish to add that the 1st-generation COSMOSPHERES were
          deployed beginning in the Fall of 1977.  In late 1977 and
          early 1978, there was a strange rash of giant AIR BOOMS along
          the East Coast of the U.S and elsewhere.  The AIR BOOMS were
          never satifactorily explained, by either the government or
          news media.  They could NOT be positively identified with any
          particular SST or other aircraft, and indeed were much louder
          than aircraft sonic booms.

               The giant AIR BOOMS were actually caused by Russia
          COSMOSPHERES firing CHARGED-PARTICLE BEAMS down into the
          atmosphere in a DE-focused mode (spread out) for the purpose
          of announcing their presence to the WAR-MONGERS in the U.S.
          Pentagon.  [AL #29.]

               The 3rd-generation JUMBO COSMOSPHERES were first
          deployed in April 1981, in parallel with the first U.S. Space
          Shuttle Mission.  They significantly INTERFERED with that
          mission, in ways which were successfully COVERED-UP by NASA
          using techniques similar to those shown in the movie
          "Capricorn I".  [AL #64.]



          CREDIBILITY of Dr. Beter

               I wish to give some additional information supporting
          Dr. Beter's credibility, and that of his informers.

               Dr. Beter predicted the bombing of the Marines in Beirut
          A FULL YEAR BEFORE IT HAPPENED.  He warned that the U.S.
          Pentagon and the Israeli Mossad were CONSPIRING to
          DELIBERATELY ARRANGE IT in order to try to get Americans
          angry at the Arabs.  (It was NO SURPRISE to me when it
          happened!)  [AL #78, #79, and #80 (11-3-82).]

               Dr. Beter predicted the assassination of Anwar Saddat
          SIX DAYS BEFORE IT HAPPENED.  [AL #68 (9-30-81) and #69.]

               Dr. Beter predicted what he called the "RETIREMENT" of
          Leonid Brezhnev ONE WEEK BEFORE Brezhnev "died".  [Note that
          the word "retirement" was used for the TERMINATION OF
          REPLICANTS in the 1982 movie "Blade Runner".]  He also
          predicted that Brezhnev would be quickly replaced with
          Andropov, which occurred ONLY THREE DAYS after the "death" of
          Brezhnev, to the SURPRISE of all government and media
          analysts.  [AL #8O (11-3-82).]

               Dr. Beter was able to "predict" these events because he
          had been INFORMED about the PLANS to carry them out.

               [I KNOW that we are all supposed to LAUGH at the word
          "conspiracy".  That is what the various government, military,
          political, media, banking, and corporate CONSPIRATORS have
          successfully PROGRAMMED most of us to do. ]



          THE DR. BETER AUDIO-LETTERS

               ALL 80 Dr. Beter Audio-Letters (about 50 KB each) and an
          Overview (about 75 KB) have been digitized by Jon Volkoff at
          "[e-mail]" and are available from him and from some
          FTP sites where he sent them.


               Jon Volkoff states: "I know of two ftp sites (there are
          a few "gopher" servers too) as follows:

               uglymouse.css.itd.umich.edu (141.211.182.53),
                  under /pub/Politics/Beter.Audio.Letter

               ftp.uu.net (192.48.96.9),
                  under /doc/political/umich-poli/Beter.Audio.Letter ."


               I especially recommend Audio-Letters #64, 74, 40, 53,
          54, 55, 45, 46, 47, 48, 78, 79, and 80, and the Overview.
          ALL of these will fit on a SINGLE 3-1/2-inch disk formatted
          for 720 KB.

               Audio-Letter #64 is about the "STS-1 DISASTER/
          /COVERUP".  Audio-Letter #74 is about the "SECRET PURPOSE of
          the Falklands War", and includes IN-VISIBILITY Technology and
          a Russian NEUTRON BOMB.  Audio-Letter #40 is about the
          "MILITARY PURPOSE of Jonestown Mass-MURDER".



          ELECTRO-MAGNETIC PROPULSION

               I indicated that the Russian 3rd-generation "JUMBO
          COSMOSPHERES" are ELECTRO-MAGNETICALLY PROPELLED.

