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Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #584

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 11 : Issue 584

Today's Topics:
         Please write to support SEI funding
         Re: Spacelab costs, pricing politics
         Re: Is there a backup HST mirror ???
     Re: Is there a backup HST mirror ??? (see sci.astro)
            Re: Public Perception Of Space
NASA chooses industry/university In-Space Technology studies (Forwarded)
           Re: NSS protests Chinese launch pricing
           Who saw the HST news conference?
           Hubble Space Telescope Update - 06/28/90

Administrivia:

    Submissions to the SPACE Digest/sci.space should be mailed to
  [e-mail].  Other mail, esp. [un]subscription notices,
  should be sent to [e-mail], or, if urgent, to
             [e-mail]

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

Date: 29 Jun 90 02:27:55 GMT
From: usc!samsung!umich!ox.com!itivax!vax3.iti.org![e-mail]  (Allen W. Sherzer)
Subject: Please write to support SEI funding

Shortly after July 9, 1990 the Senate Appropriation Subcommittee for
HUD, VA, and Independant Agencies will vote on the Space Exploration
Initiative in particular and the NASA budget in general. The House has
killed almost all funding for SEI so the Senate is the last chance to get
anything to hapen this year (or perhaps ever).

The chairperson of the Senate subcommittee (Senator Mikulski) is strongly
opposed to funding the Space Exploration Initiative (Moon and mars
exploration). There is an urgent need for people to write to some of the
other members of the subcommittee to generate support.

If you support SEI, please take a few minutes to write one of the Senators
listed below and express your support. Just a few lines asking for full
funding for SEI and a short statement on why you support it is all you need
to write. A handwritten note will be just fine.

Even if you called Senator Mikulski, there is still a need to write. She
doesn't support this and doesn't care how many people call her supporting
SEI or space in general.

The names and address of some key senators is listed below. If you are from
one of their states, write to them. Otherwise, write to the senator who's
state is closest to yours or select one at random. The letters need to arrive
by July 5 (next Thursday) to be effective.

Thank you for your help.

  Allen



U.S. Senator Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT)
433 RSOB
20510
TEL:[phone]
FAX:[phone]

U.S. Senator J. Bennett Johnston (D-LA)
136 HSOB
20510
TEL: [phone]
FAX: [phone]

U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ)
717 HSOB
20510
TEL:[phone]
FAX:[phone]

U.S. Senator Wyche Fowler, Jr. (D-GA)
204 RSOB
20510
TEL: [phone]
FAX: [phone]

U.S. Senator Robert Kerrey (D-NE)
302 HSOB
20510
TEL:[phone]
FAX:[phone]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Allen W. Sherzer         |          Death to all extremists!              |
|   [e-mail]            |                                                |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: 27 Jun 90 08:51:50 GMT
From: mcsun!ukc!icdoc!syma![e-mail]  (Nick Watkins)
Subject: Re: Spacelab costs, pricing politics

From article <[e-mail]>, by [e-mail]:
> ... Spacelab is considered more a "dead end" (because of its Shuttle reliance)
> and Ariane is the "European success story".
What about the Columbus pressurized module, is this not a Spacelab
derivative ?

Nick
--
Dr. Nick Watkins, Space & Plasma Physics Group, School of Mathematical
& Physical Sciences, Univ. of Sussex, Brighton, E.Sussex, BN1 9QH, ENGLAND
JANET: [e-mail]   BITNET: [e-mail]

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

Date: 28 Jun 90 00:50:58 GMT
From: sunybcs!ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu![e-mail]  (collie)
Subject: Re: Is there a backup HST mirror ???

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Bryce Nordgren) writes...
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Mark Robert Thorson) writes:

>>Now that the HST is safely in orbit, what happens to the backup mirror
>>(assuming there was one)?  Will it be auctioned as scrap?


>Providing that one does actually exist, it may be sent up to fix the
>"spherical aberration" mentioned in another article. ;)

>   ---Brycen

                    *********************

        No.The cost would be too high for NASA,and the G.A.O also
  would kick up a big fuss.(The purse is closed.)

                        *********************

>PS - I'm a new user and have never posted to this net before.  I tried to
>find and view the "nettiquette" document, but the system said we didn't have
>the newsgroup that it was in.  Could someone please mail it to me?  I've
>really enjoyed the discussion in here, and would like to participate, but
>don't want to step on any toes.  Your help is much appreciated.


*******************************************************************************


                       Can there be order in Chaos ?


********************************************************************************

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

Date: 28 Jun 90 23:31:53 GMT
From: swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!uflorida!rex!rouge![e-mail]  (Fraering Philip)
Subject: Re: Is there a backup HST mirror ??? (see sci.astro)

With reference to the previous message (you can read it using ctrl-p in rrn,
or just use tree-mode in gnus) they _can_, if neccesary, bring HST
back to Earth to be fixed?

