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Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #347

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 11 : Issue 347

Today's Topics:
            Jonathan's Space Report, May 1
   Re: Niven's inertialess drive (was Re: Dyson spheres, heat flow)
           Re: Off-the-shelf hardware for launchers
NASA names Taylor Chief Scientist for Freedom Space Station (Forwarded)
      Re: >>... Hermes will be mostly aluminum, for example, not
               Re: French art in orbit?
        Re: (How to get rid of) space garbage
              Re: Fermi paradox
             Re: Hubble Telescope
       Re: NASA Headline News for 05/02/90 (Forwarded)
        Re: (How to get rid of) space garbage
           Payload Status for 05/02/90 (Forwarded)
              Re: Fermi paradox
      Re: >>... Hermes will be mostly aluminum, for example, not
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 1 May 90 19:01:36 GMT
From: frooz!cfa250![e-mail]  (Jonathan McDowell)
Subject: Jonathan's Space Report, May 1

Jonathan's Space Report

May 1 1990 (no.37)
----------------------------------------------------

The Hubble Space Telescope is in its Orbital
Verification phase. The High Gain Antenna #2 has
been disentangled from its power cable.

Discovery landed at Edwards on Apr 29.
Columbia rolled out to Complex 39A on Apr 22. Its cargo
is the Astro-1 Spacelab payload and the BBXRT x-ray
telescope. Launch is due for May 16.

Anatoli Solov'yov (Komandir) and Aleksandr Balandin (Bortinzhener)
continue in orbit aboard the Mir complex. The Soyuz TM-9 transport
and the Progress M-3 freighter are currently at the station.
Solov'yov and Balandin have been in space for 78 days. Progress M-4
is being prepared for launch.

Kosmos-2074, a Soviet Navy navigation satellite, was launched
on Apr 20.

A Soviet Molniya-1 comsat was launched on Apr 26.

(c) 1990 Jonathan McDowell

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

Date: 2 May 90 06:32:18 GMT
From: uokmax![e-mail]  (Steven P Coltrin)
Subject: Re: Niven's inertialess drive (was Re: Dyson spheres, heat flow)

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Clive D.W. Feather) writes:
>But in "Flatlander" an Outsider ship accelerates Beowulf and Elephant to 0.9c
>in a matter of minutes. This can't be a simple reaction drive; it has to act
>on the occupants as well as the ship, or they'd be squashed.
>
The Outsiders likely just have unghodly gravity generators and are able to
compensate.  I'm not nearly sure, but I think one of the Louis Wu stories
mentions grav. generators needed to compensate for thruster acceleration.

   --SPC

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

Date: 2 May 90 17:45:06 GMT
From: pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!rex!rouge![e-mail]  (Fraering Philip)
Subject: Re: Off-the-shelf hardware for launchers

Probrably so. The second space-van design was, if my memory serves me,
mostly off the shelf.

Phil Fraering
[e-mail]

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

Date: 2 May 90 20:14:10 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: NASA names Taylor Chief Scientist for Freedom Space Station (Forwarded)

Mark Hess
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                        May 2, 1990
(Phone:  [phone])


RELEASE:  90-61

NASA NAMES TAYLOR CHIEF SCIENTIST FOR FREEDOM SPACE STATION


     William W. L. Taylor of TRW, Redondo Beach, Calif., has been
named Chief Scientist for the Space Station Freedom program,
Richard H. Kohrs, Director, Space Station Freedom announced
today.  In this position, Taylor will be the principal advocate
for the space science community in the space station program.

     Taylor has been with TRW since 1978, most recently as
Assistant Department Manager of the Physical Sciences Department
of the Applied Technology Division.  He is the Principal
Investigator of the Waves in Space Plasmas investigation and the
High Voltage Drainage investigation carried aboard the Long
Duration Exposure Facility recently returned to Earth by the
Space Shuttle after almost 6 years in space.

     Taylor also is the U.S. Science Coordinator for ACTIVE, an
international experiment on the propagation of low frequency
radio waves, and a co-investigator on the Space Experiments with
Particle Accelerators investigation.  He is working with TRW on
the proposed Neutral Environment With Plasma Interaction
Monitoring System for the Freedom space station.