               I heard of that concept long before 1981, in connection
          with UFO's and unorthodox inventors, but I never was able to
          find out how or why they work, or how they are constructed.

               I found a possible clue about why they might work on
          pages 112-113 of the book "BASIC PROPERTIES OF MATTER", by
          the late Physicist Dewey B. Larson, which describes part of
          Larson's comprehensive GENERAL UNIFIED Theory of the physical
          universe.  I quote one paragraph:

               "As indicated in the preceding chapter, the development
          of the theory of the universe of motion arrives at a totally
          different concept of the nature of electrical resistance.
          The electrons, we find, are derived from the environment.  It
          was brought out in Volume I [Larson's book "NOTHING BUT
          MOTION"] that there are physical processes in operation which
          produce electrons in substantial quantities, and that,
          although the motions that constitute these electrons are, in
          many cases, absorbed by atomic structures, the opportunities
          for utilizing this type of motion in such structures are
          limited.  It follows that there is always a large excess of
          free electrons in the material sector [material half] of the
          universe, most of which are uncharged.  In this uncharged
          state the electrons cannot move with respect to extension
          space, because they are inherently rotating units of space,
          and the relation of space to space is not motion.  In open
          space, therefore, each uncharged electron remains permanently
          in the same location with respect to the natural reference
          system, in the manner of a photon.  In the context of the
          stationary spatial reference system the uncharged electron,
          like the photon, is carried outward at the speed of light by
          the progression of the natural reference system.  All
          material aggregates are thus exposed to a flux of electrons
          similar to the continual bombardment by photons of radiation.
          Meanwhile there are other processes, to be discussed later,
          whereby electrons are returned to the environment.  The
          electron population of a material aggregate such as the earth
          therefore stabilizes at an equilibrium level."

               Note that in Larson's Theory, UNcharged electrons are
          also massLESS, and are basically photons of light of a
          particular frequency (above the "unit" frequency) spinning
          around one axis at a particular rate (below the "unit" rate).
          ("Unit velocity" is the speed of light, and there are
          vibrational and rotational equivalents to the speed of light,
          according to Larson's Theory.)  [I might have the "above" and
          "below" labels mixed up.]

               Larson is saying that outer space is filled with mass-
          LESS UN-charged electrons flying around at the speed of
          light!

               If this is true, then the ELECTRO-MAGNETIC PROPULSION
          fields of the Russian JUMBO COSMOSPHERES might be interacting
          with these electrons, or other particles in space, perhaps
          GIVING them a charge (and mass) and shooting them toward the
          rear to achieve propulsion.  (In Larson's Theory, an
          electrical charge is a rotational vibration of a particular
          frequency (above the "unit" frequency) superimposed on the
          rotation of the particle.)

               The paragraph quoted above might also give a clue to
          confused meteorologists about how lightning is generated in
          clouds.


               For more information, answers to your questions, etc.,
          please consult by CITED SOURCES.



               UN-altered REPRODUCTION and DISSEMINATION of this
          IMPORTANT Information is ENCOURAGED.


                                   Robert E. McElwaine
                                   B.S., Physics and Astronomy, UW-EC


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

Date: 4 May 1993 18:58 CDT
From: IGOR <[e-mail]>
Subject: ASTRONAUTS---What does weightlessness feel like?
Newsgroups: sci.space

Ken wrote:
>
>I didn't think of it as a "constant sensation of falling" so
>much as like swimming in air.
        ---------------------

I did too.

Igor Carron
Texas A&M University

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

Date: Wed, 5 May 1993 02:41:15 GMT
From: "Gregory N. Bond" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Cape York is dead; Long Live PNG!
Newsgroups: sci.space

A story appeard on the (Australian) ABC radio news last night that is
of interest.  It is also mentioned in "The Australian Financial
Review" this morning (4/5/93), p14.  (Don't say I don't give
references!)

Space Transportation Systems is the company that was the preferred
bidder for the Cape York space port, with a prominant polititian
(Ahern, ex-Premier of Queensland) at its head.  There was a
one-last-time, firm-and-this-time-we-mean-it deadline for STS to line
up funding for CY that expired without a whisper in December.

