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Subject: SPACE Digest V12 #643

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 12 : Issue 643

Today's Topics:
           Re: Booster news from 19 November AW&ST
           Re: Sending Sen. Garn into space
         NASA Headline News for 12/04/90 (Forwarded)
      Astro-1 Status for 12/03/90 [1350 CST] (Forwarded)
        UIT Status for 12/03/90 [1430 CST] (Forwarded)
             Re: Fluorine/ammonia engines
           Re: Sending Sen. Garn into space
     Thanks from "star gazer...maybe"..Bob and 8 year old
              Re: Photon engine
           Re: atmospheric pressure on Mars

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: 4 Dec 90 18:28:55 GMT
From: usc!wuarchive!rex!rouge![e-mail]  (Fraering Philip)
Subject: Re: Booster news from 19 November AW&ST

Actually, flourine would be used as the oxidizer in the system.

Both the U.S. and the S.U. have looked at these, but the exhaust
has posed a very difficult problem. It is Hydroflouric Acid.

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

Date: 5 Dec 90 15:41:29 GMT
From: swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!riverdale.toronto.edu![e-mail]  (Mark Gabriele )
Subject: Re: Sending Sen. Garn into space

[e-mail] (Bob Campbell) writes:

>From what I heard at the time (my Purdue landlord was trying for that
>seat :-( ) he was fondly referred to as Barfin' Jake.  So at least we
>have that for comfort . . .

NASA refused to send him up unless he performed some sort of research;
they wanted some justification other than the obvious "congressional
bribe effect".  So, Senator Garn "studied" the effects of motion
sickness in a low-g environment.  Rumor has it that he was well suited
for the task.  Thus, the name "Barfin' Jake".

I believe that there was also a member of the US House of
Representatives who went up, but his name escapes me at present.

=Mark
([e-mail])

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

Date: 4 Dec 90 23:32:38 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: NASA Headline News for 12/04/90 (Forwarded)


             Headline News
Internal Communications Branch (P-2) NASA Headquarters

  Tuesday, December 4, 1990    Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788

This is NASA Headline News for Tuesday, December 4, 1990

It was an on-again-off-again-on-again show with the Astro-1 automatic
pointing system during the past 24 hours, but it looks like the
astronomical space mission may now be gaining a full head of steam in
accomplishing its goals.  Aboard the STS-35 Space Shuttle Columbia,
Payload Specialist Sam Durrance reported the first successful target
acquisition with the Astro-1 Instrument Pointing System Optical Sensor
Package at around 8:30 Monday evening Eastern Time.  Three hours
earlier, another milestone was reached when the three ultraviolet
telescopes were brought into the observe mode simultaneously.

A subsystem computer crash in the late evening hours, however, caused
the science crew to revert to manually acquiring data as one of the
star trackers on the optical sensor package failed to return to
operating condition.  Attempts to automatically lock on to target guide
stars failed, though targets were often in the fields of view.  Using a
manual method incorporating data typed in on a keyboard and a joystick
"paddle" led Mission Specialist  Bob Parker to declare, "Give me a
paddle and a telescope and I can move the universe!"

Intensive efforts to recycle the star tracker to bring it back to full
operating condition, have apparently borne fruit, as Astro-1 officials
reported this morning that the pointing team now termed the Image
Pointing System "steady as a rock".

Prior to the subsystem crash, excellent spectra data was
gathered and the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope has been operating well,
according to Mission Scientist Gene Urban. The Broad Band X-ray
Telescope demonstrated successful acquisition of X-ray photons while
aimed at the Crab Nebula.

The Space Shuttle Columbia continues to perform flawlessly supporting
the Astro-1 mission.


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


Tomorrow, NASA employees may see a special screening of the
multimedia presentation which highlighted the 75th Anniversary
celebration of the NACA/NASA last week at the National Air and Space
Museum.  Employees may attend one of three showings at 8:30, 9:00 and
9:30 am in the NASM Langley IMAX theatre. (Please enter through the
Independence Ave. side and show  your NASA badge)


Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select
TV.  All times are Eastern.  **indicates a live program.

Tuesday, 12/4/90   Mission coverage of the STS-35/Astro-1 flight
will continue
live throughout the week...
       2:00 pm    Flight deck activities from Columbia
       3:30 pm  "Today In Space" with Dr. Frank Six from MSFC
       4:51 pm  Science TV from Astro-1
       5:00 pm  Change-of-shift Flight Director briefing from JSC
       6:00 pm  Change-of-shift Mission Manager brief from MSFC
       7:21 pm  Science TV from Astro-1
       8:04 pm  Science TV from Astro-1
      10:19 pm  Blue/Red crew handover

Wednesday, 12/5/90
    1:00 am    Change-of-shift Flight Director briefing from JSC
    1:30 am    Replay of flight deck activities
    3:09 am    Science TV from Astro-1
    5:47 am    Science TV from Astro-1
    7:34 am    Science TV from Astro-1
    8:33 am    Science TV from Astro-1
    9:00 am    Change-of-shift Flight Director briefing from JSC
       10:19 am   Red/Blue crew handover
       10:30 am   Mission Science Briefing - Ted Gull-- Mission Scientist
       11:41 am   Science TV from Astro-1
_________________________________________________________________
All events and times may change without notice.  This report is filed
daily, Monday through Friday, at 12:00 pm, EST.  It is a service of
Internal Communications Branch at NASA Headquarters.  Contact:
CREDMOND on NASAmail or at 202/453-8425.


