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Subject: SPACE Digest V9 #391

SPACE Digest                                      Volume 9 : Issue 391

Today's Topics:
          Condensed CANOPUS - February 1989
           MUFON Journal "alien spacecraft" article
            Re: STS-30 Press Release pack
                Re: Astrology
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 22 Apr 89 05:05:24 GMT
From: cfa!cfa250![e-mail]  (Steve Willner P-316 x57123)
Subject: Condensed CANOPUS - February 1989


Here is the condensed CANOPUS for February 1989.  There are
11 articles.  CANOPUS is copyright American Institute of Aeronautics
and Astronautics, but distribution is encouraged.  See full copyright
information at end.

CONTENTS -- 6 ARTICLES CONDENSED OR IN FULL

ESA SCIENCE LAUNCH DATES - can890211.txt - 2/14/89
NASA SEEKS PROPOSALS FOR ORBITAL DEBRIS RADAR - can890205.txt - 1/1989
NASA PLANNING REUSABLE REENTRY SATELLITE - can890206.txt - 1/18/89
IMAGE PROCESSING TO RELIEVE VISION PROBLEMS - can890207.txt - 1/18/89
ASTRONOMY PHASE-A STUDIES - can890209.txt - 2/14/89
NASA ANNOUNCES EARTH OBSERVATION SYSTEM INVESTIGATIONS - can890201.txt
   - 2/13/89
-------------------------------------------------------------------

ESA SCIENCE LAUNCH DATES - can890211.txt - 2/14/89

ESA Scientific Missions (as of January 1989)

HIPPARCOS         Astrometry       June 1989       Ariane 4
ISO               IR Astronomy     April 1993      Ariane 4
SOHO              Solar Physics    March 1995      Shuttle
Cluster           Plasma Physics   December 1995   Ariane 5
XMM               X-ray Astronomy  mid-1998        Ariane 4

(Some) Astrophysics Missions of Other Agencies

GRANAT            X & Gamma-ray Ast. 1989          Proton
Spectrum-X        X-ray Astronomy    1992          Proton
Astro-D           X-ray Astronomy    1992          M-3SII-3
SAX               X-ray Astronomy    1993          Atlas Centaur

NASA SEEKS PROPOSALS FOR ORBITAL DEBRIS RADAR - can890205.txt - 1/1989

     NASA has requested proposals from industry for a ground-based
radar that will quantify and characterize debris orbiting between 180
to 360 miles above Earth.  The radar would have the capability of
detecting debris as small as 1 centimeter in diameter, contrasted
with the 10-centimeter capability of current radar systems.

     Information is extremely limited about the number and size of
small debris pieces at the operational altitude range of the space
station.  Preliminary experiments, using radar astronomy facilities,
have suggested that the number of small debris particles at these
altitudes may be higher than expected.  The new radar will provide
definitive information about such debris, determining its size,
altitude and orbital inclination.

NASA PLANNING REUSABLE REENTRY SATELLITE - can890206.txt - 1/18/89

     NASA officials at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) have released a
request for proposals for continued studies and design of an unmanned
reusable reentry satellite (RRS) that could significantly expand
NASA's capability to investigate the weightlessness environment.

     The RFP calls for the design of an almost completely reusable
spacecraft that could be processed and readied for reflight in 2
months, allowing for several flights each year. The vehicle will be
roughly 6 feet in diameter and weighing more than 2,000 pounds with a
useful payload of 500 pounds. Designs are expected to be derivatives
of the Department of Defense Discovery satellite or NASA's Gemini and
Apollo vehicles of the 1960s.  Upon completion of the flight, the RRS
would reenter and soft-land at a designated ground-site where
scientists and engineers would have immediate access to the
experiments.

IMAGE PROCESSING TO RELIEVE VISION PROBLEMS - can890207.txt - 1/18/89

     Image processing techniques developed by the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory for the Mariner 4 mission to Mars have been adapted to
offer new hope to sufferers from maculopathy or central spot
blindness.  This disability affects a small fraction of 1 percent of
young people, rising to afflict some 20 percent of those over 75.  It
is regarded as a leading cause or form of blindness in the U.S. and
Europe, though it does not constitute total blindness.