Last night there was an announcement by the Prime Minister of Papua
New Guinea (PNG, an island nation to the north of Australia and east
of Indonesia - basically half the huge blob just north of Cape York,
the pointy bit on the east edge of Australia that was the preferred
site for the space port.).  STS has been given an in-principle
go-ahead for the establishmnent of a commercial spaceport on an as-yet
unchosen PNG equatorial island.  The project was predicted to cost
about $USD 920m.  Talks with internation funding sources are
continuing, and STS is "confident about their success."  A feasability
study (a $mil or so) is about to begin and could be completed by the
end of 1993.

This pretty much implies that Cape York is dead, and the report said
as much.  More details as they come to hand.

Greg.
--
Gregory Bond <[e-mail]> Burdett Buckeridge & Young Ltd Melbourne Australia
   Knox's 386 is slick.            Fox in Sox, on Knox's Box
   Knox's box is very quick.       Plays lots of LSL. He's sick!
(Apologies to John "Iron Bar" Mackin.)

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

Date: Wed, 5 May 1993 01:32:35 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Commercials on the Moon
Newsgroups: sci.space

Hans Erik Martino Hansen ([e-mail]) wrote:
: I have often thought about, if its possible to have a powerfull laser
: on earth, to light at the Moon, and show lasergraphics at the surface
: so clearly that you can see it with your eyes when there is a new
: moon.

: How about a Coca Cola logo at the moon, easy way to target billions of
: people.

: Do you know if its possible?

Nope.  The atmosphere distorts the outbound laser beam too much to
provide a useful image.  But if you put a laser in LEO....

Hey, any physicists out there wanna take a stab at the power
requirements on that laser?  Let's pretend we're trying to make
something simple, like a triangle inside a circle.  That way, we can
use a continuous beam, just modulating its direction.  You'd have to
take into account the amount of light required to allow people to see
the pattern, the moon's albedo (pretty low), the distance there and
back again, and probably the color of the laser.

If you could put one up in LEO, say on a Pegasus launch, you could
program it remotely and sell advertising time.  Solar panels for power,
control-moment-gyros for attitude control, GPS for attitude sensing,
and a low-band-width radio for comm.  Design it for a two-year lifespan
-- any longer than that and your competitors will put up another one,
and/or the technology will grow old, and/or the public will get sick of
it.

-- Ken Jenks, NASA/JSC/GM2, Space Shuttle Program Office
      [e-mail]  [phone]

     "Plan.  Do.  Test.  Repeat."

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

Date: Tue,  4 May 1993 19:35:31 -0400
From: Kevin William Ryan <[e-mail]>
Subject: Communication satellite station
Newsgroups: sci.space

>[e-mail] (Mark Elowitz) writes
>>Also, has anyone explored the possibility of transmitting
>>telemetry back to earth via laser or are the power constraints
>>too large.

[e-mail] (Ron Baalke) writes
>Laser communications is definitely being looked into.  Galileo performed
>some laser tests last December during the Earth flyby.

    Were these tests of a laser on the Galileo probe or tests of the
Galileo detecting Earth lasers?

                                                        kwr

internet: [e-mail]

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

Date: 4 May 93 18:01:18
From: Craig Powderkeg DeForest <[e-mail]>
Subject: Coriolis (was Re: ASTRONAUTS---What does weightlessness feel like?)
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.physics

In article <foo> [e-mail] (George Hastings) writes:
      This is similar to cosmonaut training in Star City, where
   trainees undergo "vestibular training". One technique is to put
   you in a chair that spins at about on rev/sec.
    ...
   At the sound of each beep, you
   must tip your head as far as you can, first towad the right
   shoulder, then toward the left. The coriolis effect of this
   movement causes the fluid in your semi-circular canals to swirl
   rapidly, first one way, then the opposite.
     My first sensation was extreme dizziness, but very quickly, a
   strange sensation manifested itself. With no visual frame of
   reference, with continuing head-tipping, it began to produce
   the sensation of swinging forward and back! ...