NASA Select TV:  Satcom F2R, Transponder 13, C-Band, 72 degrees West
Longitude, Audio 6.8, Frequency 3960 MHz.

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

Date: 5 Dec 90 00:07:49 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Astro-1 Status for 12/03/90 [1350 CST] (Forwarded)


      Astro 1 Mission Report #12
      1:50 p.m. CST, December 3, 1990
      1/13:01 MET
      Spacelab Mission Operations Control
      Marshall Space Flight Center

      Astro 1 gathered its first piece of scientific data from the Seyfert
      Galaxy today at 11:30 a.m., CST when Payload Specialist Sam Durrance
      successfully locked onto the target using the JPL Astro Star
      Tracker, an element of the Image Motion Compensation System aboard
      Shuttle Columbia.

      The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope was successful in obtaining data
      from the ultraviolet radiation found in the Earth's airglow, or
      upper atmosphere. Next, HUT focused on its first outside target,
      NGC-4151 the Seyfert Galaxy, a bright galaxy which radiates strong
      ultraviolet and x-ray wavelengths.

      By using Astro's star tracker, designed by the Jet Propulsion
      Laboratory, the team was able to steady the Instrument Pointing
      System and focus on its target. After fixing on its target, the
      instrument coordinated with another star and sent information to the
      electronics system which made adjustments with the telescope's
      mirrors for primary observations.

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

Date: 5 Dec 90 00:13:33 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov![e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: UIT Status for 12/03/90 [1430 CST] (Forwarded)


         UIT Status Report #01
         2:30 p.m. CST Dec. 3, 1990
         Spacelab Mission Operations Control
         Marshall Space Flight Center,
         Huntsville, AL


         Sunday night, the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT) obtained 11
         photographs of the Earth's airglow, a luminous phenomenon in the upper
         atmosphere.  These photographs will be used to calibrate the UIT's
         photographs of celestial objects.

         The UIT photographs are recorded on film and cannot be developed and
         examined until Columbia returns to Earth.  However, team members saw
         telemetry readouts which showed that the motor which drives the UIT's
         internal film transport turned on after each of the 11 photographs,
         indicating that the film was advanced through the camera.

         The UIT team, led by Principal Investigator Theodore P. Stecher of
         Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD, is awaiting the go ahead
         from project controllers to proceed with the first UIT photographs of
         objects beyond Earth.  This may occur as soon as this afternoon, CST.

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

Date: 5 Dec 90 20:06:13 GMT
From: cs.yale.edu![e-mail]  (Norman Yarvin)
Subject: Re: Fluorine/ammonia engines

[e-mail] (Bruce Dunn) writes:
>Answer 1:  Hydrogen and oxygen     - wrong
>Answer 2:  Hydrogen and fluorine   - better but still wrong

Can this really be used near populated areas?  I'd imagine it'd make some
pretty noxious acid rain...

--
Norman Yarvin                    [e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 5 Dec 90 12:16:02 -0500
From: "Allen W. Sherzer" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Sending Sen. Garn into space
Newsgroups: sci.space
Cc:

In article <[e-mail]>:
>I don't think it was a bad idea.  Hasn't Senator Garn been
>a big supporter of the space program.

Yes he has. This however, is a very mixed blessing. He is stongly opposed
to any attempts to change NASA. When the commissions started looking into
NASA operations to see what changes are needed, he strongly opposed them
claiming that nothing was wrong with NASA.

We need support in Congress, but not this sort of 'my agency, right or
wrong' attitude.

  Allen
--
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Allen W. Sherzer| I had a guaranteed military sale with ED-209. Renovation |
|   [e-mail]  | programs, spare parts for 25 years. Who cares if it      |
|                | works or not?  - Dick Jones, VP OCP Security Concepts    |

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

Date: 6 Dec 90 02:36:20 GMT
From: pa.dec.com!shodha.enet.dec.com!levers.enet.dec.com![e-mail]  (Bob Egan)
Subject: Thanks from "star gazer...maybe"..Bob and 8 year old



I want to thanks you all for responding to my earlier post.

re: helping me not look like such an idiot w/ my 8 year old who
yearns to become more familiar with the "sky".

As I mentioned in my earlier post she has been reading books from her
school library for some time regarding planets, stars, constellations,
the moon and sun..etc...