_Maybe_, with the shuttle backlog being the way it is, a
Buran could be used...

Philip Fraering
[e-mail]
"I'm troubled, I'm dissatisfied, and I'm Irish." : Marianne Moore.

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

Date: 27 Jun 90 14:17:14 GMT
From: [e-mail]  (Jon C. Slenk)
Subject: Re: Public Perception Of Space

Re: spending government's money on things...
After discussing it with some friends, I see that while I had the right
idea (government out of non-military space), the reasoning was somewhat
fallacious. I would like to clear it up.

* The government should only spend time and effort in securing human
rights and liberties (this means protecting people from force). This means
the police, the military and the court systems are all valid things for
the government to be involved in. (I believe that it is only the
government that should have the ability to initiate force.)

* Space is expensive, right now.

* Space has a lot of benefits, if one can grab them.

* The current view of space is that since it is expensize, and since there
are lots of benefits to be had by entering into space exploration, a
natural candidate for the job is the government: it has a lot of person
power and it has a lot of capital to invest. Where free market companies
may not wish to go because it is economiaclly unfeasable, the government
may tread because it doesn't worry so much about "making a profit."

* Profit is a term that means (in my lexicon) net benefit. If there is no
profit in an action, then there is no reason to take it. The free market
is supposed to reflect this idea, in that no company will get involved in
something that has no chance of being profitable. The government, and a
lot of the public, however, don't seem to care about profit. If the
government can afford to do it, then supposedly they should do it because
to them money doesn't mean as much and there are benefits to be had.

* Overall, the situation is, as I see it, this:
    The government shouldn't do anything other than protect rights.
    The concept of a free market should do everything else.
    Space is currently being "taken care of" by government
institutions, funded by our taxes (another matter!), and it is not purely
military in nature (hubble).

Thus, the problem! Hope this makes my position somewhat clearer
(in that I think people have the wrong ideas regarding the purpose of a
government).

Sincerely,
-Jon.

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

Date: 28 Jun 90 00:26:54 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: NASA chooses industry/university In-Space Technology studies (Forwarded)

Mary Sandy
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
(Phone:  [phone])                          June 27, 1990


RELEASE:  90-88

NASA CHOOSES INDUSTRY/UNIVERSITY IN-SPACE TECHNOLOGY STUDIES

     NASA's Office of Aeronautics, Exploration and Technology
(OAET) has selected 11 proposals for development of space flight
technology experiments and 4 proposals for further study in its
In-Space Technology Experiments Program (IN-STEP).

     Since 1987, IN-STEP has stimulated the aerospace engineering
community to work with NASA in making greater use of the Space
Shuttle, expendable launch vehicles and Space Station Freedom for
space research and technology experiments.

     The current program provides technology advancements that
will extend U.S. leadership in space.  The latest solicitation
was second in a series sponsored by OAET.

     The 11 proposals selected for development of space flight
technology experiments are:

*   "Electrolysis Performance Improvement Concepts Study," Life
System, Inc., Cleveland

*   "Liquid Motion in a Rotating Tank," Southwest Research
Institute, San Antonio, Texas

*   "In-Step Venting Experiment," Martin Marietta Corporation,
Astronautics Group, Denver

*   "Large Inflatable Paraboloid Accuracy Measurement," L'Garde,
Inc., Tustin, Calif.

*   "Development and In-Space Evaluation of a High Stability
Hydrogen-Maser Clock," Smithsonian Institution Astrophysical
Observatory, Cambridge, Mass.

*   "In-Step Integrated Two-Phase Thermal Experiment," TRW Space
and Technology Group, Redondo Beach, Calif.

*   "Space Cryogenic System Experiment," Hughes Aircraft Co., El
Segundo, Calif.

*   "Jitter Suppression for Precision Space Structures,"
McDonnell Douglas Missile System Co., St. Louis

*   "Measurement and Modeling of Joint Damping in Space
Structures," Utah State University, Logan, Utah

*   "Permeable Membrane Plant Nutrient Delivery Experiment,"
Boeing Aerospace and Electronics Co., Seattle

*   "Mode II:  Reflight of the Middeck Zero-Gravity Dynamics
Experiment with the Middeck Active Control Experiment Test
Article," Massachusetts Institute of Technology Space Engineering
Research Center, Cambridge, Mass.

     The four proposals for further study are:

*   "Sodium Sulfur (NaS) Battery Flight Experiment," Ford
Aerospace Corporation, Palo Alto, Calif.

*   "Optical Properties Monitor," AZ Technology, Huntsville, Ala.

