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Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #391

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 13 : Issue 391

Today's Topics:
         NASA Headline News for 04/09/91 (Forwarded)
          Re: Government vs. Commercial R&D
         Re: Dan Quayle on Mars (was: "Face" on Mars)
        Re: comsat cancellations and lawsuits
             Magellan Aerobraking
          Re: Government vs. Commercial R&D
               Re: Magellan Aerobraking
          Re: Government vs. Commercial R&D
           Ulysses Status for 04/05/91 (Forwarded)

Administrivia:

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

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

Date: 10 Apr 91 23:11:47 GMT
From: [e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: NASA Headline News for 04/09/91 (Forwarded)


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

  Tuesday, April 9, 1991    Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788

This is NASA Headline News for Tuesday, April 9, 1991 . . .

STS-37 crewmembers Jerry Ross and Jay Apt spent more than six
hours outside Atlantis' crew cabin yesterday during their second
spacewalk of this mission.  The Ross-Apt team was engaged in
evaluations of a variety of devices, procedures and crew equipment
which could be used during the space station Freedom assembly
sequence.  The crew worked in tandem to set up a short monorail
system which would allow them to translate along its 37-foot distance
using manual, mechanical and electrical carts.  The crew indicated a
preference for the hand-operated manual cart.  Inside Atlantis,
crewmember Linda Godwin was maneuvering the robot arm during
several of the mock assembly runs.  The arm's stiffness was being
evaluated.

The spacewalking pair experienced no problems during their time
outside and were back inside Atlantis at 4:54 pm EDT.  Counting
Sunday's unplanned contingency spacewalk to unstick the Gamma Ray
Observatory's antenna, Ross and Apt logged 10 hours and 49
minutes of extravehicular activity each on this mission.  Today,
the Atlantis crew is playing "tag" with the Gamma Ray Observatory as
part of an orbiter star tracker test.  The rendezvous test will place
Atlantis within 8 miles of the observatory and is intended to check star
tracker station-keeping capabilities.

The STS-37 crew also will put Atlantis through a hot-fire of the
reaction control system today as a preparatory measure prior to their
re-entry tomorrow.  The de-orbit maneuver is scheduled to occur
on orbit 77, tomorrow at 9:26 am EDT.  Landing at Edwards Air
Force Base is set for 10:34 am tomorrow.  Weather at Edwards is
currently looking good with light northeasterly winds and a scattered
cloud deck at 25,000 ft.

Goddard Space Flight Controllers report that Gamma Ray
Observatory checkout is ahead of schedule.
                   * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Meanwhile, back on Florida's Space Coast, the Kennedy Space Center
ground processing and launch teams are making significant progress
with both Discovery, for the planned late April flight on its
Department of Defense mission, and Columbia, for that vehicle's long-
duration Spacelab Life Sciences mission, set for May.  Work on
Discovery, on launch pad A, is nearly complete.  The payloads
have been reinstalled in the cargo bay and appropriate payload
interface tests have been completed.  Discovery's three main engines
will undergo their flight readiness test tomorrow.  Columbia is nearing
its move from the orbiter processing facility to the vehicle assembly
building for stacking.  The Spacelab module and associated tunnel
components have been installed.  The STS-40 booster stack is
nearly complete, also, with two segments remaining to be assembled
on the righthand booster.  The external tank will be attached to the
two solid rocket boosters this weekend.  The currently targeted date
for Columbia's rollover to the VAB is April 24.


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

Congress has reconvened following their Easter break.  The House
subcommittee on VA-HUD and Independent Agencies, Robert
Traxler (D-Mich.) chairman, this week holds hearings on the FY
1992 NASA budget request.  NASA Administrator Richard Truly
and the program associate administrators are witnesses.  The hearings
begin at 10:00 am and continue through 4:00 pm each day.  Today,
they are in Rayburn House Office Building Room 2360, tomorrow and
Thursday, the hearings will be in the Capitol, Room H-143.  Also on
Thursday, the House Committee on Science, Space and
Technology, George Brown, Jr. (D-Calif.) chairman, will hold
hearings, beginning at 9:00 am in Rayburn Room 2318, on NASA's
Space Station Freedom.

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

The Stennis Space Center Visitors Center toured 2,295 visitors last
week.  Visitors to the Stennis center came from 43 states and 20
foreign countries.


Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select
TV.  All times are Eastern.  NASA Select TV is carried on GE Satcom
F2R, transponder 13, C-Band, 72 degrees W Long., Audio 6.8,
Frequency 3960 MHz.

Tuesday, 4/9/91
    11:50 am    Live from Johnson Space Center, flight director change-
          of-shift briefing.
    5:07 pm    Live from Atlantis, Ku band antenna stowing.
    7:00 pm    Replay of Atlantis Flight Day 5 activities.
    7:50 pm    Live from JSC, flight director change-of-shift briefing.