ASTRONOMY PHASE-A STUDIES - can890209.txt - 2/14/89
By Christoph Winkler, Peter Jakobsen and Urban Frisk -- ESTEC
{By European Space Agency}

     The GRASP (Gamma-Ray Astronomy with Spectroscopy & Positioning)
Phase-A study (SCI(88)2) showed that the GRASP mission was
technically feasible and that all scientific requirements could be
fulfilled.  The requirement to maintain GRASP as a purely European
mission within the financial constraints of a `Horizon 2000 blue box'
was a major task requiring a novel approach for ESA, i.e. the re-use
of existing or planned developments.  In view of the common
requirements of the GRASP and the XMM payloads, though with less
demanding requirements for GRASP, the XMM cornerstone mission
spacecraft bus was investigated in detail.

     The Lyman Phase A Report (SCI(88)3) described an ESA-only
mission concept for Lyman involving a purpose-built spacecraft and a
shared Ariane launch into a 48-hour high-earth orbit. However, the
ESA study also demonstrated that such a mission was not possible
within the financial boundaries of a medium-sized mission in the
Horizon 2000 long-term plan without substantial contributions from
other collaborating agencies. An agreement was reached between ESA,
NASA and Canada concerning cooperation on the Lyman mission.
Reflecting the relative financial contributions, the observing time
would have been shared equally between ESA and NASA with a smaller
share going to Canada.

     As a consequence of the ESA decision to select Huygens/Cassini,
the FUSE/Lyman study by NASA, focussing on a mission involving a
slightly smaller payload mounted on a re-usable Explorer platform
operating from low-earth orbit, will nonetheless still investigate
the joint concept. The results of the NASA FUSE study will be subject
to a competitive selection next summer along with three other
competing Explorer missions.

     The QUASAT Phase A Report (SCI(88)4) demonstrated the very
strong scientific case for space-VLBI and that such a project was
technically feasible. QUASAT has always been considered as a joint
ESA/NASA project. Before the Challenger accident the partnership was
equal but afterwards it was assumed to be an ESA-led project with
minor NASA and Canadian support.  The non-selection of QUASAT for a
Phase A study within the US Explorer program confirmed this model.
The ESA study however came to the conclusion that the mission could
not be undertaken within the financial boundaries of a medium-sized
mission of Horizon 2000.

NASA ANNOUNCES EARTH OBSERVATION SYSTEM INVESTIGATIONS -
can890201.txt - 2/13/89

A total of 551 individual investigators have been named to teams for
the Earth Observing System (EOS) in what may be the largest single
science selection by NASA in the last decade. EOS will comprise a
complex instrumentation array aboard the manned Space Station and
unmanned polar orbit platforms, all designed to provide a
comprehensive survey of the Earth from orbit with instruments
complementing each other over a long period of time.

NASA received 455 proposals. The selection includes 24 instrument
investigations, 6 research facility instrument investigation team
leaders and 87 team members, and 28 interdisciplinary investigators
(20 U.S. and 8 foreign). The various teams selected comprise 551
individuals from 168 institutions, universities or laboratories in 32
states and, including the U.S., 13 countries.

RESEARCH FACILITY INSTRUMENTS .
Research facility instrument team members and team leaders for the
six NASA research facility instruments were selected. Each of the
instruments is planned to fly on one of the polar platforms.

o Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) will measure atmospheric
temperature, moisture and other properties as a function of height
above the ground with an accuracy and resolution far surpassing
current operational satellite instruments. AIRS Team Leader -
Moustafa T. Chahine, JPL

o Geodynamics Laser Ranging System (GLRS) is a laser ranging system
for the study of the Earth's crustal movements in earthquake prone
regions and across tectonic plate boundaries by precisely determining
the locations of special mirrors set up on the ground. GLRS can also
measure the surface height profile of glaciers and the polar ice
sheets to determine how fast they are growing or shrinking. GLRS Team
Leader - Steven Cohen, NASA-Goddard.