*   "Risk-Based Fire Safety," University of California, Los
Angeles (UCLA)

*   "Microgravity Measurement & Management," University of
Alabama at Huntsville, Huntsville, Ala.

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

Date: 27 Jun 90 23:47:31 GMT
From: usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!zardoz.cpd.com!dhw68k!ofa123![e-mail]  (David Anderman)
Subject: Re: NSS protests Chinese launch pricing

Again, my question is: should the National Space Society oppose the
creation of a spacefaring civilization (if it is to be launched by
Chinese rockets)?


--- Opus-CBCS 1.13
 * Origin: Universal Electronics, Inc. (1:103/302.0)
--
uucp:     David Anderman
Internet: [e-mail]
BBS:      714 544-0934   2400/1200/300

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

Date: 28 Jun 90 13:15:11 GMT
From: eru!luth!sunic!mcsun!unido!mpirbn![e-mail]  (Daniel Fischer)
Subject: Who saw the HST news conference?

Is there someone out there in the U.S. who saw and videotaped the news
conference at GSFC yesterday regarding the HST mirror? NASA Select TV is not
available in Europe, but this time I would go quite far to get FIRST-HAND
info on what's really going on: could someone send me an *audio* tape copy
of this event - all expenses would be paid by me, of course? Unfortunately,
U.S. video doesn't run at all on PAL recorders, but judging on the few
'sound bites' broadcast by AP NETWORK NEWS, this news conference was quite
informative even by just hearing it.

+- [e-mail] --- Daniel Fischer --- [e-mail] -+
| Max-Planck-Institut f. Radioastronomie, Auf dem Huegel 69, D-5300 Bonn 1,FRG |
+----- Enjoy the Universe - it's the only one you're likely to experience -----+

P.S.: Isn't this a remarkable gap between the press releases by NASA & ESA and
the HST reality until yesterday? Just recall that
 -> Several times it was stated that the HST images were *sharper* than
    expected, which was echoed in many learned journals,e.g. SCIENCE of 1 June.
    The halo problem of the Point Spread Function was discussed solely on
    various bulletin board systems (since early June) but never in the press.
 -> NASA and ESA have distributed their WF/PC resp. FOC first light pictures
    with all of the spherical aberration halo clipped off - although they must
    have *known* that this halo contained 90-93% of all the photons, while the
    0.15 arc sec peak in the middle gets just 7-10% (figures from ST-ECF @ ESO)
 -> At the 176th AAS meeting the HST project leaders "repeated most often:
    THERE IS NO REASON, AT THIS TIME, TO EXPECT THAT HST WILL NOT LIVE UP TO
    ALL ITS DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS!" as Eric Jagerlund reported on sci.astro
    on 18 June (Message [e-mail]) - at a time when
    it must have been totally clear that the halo would refuse to go away...

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

Date: 28 Jun 90 19:02:10 GMT
From: sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Hubble Space Telescope Update - 06/28/90


                          Hubble Space Telescope Update
                                June 28, 1990

     At least one of the two mirrors in the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was
built in the wrong shape and will not work properly. The flaw most seriously
affects the Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WFPC) and the Faint Object Camera
(FOC) which use visible light but doesn't affect as heavily four other
instruments which do not depend heavily on crisp, clean visible images. The
WFPC, that was to do 40 percent of the scientific work, will not be usable and
the FOC will not work as hoped.

     Even with a bad mirror the HST will still be usable with the instruments
that use ultraviolet or infrared light. Infrared and ultraviolet astronomy will
get priority over visible light astronomy and the HST should still be able to
detect distant quasars, as well as study closer objects like Jupiter's Great
Red Spot.

    The mirrors were not tested together before launch because that would have
cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Even after HST was assembled the system
was so delicately balanced it could not be calibrated and tested under the
influence of Earth's gravity.

     Ground controllers may be able to compensate for some of the problems,
but a permanent correction will have to wait two or three years for astronauts
to visit the craft and replace some of the parts.  Corrective optics on a
second generation of instruments currently under construction may compensate
for the spherical aberration, and could be available for launch in 1993, 1996
and 1997.

     The problem with the mirrors is suspected to have happened during the
time the mirrors were measured and polished.  The mirrors were ground to
shape in Perkin Elmer's optics fabrication facility, and once the mirrors
were close to their final hyperboloidal shape, they were transferred to the
Perkin Elmer's computer controlled polishing facility.  They were measured
and polished very carefully; the largest deviation from perfection anywhere
on the surface of the mirrors is less than half a millionth of an inch.
However, the process was probably done to a wrong figure somewhere during
this time.
      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   Jet Propulsion Lab | [e-mail]
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  M/S 301-355        |
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/   Pasadena, CA 91109 |

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

End of SPACE Digest V11 #584
*******************