Wednesday, 4/10/91
    2:22 am    Atlantis crew wake up call.
    4:50 am    Scheduled change-of-shift briefing live from JSC.
    9:26 am    Scheduled time for Atlantis' de-orbit maneuver.
    9:35 am    Live from Dryden Flight Research Facility, preparations
          for Atlantis' landing.
    10:34 am    Scheduled time for Atlantis' landing at Dryden Flight
          Research Center.
    12:00 pm    Live from Dryden, STS-37 post-landing press briefing.
    1:15 pm    Magellan-at-Venus report live from the Jet Propulsion
          Laboratory.
    TBD    Replay of landing video.
    approximately 2:24 pm    STS-37 crew departs Dryden for JSC.


All events and times may change without notice.  This report is filed
daily, Monday through Friday, by 12:00 pm, Eastern.  It is a service of
NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs.  Contact:  CREDMOND
on NASAmail or at 202/453-8425.

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

Date: 10 Apr 91 13:25:24 GMT
From: swrinde!mips!spool.mu.edu!news.nd.edu!mentor.cc.purdue.edu!pop.stat.purdue.edu![e-mail]  (Herman Rubin)
Subject: Re: Government vs. Commercial R&D

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Paul Blase) writes:
> to: [e-mail] (Nick Szabo)
>
> >>
> >> NS> If understand your point, it is that government money is
> >> NS> needed, not necessarily government lab work.
> >>
> >>More than just government money, rather a market for the first product
> >>from a technology.

There is a third source, which USED to be very important.  Private research
efforts, and non-government non-profit funding, constituted a major part of
the research effort in this country before WWII, and this should be done
again.  We must get rid of governmental control of research, and government
funding has provided government control in too many areas.

Instead, we are getting government limitation and government disincentives
into the private sector, and government direction of research.  I do not even
think the government should do much interfering with development, but neither
government bureaucrats nor anyone else should try to direct research.
--
Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399
Phone: [phone]
[e-mail] (Internet, bitnet)   {purdue,pur-ee}!l.cc!hrubin(UUCP)

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

Date: 10 Apr 91 16:06:01 GMT
From: [e-mail]  (J. Servan-Schreiber)
Subject: Re: Dan Quayle on Mars (was: "Face" on Mars)

One never knows about VP Dan Quayle.  Today he's in Pittsburgh
for the funeral of Senator John Heinz!
-Maybe he will go to Mars next?
-Pris in Prof. Servan-Schreiber's office, CMU, Pittsburgh, PA

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

Date: Wed, 10 Apr 91 14:40:22 -0400
From: "Allen W. Sherzer" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: comsat cancellations and lawsuits
Newsgroups: sci.space
Cc:

In article <[e-mail]> Henry Spencer writes:

>NASA had agreed to launch those birds at a
>specific price, and should have done its best to arrange launches (presumably
>on US launchers) for them at something resembling that price.

Of course shuttle prices are subsidized so much that that would be
impossible. They charge $150M for a flight which costs them over $500M.

>>By the way, there is a satellite rescue mission coming up next year sometime.
>>Do you happen to recall, Henry, who owns this satellite?  I certainly hope it
>>isn't a Hughes bird.

>I forget who built it, but it is owned by either Intelsat or its insurers.

It's Intelsat. They didn't buy insurance for the launch.


  Allen


--
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Allen W. Sherzer | If you love something, let it go. If it doesn't come back |
|   [e-mail]   | to you, hunt it down and kill it.                         |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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

Date:    Wed, 10 Apr 1991 6:15:25 CDT
From: [e-mail] (Frank J. Nagy:VAX Wizard&Loose Cannon)
Subject: Magellan Aerobraking
X-Vmsmail-To: smtp%"[e-mail]"

From JPL Release 91-49 "Magellan achieves primary mission objective early"
>>        Finally, near the end of the Magellan mission, the
>>spacecraft may be dipped into the upper atmosphere of Venus to
>>drag it into a circular orbit, a previously untried process
>>called aerobraking.  The maneuver would be a valuable
>>engineering demonstration for future missions, Spear said.

I don't remember anything about Magellan being designed for aerobraking.
There's no aero-shell/heatshield...  Since aerobraking works by turning
kinetic (orbital) energy into thermal (heat) energy, just how much
braking can Magellan achieve within the thermal limits of its equipment
and structures.  Can its structures survive the differential forces
caused by the different aerodynamic forces on the components (i.e.,
will these forces rip the main antenna away)?

