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Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #382

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 13 : Issue 382

Today's Topics:
            30 Years of Manned Spaceflight
         Re: Space Stations, Money, Startrek
             space news from Feb 25 AW&ST
            Re: Launch Technology:
           Dan Quayle on Mars (was: "Face" on Mars)

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

Date: 9 Apr 91 17:16:07 GMT
From: comp.vuw.ac.nz!am.dsir.govt.nz!marcamd!mercury!kcbbs![e-mail]  (George Muzyka)
Subject: 30 Years of Manned Spaceflight

As everyone is aware, April 12th 1991 is the 30th anniversary of manned
spaceflight and the 10th anniversary of the Space Shuttle.

A large exhibition in has opened in Moscow to mark these two anniversaries
and has on display mockups of the first spacecraft and satellites, the
current orbital station Mir, the Buran space shuttle and suits for spacewalks.
A large section of this exhibition is devoted to international space
flights which have included Soviet cosmonauts on them.

The New Zealand Spaceflight Association, Inc. has just completed construction
of a full scale mockup of the Vostok spacecraft which Yuri Gagarin made
his pioneering flight back in 1961, and will be on display in Auckland,
New Zealand at a Space Day which is being held at the Auckland Observatory.
Fourteen spaceflight association members and several hundred hours work,
we are proud of our Vostok. The Space Day will be marking both the
anniversaries at the Auckland Observatory on the Sunday following this
date, on April 14th. The public will be able to enjoy a lot of
interesting audio-visual and general display material on spaceflights.
This is not our first major public space day event; in 1983 the NZ
Spaceflight Association operated a big display at the Whenuapai Airshow
amongst the civilian exhibitors, of which ours was found to have attracted
the largest passing crowd. Tens of thousands of people attended that 1983
Airshow here in Auckland, most of them saw our display, and the New
Zealand made _radiometer_ (which has flown on the U.S. Shuttle) was
part of our exhibit for all to see.

Although our coming Space Day will not be anywhere a major public event
as an annual airshow, we can still expect a good turnout.

Well that's two places I know have exhibitions on for the two major space
anniversaries, can somebody else fill us in with some details of other
such exhibits planned worldwide? Hope everyone finds a useful event
near them on or around the 12th, certainly the television, radio and
newspaper media too.

Happy Anniversary

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

Date: 7 Apr 91 22:11:34 GMT
From: groucho![e-mail]  (Steve Emmerson)
Subject: Re: Space Stations, Money, Startrek

In <7p=[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Michael V. Kent) writes:

>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Steve Emmerson)
writes:
>>Odd.  Don't we (i.e. the human species) already know how to live and
>>work in space?  Haven't humans spent up to a year in space with no
>>major problems?

>No, WE don't.  WE have only been to space for brief visits, with the exception
>of an 84 day mission in 1973.  While it did provide valuable data, it answered
>only a few or our questions -- questions which need to be answered.

I suspected that by "we" in your original article you ment "the United
States".  Thanks for the confirmation.

>There are some humans which know more than we do, but since WE don't have
>access to their data, we'll have to learn ourselves.  True, we will be
>re-inventing the wheel, but the cart is our own invention.

Considering Fred's expense, approaching the Soviet Union with a proposal
to buy their data would seem to make good economic sense -- for both of
"us".  Has this been done in ernest?

Steve Emmerson        [e-mail]        ...!ncar!unidata!steve

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

Date: 9 Apr 91 04:56:27 GMT
From: elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: space news from Feb 25 AW&ST

ESA's MOP-2 metsat launch, on Ariane, has been delayed at least a week.
An Ariane third-stage engine misbehaved during ignition on a test stand
last week, and Arianespace wants to take a hard look at the test results
and re-run flight-readiness checks on the MOP-2 Ariane third stage.  [The
Ariane third-stage ignition sequence is historically a trouble spot.]

Pressure from military services on intelligence bureaucrats has led to
routine availability of secret satellite images for pre-attack pilot
briefings in the Gulf.

NASA prepares to give White House and Congress the latest revised plan
for the space station.  It will generally be smaller and simpler, will
emphasize assembly and testing on the ground, and will have a crew of
four when it is permanently manned circa the year 2000.  [The pessimist
would say this project is showing increasing signs of being doomed, with
fully-operational status receding more than one year per year.]  The truss
is not gone, only half of it.  The modules are smaller, so they can go
up fully loaded... subject to availability of ASRMs for shuttle launches.
The first four flights will carry up the truss, in sections, with solar
arrays and radiators pre-attached.  The fifth will carry up one of the
"nodes" [once just connectors, now mini-modules].  The sixth will carry
the US lab module, at which point man-tended operations will start.
Later additions will include a habitation module and a lifeboat, at
which time permanent manning will be practical.  Planning beyond that
point is largely shelved, since it would only have to be re-done anyway.
Major station contracts will need renegotiation, and an external-payload
facilities contract (Goddard and GE AstroSpace) is defunct since those
facilities are mostly defunct.  The fate of the Reston paper-pushing
office is undecided as yet, but the official word is "no major changes
right away".

