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Subject: SPACE Digest V9 #464

SPACE Digest                                      Volume 9 : Issue 464

Today's Topics:
             space news from May 1 AW&ST
        Re: Proposed improvements for Arecibo
               Magellan update
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 29 May 89 03:23:20 GMT
From: mailrus!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: space news from May 1 AW&ST

Editorial criticizing both DoD for trying to refuse further funding for
the Aerospace Plane and NASA for offering to scale it down to an "unfocused,
interminable technology research effort".

Soviets offer to sell multispectral digital images at 4-5m resolution, price
negotiable.  [Previously the only thing they've sold at that resolution has
been actual photographs on film; most of their customers want digital data.]

Spot's 1988 fiscal year a considerable success.  In FY87 60% of Spot sales
were to the French government, but that percentage is now down to 30%,
mostly because of nearly 100% growth in overall sales.

NASA offers to take over the Aerospace Plane, converting it to a technology
development effort.  3-4 years from now, with the technology well pinned
down, NASA would ask DoD to fund the test vehicle.  The result, obviously,
would be about a 4-year delay in the first flight.  [If lucky, that is.]

DoD budget cutting delays Boost Surveillance Tracking Satellite system,
SDI's foot in the door toward full deployment, six months.  This slips
a full-scale development decision to next year, to everyone's relief.

Volkov, Krikalev, and Polyakov return from Mir April 27, leaving Mir
unmanned until August.  The next crew's major task will be to activate
the two planned add-on modules.  Soviets deny reports of electrical
power problems aboard Mir, although there are reports from people
monitoring Mir radio traffic of discussions of electrical difficulties.
Kvant's astrophysics instruments will continue to transmit data while
Mir is unmanned.

NASA picks Lockheed/Aerojet team to build the ASRM, despite safety panel
urgings that the project be dropped.  Truly says the panel did not have
current information due to restrictions imposed by the bidding process,
and they will now be fully briefed.  The government-owned plant to build
the new SRB will be privately financed, postponing the need for NASA to
supply funds for it.  Financial details have not been revealed.  There
is debate about whether this is really going to save money, although the
point may be moot since OMB refused to let NASA spend anything on it in
FY1990.  NASA will need special approval from Congress to sign a deal
with a cancellation penalty, to protect the financiers.  The plant will
supposedly ship its first flight-cleared motors in 1994, after which use
of the current Morton Thiokol SRBs will be phased out over three years.
Apart from getting rid of MT [about time!], the new motors will boost
shuttle payload by about 12 klbs.  The new motors will have one less
field joint and the joint design will be different, but details will not
be disclosed until negotiations are complete.  Aerojet says the joints
are designed so that the seals can be inspected right up to the moment
the joint is locked in place, another improvement.  The new motor is
slightly fatter than the old one -- diameter 150in instead of 146in --
allowing an extra 200 klbs of fuel per motor.  Motor performance will
be tailored to eliminate the need to throttle back the SSMEs during the
period of maximum aerodynamic pressure, another safety win.

NASA begins to review space station to decide whether to delay, scale
down, or just cancel if anticipated budget cuts happen.  House subcommittee
tells NASA to figure out by May 6 what it would do about a $400M cut in
the $2G station budget for FY90, plus $500-600M off FY91.  The cuts are
not yet firm but are widely considered inevitable.  NASA has spent over
$1G to date and would need to spend another $2G or so in termination fees
etc. if the project were cancelled, but this is still small compared to
the full cost of the project.  NASA continues to make noises about killing
the project if it is cut too far, but will not say how far is too far;
rumor hath it that $1.5G is about right.

Station managers deny that there are any plans for a scaled-down station
if the current one dies, but Marshall is known to have looked at the idea.
Cancellation would, of course, mean reneging on the agreements with Canada,
Europe, and Japan, at a time when the USSR is wooing potential international
partners in its space program.  NASA says termination would be a disaster
that would conclusively prove the US is not a reliable partner.  [Actually
many already tend to feel that way, but station cancellation would remove
any lingering doubts.]  The station does have quiet a bit of Congressional
support, but Congress is running out of innovative ways to fund it.  NASA
is not keen on a suggestion that DoD chip in, as NASA thinks such funding
unreliable and the loss of control too severe.

Rep. Lawrence Coughlin suggests reversing the no-commercial-payloads policy
of the shuttle, in hopes that it will start earning its keep again.  "We
need a return on our investment."  [Lordy.]

Subcommittee criticizes NASA for not (quite) meeting its commitment to
spend 20% of its budget on space science.  Sharp criticism of cancellation
of $25M for Gravity Probe B, but NASA says money is tight and it was not a
high priority.