= Dr. Frank J. Nagy   "VAX Guru & Wizard, Loose Cannon"
= Fermilab Computing Division/Distributed Computing Dept/Special Projects Grp
= HEPnet/SPAN: FNDCD::NAGY (43123::NAGY) or FNAL::NAGY (43009::NAGY)
= Internet: [e-mail]            = BitNet: NAGY@FNAL
= USnail: Fermilab POB 500 MS/234 Batavia, IL 60510

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

Date: 11 Apr 91 01:22:56 GMT
From: sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!news.nd.edu!mentor.cc.purdue.edu!pop.stat.purdue.edu![e-mail]  (Herman Rubin)
Subject: Re: Government vs. Commercial R&D

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Jonathan Leech) writes:
> In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Herman Rubin) writes:
> |>  I do not even
> |> think the government should do much interfering with development, but neither
> |> government bureaucrats nor anyone else should try to direct research.
>
>     How about thesis advisors?

I definitely include thesis advisors.  Unfortunately, too often the student
seems to be helpless without it, and want to even be told what to do.  What
kind of researchers do you think they make?
--
Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399
Phone: [phone]
[e-mail] (Internet, bitnet)   {purdue,pur-ee}!l.cc!hrubin(UUCP)

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

Date: 10 Apr 91 15:20:30 GMT
From: agate!bionet!uwm.edu!rpi!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utzoo![e-mail]  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Magellan Aerobraking

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Frank J. Nagy:VAX Wizard&Loose Cannon) writes:
>>>        Finally, near the end of the Magellan mission, the
>>>spacecraft may be dipped into the upper atmosphere of Venus to
>>>drag it into a circular orbit, a previously untried process
>>>called aerobraking...
>
>I don't remember anything about Magellan being designed for aerobraking.

It's not.  However, if they do a very little bit of it very cautiously,
it ought to work.  It won't be tried until the more important phases of
the mission are over.

And actually NASA is either behind the times, or ignoring non-US spaceflight
as usual.  Japan's Hiten translunar test spacecraft did a very small Earth
aerobraking maneuver just recently.  It worked.  Hiten wasn't designed for
it either, that I know of.
--
And the bean-counter replied,           | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
"beans are more important".             |  [e-mail]  utzoo!henry

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

Date: 10 Apr 91 16:16:31 GMT
From: borg!homer![e-mail]  (Jonathan Leech)
Subject: Re: Government vs. Commercial R&D

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Herman Rubin) writes:
|>  I do not even
|> think the government should do much interfering with development, but neither
|> government bureaucrats nor anyone else should try to direct research.

    How about thesis advisors?
--
    Jon Leech ([e-mail])    __@/
    "Why do you suppose we only feel compelled to chase the ones who run away?"
    "Immaturity."
    _Dangerous Liasons_

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

Date: 10 Apr 91 23:01:46 GMT
From: [e-mail]  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Ulysses Status for 04/05/91 (Forwarded)


                     ULYSSES MISSION STATUS
                          April 5, 1991

     [Eds: The following mission status report corrects paragraph
three of the April 5, 1991 report previously sent.  Pioneer 11,
not Voyager, flew by Jupiter at approximately 1.86 Jupiter radii.
Voyagers 1 and 2 flew by Jupiter at distances of approximately
4.89 Jupiter radii and 10.11 Jupiter radii respectively.]


     Routine mission operations and data collection continued to
be the primary activities this week as the Ulysses spacecraft
cruised through the ecliptic plane on its way to Jupiter.  The
spacecraft's science experiments collected significant amounts of
data about 10 days ago during a major solar flare that caused a
huge outpouring of electrons and protons from the sun.

     Ulysses is approaching the halfway mark on its journey to
Jupiter.  Nine days from now, on Sunday, April 14, the spacecraft
will be 242 million miles from Earth and 242 million miles from
Jupiter.  Ulysses will reach the gaseous giant on Feb. 9, 1992.

     At nearest approach, the spacecraft will pass by Jupiter at
a distance of approximately 6.3 Jupiter radii -- 450,481
kilometers or about 279,300 miles -- from the center of the
planet. (By contrast, Voyager 1, Pioneer 11 and Galileo were
designed to pass by Jupiter at much closer ranges.  Voyager 1
passed by the planet at about 4.89 Jupiter radii.  Pioneer 11
flew by at about 1.86 Jupiter radii.  The Galileo spacecraft will
orbit Jupiter at an average distance of just over 3 Jupiter
radii, or within about 133,000 miles of the planet's center.)

     The spacecraft remains in good condition.  No recurrence of
the wobble has been detected, or is expected, until Ulysses nears
the sun's south pole in 1994.

     Today Ulysses is approximately 358 million kilometers (222
million miles) from Earth, traveling at a heliocentric velocity
of approximately 86,400 kilometers per hour (53,770 miles per
hour).

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

End of SPACE Digest V13 #391
*******************