This is a truly amazing effect, none the less wonderful for being (apparently)
a simple manifestation of the coriolis force.

With care, you can feel it (to a lesser degree than George experienced)
on the centrifuge rides often seen at fairs and amusement parks.  Often
the instructions tell you not to turn your head during the ride.  Ignore
them.

You will find that rotating your head along the same axis as the ride's,
will produce normal sensations, but that rotating it about an axis
perpendicular to the ride will cause strange sensations -- your inner
ears register a head rotation about the third axis, perpendicular to
your cervical proprioception!

I first experienced this in the `Shuttle ride' centrifuge at the
Huntsville Space Museum, in Alabama -- it's a very good ride, as they've
carefully removed all visible non-rotating reference points, and
the bearings are quite smooth.  The only clue that you're rotating
is the coriolis force.

--
DON'T DRINK SOAP! DILUTE DILUTE! OK!

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

Date: 4 May 93 19:57:24 -0600
From: Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey <[e-mail]>
Subject: Galileo & lasers (was Re: Communication satellite station)
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, Kevin William Ryan <[e-mail]> writes:
> [e-mail] (Ron Baalke) writes
>>Laser communications is definitely being looked into.  Galileo performed
>>some laser tests last December during the Earth flyby.
>
>     Were these tests of a laser on the Galileo probe or tests of the
> Galileo detecting Earth lasers?

The latter.

Engineer of Hijacked Train:      Bill Higgins
"Is this a holdup?"
                                 Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Masked Gunman:
(Hesitates, looks at partner,    Bitnet: [e-mail]
looks at engineer again)         SPAN/Hepnet/Physnet: 43011::HIGGINS
"It's a science experiment!"     Internet: [e-mail]

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

Date: 4 May 93 09:00:29
From: Bob McGwier <[e-mail]>
Subject: HST Servicing Mission Scheduled for 11 Days
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.space.shuttle,sci.astro

>Also the Reaction Wheels are offloaded by the magnetorquers.  The satellite is
>three axis stabilized but does not "use" fuel since the force HST is working
>against is the earth's magnetic field.

>Dennis, University of Alabama in Huntsville

Of course it uses fuel.  It uses battery power provided by solar arrays
fueled by thermonuclear processes in the sun.  ;-).

Bob

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert W. McGwier                  | [e-mail]
Center for Communications Research | Interests: amateur radio, astronomy,golf
Princeton, N.J. 08520              | Asst Scoutmaster Troop 5700, Hightstown

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

Date: Wed, 5 May 1993 01:57:35 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Info about JSC tours
Newsgroups: sci.space

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

: I'm planning a trip to Houston later this month, and I was curious about
: info on public tours, such as what days, times, etc.

Space Center Houston, our new visitor center, is open every day
from about 10 AM until 7 PM.  Cost is $8.75 for adults, cheaper for
kids and seniors.  (I dunno for sure; I just flash my Season Pass.)

: btw- I hate to have to ask this, but does anyone know if the JSC buildings
: are wheelchair accessable?

'S'nothing to be embarrassed about.  I've ridden them, myself, upon
occassion.  Almost everything is definitely wheel-chair accessible.
But the only JSC buildings you're likely to go into are 30 (the Mission
Control Center) and 29 (the Weightless Environment Training Facility).
All others are off-limits.  Unless you know somebody.

: thanks-

: Simon

No problem.  If you schedule your visit right, we can have lunch
together, and I'll talk your arm off.  (And you thought the wheel chair
was bad!)

-- Ken Jenks, NASA/JSC/GM2, Space Shuttle Program Office
      [e-mail]  [phone]

                  "HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH
                    FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON
                           JULY 1969, A.D.
                  WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND."