Subcommittee warns NASA not to spend money on the Crew Emergency Rescue
Vehicle for the station until the subcommittee sorts out NASA's funding.
NASA would like to contract for design studies.  Dale Myers, acting NASA
administrator, says NASA is still not sure how capable the vehicle needs
to be, and more study is needed to produce a full definition of the types
of emergencies that might require the vehicle.  [Isn't there anybody in
NASA who can make a decision without 50 kg of paper to back him up?!?]

West German government approves formation of, essentially, a German Space
Agency with central responsibility for planning and execution of government
space activities.  Oddly, it will be government-funded but nominally a
private corporation.

US and USSR agree to develop "joint operational performance standards" for
Navstar and Glonass so civil users, notably aviation, can easily use both.

Soviets have apparently decided not to bring a shuttle orbiter to the Paris
airshow, although the An-225 Mriya, its carrier aircraft, will appear.

Eosat recommends US government fund Landsat 7, to maintain US leadership
and avoid a data gap late in the 1990s.  Landsat 4 and 5 are on their
last legs, especially financially, and Landsat 6 will not be ready for
launch until 1991; a data gap is probable.  Another is likely in 1996 or
thereabouts if a decision on Landsat 7 is not made soon.  However, Eosat
says the US probably can't get more than about 10% of the satellite data
market in the late 90s even if Landsat 7 goes up.  Among other consequences,
this makes private funding of L7 quite impossible.  There are other reasons
for that too.  Will data from the Mission To Planet Earth program be made
available without charge?  Will US weather-satellite data continue to be
available at a nominal cost?  (Eosat says this has lost them customers
already.)  What happens if a satellite fails unexpectedly, given that there
are no backups and no prospect of finding enough money to insure the
operational birds?  Will Congress reverse its earlier decision to prohibit
a merger of the weather and Earth-resources satellites under private
management (which would permit cost savings by merging satellites, and
make government weather-satellite money available)?  The National Space
Council is studying future US involvement in remote sensing, including
the possibility of getting out of the business; a report including
recommendations to Bush is expected this month.

Italian Space Agency awards its first contracts, for work on the SAX
X-ray satellite and the SAR-X imaging-radar shuttle payload.  There
is concern that the agency needs to start moving a bit more quickly or
a number of programs will be hurt by slow decision-making; the SAX and
SAR-X decisions came at the last possible minute.

First Commercial Titan launcher arrives at the Cape.

NASA to test a parafoil system, developed by Pioneer Aerospace, for
precision landings by parachute of launcher components weighing up to
60 klbs.  The parafoil, a gliding parachute, looks okay on paper, but
reefing [gradual opening] is utterly necessary because parafoils open
very abruptly, and reefing big parafoils is tricky.  Pioneer has a
new approach.  Parafoils have a particular advantage over conventional
parachute systems because by flaring a parafoil (making an abrupt pull-up
to trade forward speed for a reduction in sink rate), the landing can be
made gentle enough to eliminate the need for retrorockets or other
impact-cushioning devices.
--
Van Allen, adj: pertaining to  |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
deadly hazards to spaceflight. | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry [e-mail]

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

Date: 26 May 89 02:26:21 GMT
From: bfmny0![e-mail]  (Tom Neff)
Subject: Re: Proposed improvements for Arecibo

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (John Roberts) writes:
>The expected cost for these modifications is $20 million. NASA has offered
>to provide half of that, but finding the remaining $10 million has been a
>problem.

Just to keep it in perspective, $10 million equals 18 PM (Pentagon-Minutes).
--
Tom Neff                UUCP:     ...!uunet!bfmny0!tneff
    "Truisms aren't everything."    Internet: [e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 25 May 89 12:06:57 PST
From: Peter Scott <[e-mail]>
Subject: Magellan update
X-Vms-Mail-To: EXOS%"[e-mail]"

From:    EXOS%"[e-mail]" 24-MAY-1989 06:25
To:    PJS
Subj:     IV

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TO:      PETER SCOTT
FROM:    TERRY T.
DATE:    5/24/89
RE:      INSIGHT IV


I'm still in France (Nice - Insight 1). Todays victory is that I
got my EZlink to work here (after several Frenchmen said
"impossible...you can't...).

Yes tell George M-M our current numbers and that it is possible
we will have only one ropes day. I have already told him this
about a month ago. You can bring him up to date. We'll have the
final number when the training begins. Maybe there will be many
like me who show up on the last day.

If the final numbers are low (below 50) I don't want to use Bill
Herz this year. Budget reasons. I haven't heard anything from
Holly about Herz. Maybe you can get me the info. Has she
contacted him? If so, what is his fee? Where did she leave off
with him?

No, we didn't deliberately schedule Cara to conflict with the
picnic. When we first laid out the IV schedule, we didn't know
about the conference schedule. Maybe Cara can creatively combine
what she does with the picnic...
Take care.