o High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (HIRIS) is an imaging
spectrometer providing highly programmable localized measurements of
geological, biological, and physical processes. HIRIS Team Leader -
Goetz, Alexander F. H., University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (JPL will
manage the facility).

o Laser Atmospheric Wind Sounder (LAWS) is a lidar (laser detection
and ranging) system for direct measurement of tropospheric wind
velocities by observing the Doppler shift in light reflected from
wind born dust. LAWS Team Leader - Baker, Wayman E., NOAA/NMC,
Washington, DC.(MSFC will manage the facility)

o Moderate Resolution Imaging spectrometer (MODIS) is an imaging
spectrometer for the measurement of biological and physical processes
in the study of terrestrial, oceanic and atmospheric phenomena. MODIS
Team leader - Vincent V.  Salomonson, NASA-Goddard.

o Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is an imaging radar which can see
through clouds to observe properties relating to the geology,
hydrology, and ecology of the land as well as sea ice and ocean
waves. SAR Team Leader - Charles Elachi, JPL, Pasadena, CA.
------------------------------------------------------------
Other articles presented by title only or very briefly:

CONDITION OF QM-8 SOLID ROCKET MOTOR FIELD JOINTS - can890202.txt - 2/7/89
{no anomalies}
ENGINE FIRING WILL COMPLETE INITIAL TECHNOLOGY TEST BED TEST SERIES -
can890203.txt - 2/14/89  {scheduled Feb. 23}
BALLHAUS RETURNS TO AMES RESEARCH CENTER - can890204.txt - 2/1/89
{as director}
HORIZON 2000 IMPLEMENTATION - can890208.txt - 2/14/89 {ESA funding}
HIPPARCOS - can890210.txt - 2/14/89

----------------END OF CONDENSED CANOPUS-----------------------------

This posting represents my own condensation of CANOPUS.  For clarity,
I have not shown ellipses (...), even when the condensation is
drastic.  New or significantly rephrased material is in {braces} and
is signed {--SW} when it represents an expression of my own opinion.
The unabridged CANOPUS is available via e-mail from me at any of the
addresses below.

Copyright information:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CANOPUS is published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics.  Send correspondence about its contents to the executive
editor, William W. L. Taylor ([e-mail];
e-mail to [e-mail] will probably be forwarded).  Send
correspondence about business matters to Mr. John Newbauer, AIAA,
1633 Broadway, NY, NY 10019.  Although AIAA has copyrighted CANOPUS
and registered its name, you are encouraged to distribute CANOPUS
widely, either electronically or as printout copies.  If you do,
however, please send a brief message to Taylor estimating how many
others receive copies.  CANOPUS is partially supported by the
National Space Science Data Center.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Steve Willner            Phone [phone]         Bitnet:   willner@cfa
60 Garden St.            FTS:      830-7123           UUCP:   willner@cfa
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA                 Internet: [e-mail]

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

Date: 21 Apr 89 18:31:22 GMT
From: tektronix!orca!tekecs![e-mail]  (-for inetd server command)
Subject: MUFON Journal "alien spacecraft" article


The following article appears in the current issue of the MUFON UFO
Journal, No. 242, April 1989.  (MUFON is an acronym for Mutual UFO
Network, the largest public UFO investigative organization in the world
-- about 2000 members at last count.)

-----------

NEWS FlASH

Donald B. Ratsch, MUFON member in Baltimore, Maryland, has been monitoring
the radio broadcasts from the space shuttle Discovery through WA3NAN, the
club station of the Goddard Amateur Radio Club in Greenbelt, MD,
transmitting on 147.450 MHZ.  At 6:35 a.m. EST on March 14, 1989, he
heard this statement, "we have a problem -- we have a fire."  (This might
have been the first clue to the resultant electrical problem that was
subsequently repaired.)