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

Date: Tue, 4 May 93 15:44:25 BST
From: Greg Stewart-Nicholls <[e-mail]>
Subject: Level 5?
Newsgroups: sci.space

In <[e-mail]> Andrew Folkins writes:
>A good description is chapter 4 of "Decline & Fall of the American
>Programmer" by Edward Yourdon (ISBN 0-13-203670-3).  Basically, level 1 is
>code hacking.  You don't know how long it will take, how much it will cost,
>or how well it will work.   At level 2, you can create and usually meet
>budgets and schedules, mostly though capable project management.  In level
>3, the development process has been defined, formalized and written down,
>process improvment is now possible.  Level 4 adds quantitative metrics to
>measure the process.  Level 5 uses those statistics to optimize the
>process.
 How does this structure deal with those capable of producing working
software on time, within budget, but don't have a 'process' ????
 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Greg Nicholls ...         : Vidi
[e-mail] or     : Vici
[e-mail] : Veni

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

Date: Wed, 5 May 93 00:41:17 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Long Term Space Voyanges and Effect NEwsgroup?
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <1rshk8$[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Ken Hayashida) writes:

>>>Such a detailed literature search would be of interest to
>>>ourselves as space advocates
>>>and clearly important to existing space programs.
>>>In essence, we would be dividing the space life science issues into
>>>various technical problems which could be solved with various technologies.
>>>This database of acceptable solutions to various problems could form the
>>>basis of detailed discussions involving people from the bionet, isunet,
>>>and any other source!
>
>Tim et al:
>I think we should try looking at atmosphere first.
>This seems to be the single most fundamental issue in keeping anyone alive.
>We're all taught that when supporting a patient
>you look for maintaining airway. So, in keeping with my trauma training
>(and keeping my emergency medicine professor happy), I suggest that
>we look at the issues surrounding a regenerable atmospheric circuit.

Sounds good to me.  The following is a list of types of technologies that
could be involved in any atmosphere regeneration.  Each one has many different
technologies that could fulfill it's function.  Maybe we can use this as a
starting point.

Carbon Dioxide Removal
Oxygen Supply
Carbon Dioxide Reduction and Oxygen Supply
Humidity Control
Temperature Control
Atmospheric Pressure Control
Trace Contaminant Control

I also suggest that we change the name of the subject line to Atmospheric
Regeneration.

Next we could look and see what has been historically on previous space
missions, including the Soviets, and understand their limitations.  Then
we can look through the literature for technologies that will meet our needs.

Tim
[e-mail]

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

Date: 4 May 1993 18:43:58 -0500
From: --Pat-- <[e-mail]>
Subject: moon image in weather sat image...<snide comment>
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space,sci.geo.meteorology,sci.geo.geology

Ray wrote:
  I thought it might be fun to try to predict other times when the moon
  might be caught in these weather images.  It turns out to be not too
  hard to do.  We know when the image was taken so we can find out where
  the moon was at that time.  The RA and Dec are not very helpful, an earth
  fixed coordinate system is needed for these images.  Altazimuth is such
  a system.
.......................
  I computed the moon's altazimuth as seen from my house for every hour
  of 1993.  I then selected all times when the moon was within several
  degrees of where it was for the 30 Apr image.  The dates were then
  sorted by angular distance from the 30 Apr moon position (dist below)
  and listed below.  Also the moon's geocentric phase angle is given
  where 0=new moon, 90=first quarter, 180=full moon, 270=last quarter.
  Dates in the past are indented.  They are included in case anyone
  has easy access to image archives.
------------------------------------
<me>

Whoa!  Ray obviously needs a couple preschoolers hangin out -- he
demonstrably has _WAY_ too much free time.
------------------------------------
<Ray>
<exquisite table deleted>

  Ray Sterner                     [e-mail]
  Johns Hopkins University        North latitude 39.16 degrees.
  Applied Physics Laboratory      West longitude 76.90 degrees.
  Laurel, MD 20723-6099


--
Pat Hayes, Meteorology, Texas A&M University ****!whoop!**** [e-mail]
O&M 1008, TAMU, CS, TX   77843-3150   (vox) 409-845-1680  (fax) 409-862-4466
____________________________________________________________________________
gophered it,ftp-ed it,analyzed it,modeled it,compiled it,scaled it,surfed it

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

Date: 4 May 1993 16:37:29 GMT
From: Arthur Leung <[e-mail]>
Subject: SARSAT for tracking payload deployed by tether.
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <1s3g4j$[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Pat) writes:
>I would seriously doubt that they would like you using an ELT
>for a non-emergency application.  there is a SARSAT organization.
>talk to them.  the Sarsat's  listen on 121/5/231.8????  the military
>emergency frequency.

just FYI, the military emergency beacon freq is 121.5 * 2 = 243MHz.