TT

P.S. As you can see (below) I'm still getting 2 - 4 copies of
your EZlink messages.
================================================================


/MBX
EASYLINK MBX 4353940A001 23MAY89 22:05/06:55 EST
FROM: 9103803354 DAS-LMS
      D A SYSTEMS INC
TO:   62811079

SUBJ: IS_IV
Hi.

Boy, I hate to say this.

Enrollment is still 32 + 7-10 South Americans (couldn't believe
it.  Is
someone picking them off as them come through the door?).

IF we have less than 60 people you know that we will do the
ropes on one day instead of two.

Our own logistical preparations are flexible; I'm not even
concerned about Sally.  I do think that we owe George a
timely decision, since he has a team to coordinate and
other factors that cost him money.  Especially in view of
what he told me a few months ago about needing to know as
soon as possible if we went on one day instead of two, when
that was an extremely remote possibility.

I can discuss the situation with him if you give me an idea
of what position you want to take.  There's a good chance I'll
see him or Gail on Saturday (27th); I'm going to Running Springs
to show a bevy of lawyers around the accident scene and they
tell
me that George or Gail will be there.  I'm sure he'll want to
know how enrollment is going for IV.  I wouldn't want to strain
our relations with George by holding back on information that
affects him.

Other stuff: Holly tells me that Bill Herz is unconfirmed as
yet.  Is this just a formality, or is there a real possibility
that he won't be there?  Do you have a phone number for him
so I can ask him what he needs for logistical support?

Love,
     Peter
Still holding out for 80 (remembering a couple of Leadership
trainings where enrollment was similarly hair-raising).

-----------------
62840442:
DEST: [DEX1PS]pjscott
SUBJ: IV

>From DASnet: [DEX1PS]pjscott

 MMMM


EASYLINK MBX 4353970A001 23MAY89 22:06/06:55 EST
FROM: 9103803354 DAS-LMS
      D A SYSTEMS INC
TO:   62811079

SUBJ: July_1

Am I missing something, or did we deliberately schedule Cara
on Saturday July 1, knowing that the picnic and Heartfelt
Project are that day?  Last time the picnic coincided with
IV ('87) it was a free day.

Holly (this is going to TT & HD): have the Cross pens been
ordered?  Do you have all the replies for the presenters'
dinner?

Love,
     Peter
----------------------------
62840442:
DEST: [DEX1PS]pjscott
SUBJ: IV

>From DASnet: [DEX1PS]pjscott

 MMMM


EASYLINK MBX 4382820A001 24MAY89 04:37/06:56 EST
FROM: 9103803354 DAS-LMS
      D A SYSTEMS INC
TO:   62811079

SUBJ: IS_IV
Hi.

Boy, I hate to say this.

Enrollment is still 32 + 7-10 South Americans (couldn't believe
it.  Is
someone picking them off as them come through the door?).

IF we have less than 60 people you know that we will do the
ropes on one day instead of two.

Our own logistical preparations are flexible; I'm not even
concerned about Sally.  I do think that we owe George a
timely decision, since he has a team to coordinate and
other factors that cost him money.  Especially in view of
what he told me a few months ago about needing to know as
soon as possible if we went on one day instead of two, when
that was an extremely remote possibility.

I can discuss the situation with him if you give me an idea
of what position you want to take.  There's a good chance I'll
see him or Gail on Saturday (27th); I'm going to Running Springs
to show a bevy of lawyers around the accident scene and they
tell
me that George or Gail will be there.  I'm sure he'll want to
know how enrollment is going for IV.  I wouldn't want to strain
our relations with George by holding back on information that
affects him.

Other stuff: Holly tells me that Bill Herz is unconfirmed as
yet.  Is this just a formality, or is there a real possibility
that he won't be there?  Do you have a phone number for him
so I can ask him what he needs for logistical support?

Love,
     Peter
Still holding out for 80 (remembering a couple of Leadership
trainings where enrollment was similarly hair-raising).

-----------------
62840442:

>From DASnet: [DEX1PS]pjscott

 MMMM


EASYLINK MBX 4382871A001 24MAY89 04:38/06:56 EST
FROM: 9103803354 DAS-LMS
      D A SYSTEMS INC
TO:   62811079

SUBJ: July_1

Am I missing something, or did we deliberately schedule Cara
on Saturday July 1, knowing that the picnic and Heartfelt
Project are that day?  Last time the picnic coincided with
IV ('87) it was a free day.

Holly (this is going to TT & HD): have the Cross pens been
ordered?  Do you have all the replies for the presenters'
dinner?

Love,
     Peter
----------------------------
62840442:

>From DASnet: [DEX1PS]pjscott

 MMMM

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

End of SPACE Digest V9 #464
*******************