     Prior to joining TRW, Taylor worked with NASA where he was
Program Scientist for Spacelab 1.  Taylor is the third person
named to the 2-year chief scientist post for the Freedom program
and the first to come from industry.  Previous appointees were
Dr. David Black, formerly of the Ames Research Center, Mountain
View, Calif., and now Director of the Lunar and Planetary
Institute, Houston, and Dr. John-David Bartoe with the Naval
Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C.

     Taylor holds a bachelor's degree from the University of
Redlands and a master of science and a doctorate from the
University of Iowa.

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

Date: 2 May 90 06:46:16 GMT
From: hplabsb![e-mail]  (David Smith)
Subject: Re: >>... Hermes will be mostly aluminum, for example, not

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Mark Perew) writes:
>I heard somewhere that Dyna-soar would have been made out of
>titanium.  According to that source a titanium vehicle would not
>need the tiles used by the shuttle.

Right, but because it would come down differently.  The Shuttle does a
belly-buster into the atmosphere.  Dyna-Soar was to dip in at a shallow
angle, and glide back out to let the heat radiate away.  It would have made
several dips into and out of the atmosphere before getting slowed down
enough to come on in.  It wasn't called Dyna(mic) Soar(ing) for nothing.
--
    David R. Smith, HP Labs
    [e-mail]
    [phone]

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

Date: 2 May 90 12:12:31 GMT
From: mcsun!ukc!icdoc!syma![e-mail]  (Andy Clews)
Subject: Re: French art in orbit?

From article <[e-mail]>, by [e-mail] (Edward V. Wright):
: [e-mail] (Mark SOKOLOWSKI) writes:
:
::I don't remember the name of the 2 satellites that were lauched in the 60's,
::but I know they were deisgned to reflect radio waves and their mission was
::a failure due to the rapid deflation provoked by micrometoeritic impacts.
:
: Echo.

PAGEOS too, I think? Survived in orbit for some years but I think it
eventually broke up as a result of decay caused by solar radiation.

--
Andy Clews, Computing Service, Univ. of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QN, England
JANET: [e-mail]   BITNET: [e-mail]

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

Date: 3 May 90 03:04:26 GMT
From: zephyr.ens.tek.com!tektronix!percy![e-mail]  (Gary Wells)
Subject: Re: (How to get rid of) space garbage

Being a true beliver in KISS, why not just deploy a BIG net from the shuttle.
This could be done routinely (on any mission where the cargo bay is returning
empty), so that over time a large area what be 'swept'.  Most misson seems to
have a few orbits after the prime mission is accomplished.  The crew could just
'throw the net out' and go about their secondary tasks.  Last thing before
heading home, they reel it in.  If nothing else, NASA makes a few bucks by
selling the resulting scrap metal.

I wonder why they aren't going around picking up the dead satellites, anyway.
What great additions to the Air & Space Muesums.  What a wealth of knowledge
about the long term effects of space on materials.  And if we happened to pick
up a couple that didn't belong to us, who's to know :-)

I realize a lot of the objects are higher than the shuttle goes, but obviously, a lot aren't.

--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Still working on _natural_ intelligence.

gary@percy   (...!tektronix!percy!gary)

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

Date: 1 May 90 22:35:54 GMT
From: jfcl.dec.com!imokay.dec.com![e-mail]  (Doug Borsom)
Subject: Re: Fermi paradox

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Christopher Neufeld) writes:

>   No, I think you can say that the probability that there is exactly
>one life-bearing planet in the universe is no more than 1/e.

What if r=0?  Is the fact that life occurred on earth sufficient to
prove r > 0 for the purposes of your calculations?

While I strongly suspect that we are not alone, I believe Phil
Nelson is correct in asserting that we simply haven't enough
data to know.

"Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler."  A. Einstein

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

Date: 2 May 90 11:21:48 GMT
From: mcsun!ukc!edcastle![e-mail]  (A J Cunningham)
Subject: Re: Hubble Telescope

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Russ Tillman) writes:
>I remember back in the 70's, that while enroute to
>Jupiter, Pioneer took a picture of both the earth and the moon in the same
>frame.  A picture like that get's people thinking!

    My copy attributes the picture to Voyager and says it's the only
one of its kind. I can't imagine why Pioneer or Mariner or Viking
couldn't have done it. Can anyone say definitely which it is? Definitely
a picture that makes you say "Wow!"
        Tony


--
Tony Cunningham, Edinburgh University Computing Service. [e-mail]

    Yuppies think I'm a wino 'cos I seem to have no class,
    Girls think I'm perverted 'cos I watch them as they pass.