Brief article on the Comet project, NASA's effort to put together a
recoverable unmanned system for commercial experiments.  Space Services
Inc (now a division of EER Systems Corp) has the launcher contract,
with Space Industries Inc supplying the capsule and operations, and
Westinghouse supplying the service module.

ESA re-opens debate on its major manned programs, as budget squeezes loom.
Germany, in particular, is feeling pressed for cash and wants to see Hermes
and Columbus scaled back and postponed.  No official decision is likely
before a formal ESA meeting in October.  Proposals for change include
slipping Hermes's first flight 2-3 years, dropping plans to make the
Columbus free-flyer capable of docking with Fred (in favor of servicing
it entirely with Hermes, which will remain Fred-compatible too), slipping
the free-flyer somewhat and concentrating Columbus efforts on the Fred
module, and "re-evaluating" Ariane 5's ability to launch the rather-
heavier-than-intended Hermes.  Germany concedes that most of these
changes will increase long-term costs, but badly wants to cut short-term
expenses.

NASA and Rockwell are staring at door-hinge cracks on Discovery and
wondering whether to postpone the SDI shuttle mission [they did].  The
cracks are in the hinges of the doors that cover the external-tank
connections after ET separation.  Smaller cracks have been found in
Columbia's hinges, and it's likely that the orbiters have flown with
the cracks.  The ability to close the doors is crucial, but it is not
clear whether the cracks endanger it much.  On-pad repairs are being
considered, but any repair requiring disassembling the door mechanism
requires that it be tested before flight, and that can't be done on
the pad at all.  Space is also very tight for on-pad repairs.  [They
decided to go back to the VAB and unstack.]  The cracks were found
accidentally during installation of insulation blankets on the fuel
lines; that part of the orbiter normally is not inspected unless work
is done there (although this is now likely to change).
--
"The stories one hears about putting up | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
SunOS 4.1.1 are all true."  -D. Harrison|  [e-mail]  utzoo!henry

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

Date: 7 Apr 91 19:43:10 GMT
From: sdd.hp.com!cs.utexas.edu!titan![e-mail]  (Donald Heskett)
Subject: Re: Launch Technology:

The book "Ignition!" (written in the '60s, I think) mentioned that the
highest specific impulse that had been achieved at that time was 542
seconds. This was achieved with near-satanic propellant combination of
lithium, fluorine and hydrogen. Does anyone know if any further work
was ever done with this propellant combination?

Needless to say, 1) it's probably not a good idea to operate
fluorine-fueled propulsion systems in proximity to population areas or
the ozone layer and 2) it's not a good idea to carry this stuff in
the Shuttle's payload bay.  The combination would only seem to make
sense in the upper stage of an expendable launcher.

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

Date: 9 Apr 91 04:33:31 GMT
From: usc!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!ccut!trc![e-mail]  (Cliff Olling)
Subject: Dan Quayle on Mars (was: "Face" on Mars)

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (will) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] writes:
>>Mars has never had a civilization.
>    Now do not laugh at this since some Japanese believe this too be true.
>
>    Ok, 4 years ago there was a show on JTV (of course), well, the show
>was about Atlantis, life on Mars, etc, etc..  Now the Objective of the show
>was to point out that the Japanese may have came to earth after they
>destroyed mars in a nuclear war, and that is why the Japanese feel
>uncomfotable about Nuclear Weapons, and are different from other forms of
>life on earth.
>
>    So, don't flame me, this is just what the program was about, and I'll
>leave it at that.

Hmm, maybe we should send Dan Quayle to Japan.  Sounds like he'd fit right
in.  To wit, take a look a recent quote of his...

>Mars is essentially in the same orbit... somewhat the same distance from the
>Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals,
>we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If
>oxygen, that means we can breathe.
>        -- Vice President Dan Quayle
--
Clifford Olling  Japan National Oil Corporation    $@@PL}8xCD(J
Technology Research Center  $@@PL}3+H/5;=Q(J  Chiba City, Japan
[e-mail]    $@KkD%K\6?1X(J   24hrs/day=>81+472-73-5831

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

End of SPACE Digest V13 #382
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