The most interesting transmission occurred seven minutes later at 6:42 a.m.
EST, when one of the astronauts made this statement "Houston (from) Discovery,
we still have the alien spacecraft under observance."  Don Ratsch called
Walt Andrus [who is the chief administrator of MUFON] and played the tape
recording over the telephone on the morning of March 14, 1989.  Further
analysis of the tape is now being conducted by qualified personnel in
Maryland as of Sunday, March 19th.  Preliminary analysis of the voice by
comparison methods indicates that the astronaut making the second
transmission was probably either Michael L. Coats, Commander of Discovery
or John E. Blaha, the pilot.  We hope to provide more details in the May
issue of the Journal on this exiting event.

-------

If anyone on the net can add substantive information to this account,
please email me or post to the net.

I will watch for additional material in the next MUFON UFO Journal and
post it to the net.

Thanks, Keith Rowell



-Keith Rowell, Tektronix, Wilsonville, OR   [e-mail]

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

Date: 21 Apr 89 01:31:36 GMT
From: attcan!lsuc!ncrcan!ziebmef![e-mail]  (Matthew Francey)
Subject: Re: STS-30 Press Release pack



First, I would like to thank Mr. Yee for posting the "press kit".  Real
information is always like a breath of fresh air...

But there seems to be a problem.  The IUS described in the kit does not seem
capable putting Magellan into an Earth-escape trajectory.

Here is the IUS as described:
    mass at ignition 15160kg (excludes Magellan)
    total mass at ignition 20750kg (includes Magellan)
    1st stage: burn time 150s thrust 187000N fuel 9700kg
        burn rate 65kg/s
        exhaust velocity 2.88km/s
    2nd stage: burn time 108s thrust  80000N fuel 2700kg
        burn rate 25kg/s
        exhaust velocity 3.20km/s

Here is how it is used:
    initial orbit is 297x297km (6675x6675km from geocentre)
        orbital speed is 7.73km/s.

    first stage burn
        the delta-V comes to 2.88*ln(20750/(20750-9700)) = 1.81km/s

    1st stage separate
        an unknown mass is jettisoned.  See below...

    wait 150s
        from the 1st stage burn, the resulting orbit has a semi-major
        axis of 14000km, and an eccentricity of 0.523.  Assuming that
        the IUS/Magellan is at the perigee of this orbit
        then at the end of the 150s wait, IUS/Magellan
        is now 6730km from the geocentre, and its speed is 9.49km/s.

    second stage burn
        the escape velocity at this point (6730km) is 10.88km/s.
        So, the IUS must now supply a velocity increment of at least
        1.39km/s.  From this, we can calculate the >minimum< mass of
        the jettisoned 1st stage.  Sparing the details, it comes to
        3390kg.

And this is the problem.  The inert (non-fuel) mass of the IUS at launch is
15160 (total IUS) - 9700 (total 1st stage fuel) - 2700 (total 2nd stage fuel)
= 2760kg.

It seems that a piece of Magellan will have to be disposed of as well.

Can someone explain this away?  Perhaps the engines on the IUS have a strange
thrust curve?  Maybe the data in the press-kit was incorrectly/badly rounded?
NASA has made a horrible mistake?  I can't use a calculator?
--
Name: Matthew Francey             Address: N43o34'13.5" W79o34'33.3" 86m
[e-mail]          uunet!utgpu!{ontmoh!moore,ncrcan}!ziebmef!mdf

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

Date: 21 Apr 89 10:07:07 GMT
From: mcvax!ukc!strath-cs!glasgow!bru-cc![e-mail]  (M D Ayton)
Subject: Re: Astrology

It just occured to me; how did the astrologers manage so well without
noticing that up to comparatively recently they were three planets
short? Since the existence of a further planet "X" is theorised, will
they admit that their horoscopes aren't quite as accurate ( >8-) ) as
they might be? The peepul have a right to know!

Martin.

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

End of SPACE Digest V9 #391
*******************