-- arthur

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

Date: 4 May 1993 05:43:30 GMT
From: Brian Martin <[e-mail]>
Subject: satellite orbit boost due to tesseral harmonics
Newsgroups: sci.space

(This was originally a sidetrack of drag free satellites)

summarising Isaac Kuo, Matthew Feulner, Henry Spencer to avoid long includes :
1. Earth gravity anomalies (mountains) ARE important due to low orbits (LEO)
   of about 2 or 3% of Earth radius.
2. Earth oblateness causes even larger gravity anomalies, but these are
   symmetrical with respect to Earth's rotation, and hence "stationary"
   from satellite point of view (ignoring Earth's Sun orbit)

OK, here's my 2 cents ...

Earth's mass is not a pinpoint, but is distributed (unevenly) throughout a "sphere"
with bumps (mountains) & broad hollows (oceans).
Imagine an extreme case with 2 half earth masses joined by a stick, forming a dumbbell.
If that rotated daily, a satellite would be dragged around (to some extent) with it,
due to nonlinearity of distance relationship of gravity. Given the right conditions
it could even be captured into geostationary orbit.
Now Earth's bumps are infinitely smaller than that extreme case,
but when all other forces are small enough, a satellite whose n-th oribt happened
to keep coinciding with a good sized bump, would get a (very small) boost.
Now as to where does the energy come from, IMHO it comes from Earth's angular
momentum, & in principle Earth is slowed (infinitesimally).

If that's rubbish, please shoot me down, my physics is rusty.

Brian Martin, Sydney Australia

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

Date: Tue, 4 May 93 14:23:48 BST
From: Greg Stewart-Nicholls <[e-mail]>
Subject: Vandalizing the sky.
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space

In <[e-mail]> kevin patrick kretsch writes:
>The sky was never intended to be a billboard (if it
>was intended at all!) and hopefully it never shall be.
  How do you know ??? Do you have a direct line to God ???
Perhaps the sum purpose of life on Earth is to evolve a species
who can paint pictures in the sky ...
 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Greg Nicholls ...         : Vidi
[e-mail] or     : Vici
[e-mail] : Veni

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

Date: 4 May 93 18:03:47
From: Craig Powderkeg DeForest <[e-mail]>
Subject: Will NASA's Mars Observer Image the Face on Mars?
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <foo> [e-mail] (Henry Spencer) writes:
   In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Gene Wright) writes:
   >All consipiracy theories aside, (they are watching though :-)), will NASA
   >try to image the Cydonia region of Mars where the "Face" is?

   They plan to try.  It's not particularly high priority.  Nobody in the
   planetary-science community believes the "face" is anything but a natural
   rock formation that happens to resemble a face when lit from the right
   angle.  (Such formations exist on Earth too.)

Yup.  Eg the `Sleeping Ute' mountain range in Utah, which looks
stunningly like a sleeping Amerind, seen in profile.  You have to see
it to believe the effect!

*THEY* must've done it, to prove their power! =8-O

--
DON'T DRINK SOAP! DILUTE DILUTE! OK!

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Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Earth's gravity field (was Re: Drag-free satellites)
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From: Michael Robert Williams <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 4 May 1993 17:14:55 GMT
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For anyone who is interested, the Martin Marietta (sp?) "Space Flight
Handbook" has a very good chapter on perturbations, including series
approximations of the zonal and tesseral harmonics. I believe it's in
volume II.

In Real Life:Mike Williams     | Perpetual Grad Student
e-mail      :[e-mail]|   - It's not just a job, it's an indenture
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"If you ever have a world of your own, plan ahead- don't eat it." ST:TNG

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End of Space Digest Volume 16 : Issue 531
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