Last week, I gave her a copy of the Saturn postscript picture taken
by the Hubble...she was impressed :)

Yesterday she received a couple of books that we ordered through her
school. One was a "glow in the dark "night sky" book" by Clint
Hatchett. I also had picked up "look to the sky" by DeBruin and Murad.

She looked through them all last night..this morning at 7 AM ! :)..it
was "make sure you get home early enough to take me outside"...and
"I am really excited about this..so don't forget to be home early"
..each said about 1000 times before I left for work...

Winds of course today, were running about 20 knots w/ gusts higher, and
of course the temp is around 20 f., tonight, but off we went to the
back yard...

After 2 false starts due to her not dressing as warm has I told her, we
were off with our flashlight, covered with blue plastic and about
4 books !!! (I did not get Astronomy mag. yet).

I had a cheap pair of binoculars 7x35 with me as well.

Boom...Mars !!! wow...almost on top of us...never did figure out what
that very small cluster of stars near it were...(I see them allot)

Now for the north star..be an amateur radio operator, who's aligned
antenna's so frequently, on dark, cold, windy nights..they work better
then :)...the noth star found easy...ah safe again !

Down through (south and west) Cassiopeia we finally found Pegasus...we verified
each star..."ok enough for tonight daddy, we found the horse !" :)...:)
"Next time when I am warmer we have to find "beetle juice"....

Really guys, you have all been a great help...I am arranging for us
to visit 2 local observatories soon (one may be this weekend).

I will be looking into all the telescope thoughts given.., I realize
I do not need a tracking clock...:)..and have all but forgotten
about this computer display program..I did see "SKYPLOT" run...not
impressive !

Again your collective thoughts have been very beneficial..thanks from
the both of us...

/bob


Bob Egan    [e-mail]
        --or-- ...!decwrl!levers.enet.dec.com!b_egan
        --or-- [e-mail]

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

Date: 6 Dec 90 06:21:00 GMT
From: sdd.hp.com!samsung!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Photon engine

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (John Roberts) writes:
>React the matter and antimatter inside a huge chunk of radiation-absorbing
>refractory material, and I bet most of the intermediate particles would break
>down inside. Of course the neutrinos would still get out, and there doesn't
>seem to be any way of directing them for propulsion. Any idea of (a) the
>percentage of energy wasted in this way, or (b) the impulse per Joule-
>equivalent of neutrinos as compared with photons? ...

The neutrinos would contribute essentially nothing to thrust, even if you
could beam them somehow.

However, I think you miss the point, John.  You don't *want* to absorb the
particles, if your objective is a near-photon engine.  Beaming the particles
is vastly easier than beaming high-energy gamma rays, and you don't lose
anything by working with the particles -- they carry no less momentum than
the photons they will decay into.

The only time you want to absorb the particles is if you are using them to
heat much larger amounts of reaction mass, for higher thrusts and lower
antimatter consumption at the price of much lower exhaust velocity.  In
that case, there is some possibility that reacting the antimatter with
heavier nuclei might be a win, as more of the energy might be caught
in charged fragments.

If folks are interested in pursuing this, I think the best technical
reference is still the Sept 1982 issue of the Journal of the British
Interplanetary Society, which was a special issue on antimatter
propulsion.  In general, the Interstellar Studies issues of JBIS are
the single best source on such matters.
--
"The average pointer, statistically,    |Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
points somewhere in X." -Hugh Redelmeier| [e-mail]   utzoo!henry

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

Date: 6 Dec 90 06:29:50 GMT
From: usc!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: atmospheric pressure on Mars

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Bill Seward) writes:
>In the movie "Total Recall" [no flames on my taste in films, please :-) ],
>several people who were exposed to the Martian atmosphere without the
>benefit of a pressure suit died from what I can best term semi-explosive
>decompression.  That is, they slowly blew up like balloons and popped.
>
>I remember reading, way back somewhere, that a human could survive at
>the Martian equator during the summer with only a respirator...
>So the question is, what is the atmospheric pressure of Mars at the surface
>and could suck a thing happen? ...

The atmospheric pressure of Mars is much lower than anyone suspected in
pre-spaceflight days:  7 millibars.  This is basically vacuum for all
biological purposes.  You would need a spacesuit.

However, the biological effects of vacuum are much exaggerated.  It is
a known fact, verified by experiment (on human extremities and on whole
animals), that serious effects would take minutes, not seconds, to appear.
The notion that a human exposed to vacuum would explode is a myth.  By the
sounds of it, this bunch of film-makers at least slowed it down (although
probably not for the sake of scientific accuracy...), but if it happened
fast enough to be good/bad cinema, it was too fast to be right.
--
"The average pointer, statistically,    |Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
points somewhere in X." -Hugh Redelmeier| [e-mail]   utzoo!henry

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

End of SPACE Digest V12 #643
*******************