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

Date: 2 May 90 19:59:38 GMT
From: swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!jarthur![e-mail]  (John H. Kim)
Subject: Re: NASA Headline News for 05/02/90 (Forwarded)

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Peter E. Yee) writes:
>
>The 747 carrier aircraft with Discovery firmly attached is
                                         ^^^^^^

Does this mean a shuttle was once "loosely" attached and
almost fell off? :-)
--
John H. Kim                 | (This space to be filled when I
[e-mail] | think of something very clever
uunet!jarthur!jokim         | to use as a disclaimer)

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

Date: 2 May 90 17:41:15 GMT
From: sdd.hp.com!samsung!rex!rouge![e-mail]  (Fraering Philip)
Subject: Re: (How to get rid of) space garbage

Lately there has been some discussion of space debris on the
space-tech mailing list.
I think to subscribe: [e-mail]

Philip Fraering
[e-mail]

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

Date: 2 May 90 20:03:50 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Payload Status for 05/02/90 (Forwarded)


    Daily Status/KSC Payload Management and Operations 05-02-90.


    - STS-31R HST (at VPF) -

    Post launch GSE removal continues.


    - STS-35 ASTRO-1/BBXRT (at Pad-A) -

    GSE PR work-off is active today.


    - STS-40 SLS-1 (at O&C) -

    Experiment train interface testing and ECS systems checks
    are continuing.


    - STS-42 IML-1 (at O&C) -

    Module pyrell foam replacement, floor staging, and rack
    staging were worked Monday and will continue today.


    - STS-45 Atlas-1 (at O&C) -

    Keel installation was worked Tuesday.  Coldplate
    installations are scheduled for today.


    - STS-46 TSS-1 (at O&C) -

    EMP deintegration continues.


    - STS-47 Spacelab-J (at O&C) -

    No activity is scheduled for today.


    - STS-55 SL-D2 (at O&C) -

    Rack 12 staging continues.  The micro-G environment transfer
    test was completed Tuesday.


    - HST M&R (at O&C) -

    ORUC interface testing continues today.

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

Date: 1 May 90 22:32:58 GMT
From: clyde.concordia.ca!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!torsqnt!lethe!yunexus!ists!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!physics.utoronto.ca![e-mail]  (Christopher Neufeld)
Subject: Re: Fermi paradox

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Herman Rubin) writes:
>
>Your betting scheme should depend on your prior probabilities.  The calculation
>assumes something about "uninformativeness" which is, unfortunately, totally
>self-inconsistent.  The nature of the assumptions are the same whether it is
>the existence of life or the existence of intellingent bipedal mammalian
>life using electronic computer, with the most commonly used "international"
>language having a 26-letter alphabet with upper and lower case, etc.  This
>is clearly not so.
>
   Absolutely right. I wasn't thinking clearly. I ignored what is often
called the "anthropic principle". Sorry about that.


--
 Christopher Neufeld....Just a graduate student  |  "Spock, comment?"
 [e-mail]              |  "Very bad poetry
 [e-mail]          Ad astra! | captain."
 "Don't edit reality for the sake of simplicity" |

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

Date: 2 May 90 16:36:19 GMT
From: convex![e-mail]  (Edward V. Wright)
Subject: Re: >>... Hermes will be mostly aluminum, for example, not

[e-mail] (Mark Perew) writes:

>I heard somewhere that Dyna-soar would have been made out of
>titanium.  According to that source a titanium vehicle would not
>need the tiles used by the shuttle.  The reason the shuttle uses
>tiles is that titanium is so blasted hard to work with that it
>was "expected" to be cheaper to  develop the tile technology than
>to use known processes using titanium.
>
>Can someone shed some light on the veracity of these comments?

I don't recall whether the X-20 airframe was going to be titanium
or aluminum, but the thermal protection system was to be sheets
(rather than tiles) of ablative material that would be replaced
between flights.

There have been proposals for shuttle-like vehicles that use a
refractory ("hot-metal") thermal protection systems -- Third
Millenium's Space Van, for example -- but the alloys used are
considerably more exotic than titanium.  This type of TPS works
best for vehicles that are small and light.  It was considered
for the Shuttle, until DoD requirements forced NASA to double
the size of the orbiter to carry a 65,000-lb payload.

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

End of SPACE Digest V11 #347
*******************