Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/mac/TEXT_ZIP/spacedig/V16_0/V16NO045.ZIP/V16NO045

Internet Message Format | 1993-07-13 | 32KB

Date: Thu, 14 Jan 93 05:08:27
From: Space Digest maintainer <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Space Digest V16 #045
To: Space Digest Readers
Precedence: bulk


Space Digest                Thu, 14 Jan 93       Volume 16 : Issue 045

Today's Topics:
                     Block Adaptive Quantization
                         deep space cruisers
                          fiber optic cable
                           Freedom's orbit
          Galileo Stuck Ribs / Remote Manipulator? (3 msgs)
                                Helium
                              How much?
                  How much? (was Re: Moon Dust Sold)
                                 ISU
               More Goldin rumors and how you can help
                 More on helping Goldin stay at NASA
              needed: a real live space helmet (3 msgs)
                        Oxygen in Biosphere 2
                           polar meteorites
                    Saving an overweight SSTO....
                           water recycling

    Welcome to the Space Digest!!  Please send your messages to
    "[e-mail]", and (un)subscription requests of the form
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    (THENET), or [e-mail] (Internet).
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 13 Jan 93 19:21:50 GMT
From: Gopinath Kuduvalli <[e-mail]>
Subject: Block Adaptive Quantization
Newsgroups: comp.compression,sci.space

At JPL, a compression algorithm called Block Adaptive Quantization (BAQ)
was implemented for compression of synthetic aperture radar raw data for
the Magellan mission now in space. (Re: R. Kwok and W.T. Johnson, IEEE
Trans. Geosc. Remote Sensing, July 1989.) Since then, an improved version
is developed for SIR-C (Shuttle Imaging Radar). Does anybody have information
on this new improved version of the algorithm? If the original workers are
reading this, can I get in touch with you?

Thank you.

Cheers,

-- Gopi

Dr. Gopi Kuduvalli         |e-mail: [e-mail]
MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates |Phone: [phone] (Office)
13800 Commerce Pkwy         |     [phone] (Home)
Richmond, BC V7C 1G4, CANADA     |Fax:     [phone]

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

Date: 13 Jan 93 22:14:35 GMT
From: Henry Spencer <[e-mail]>
Subject: deep space cruisers
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Pat) writes:
>So henry.  if we were interested in deep space cruisers,  what sort of
>time scale, R&D Budget and technical problems stand in the way?
>
>Are we looking at some sort of Manhattan project? or something as big for
>20 years? or is it more like SDI on a permanent basis.a
>
>You mentioned about something the size of hanford,  but for how long.?

Permanently; that would be the fuel production works to support a large
antimatter-fuelled space program within the solar system.  Presumably
production would eventually move out into space, and from there it would
be built up into something that could support starflight.

Barring the possibility of new physics, the first step toward interstellar
exploration is building a prosperous interplanetary civilization.  The
energy requirements for starflight are huge; we're going to have to scale
up our capabilities considerably before we can seriously attempt it.

As far as reaching that... there are lots of routes, depending on how big
a hurry you are in.  The most crucial problem is not technical at all.
None of this will ever happen so long as almost everyone is convinced
that doing *anything* in space is inherently prohibitively expensive.
This isn't true, but the world's current space programs are so locked
in a vicious circle of massive expenditures, and have done such a thorough
job of convincing people that it's the only possible way, that a radical
departure is going to be needed.  The only practical way to break out of
this mess is by demonstration of cheap and easy access to orbit.  Paper
studies aren't enough; flight demonstrations are needed.  (The single
worst thing the shuttle has done to us is to destroy the credibility
of launcher cost estimates, even for vastly superior systems.)  The SSTO
project just might do it, if we can get it funded fully.
--
"God willing... we shall return."       | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
       -Gene Cernan, the Moon, Dec 1972 |  [e-mail]  utzoo!henry

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

Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 22:47:42 EST
From: John Roberts <[e-mail]>
Subject: fiber optic cable

-From: [e-mail] (Doug Mohney)
-Subject: Re: fiber optic cable
-Date: 11 Jan 93 16:43:53 GMT
-Organization: Computer Aided Design Lab, U. of Maryland College Park

-In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (John Roberts) writes:
->Does anybody (the phone companies or the military, for instance) use
->fiber optic cable that's stiff enough to reduce the risk of breaking?

-There are at least two missiles (Army/FOG-M, and a Navy project) which use
-some sort
-of spooling mechanism to pay out "cable" (well, probably not more than a
-strand). The Army system is (forgive me pureists) basically a longer range TOW
-anti-tank missile, designed to be launched off a trailer dragged behind a
-Hummer, and will go against either tanks or helos. The Navy missile is more
-interesting because they pay out cable between a fast moving attack plane and
-the missile at up to hmm, at least 20 kilometers; Army system is some number
-not more than 10K.

-However, both Army and Navy don't have to worry about rewinding the cable after
-the packages are delivered :-)

If this is like the earlier wire-guided systems, the axis of the spool is
parallel to the path of the missile, and is non-rotating - the cable just
slips off the end of the spool.

That would introduce one twist in the cable per unit of length equal to the
circumference of the spool, but it seems to work. It's impressive that
this kind of system can be made to function at all! :-)

John Roberts
[e-mail]

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

Date: 13 Jan 93 21:37:30 GMT
From: Sean C Fifield <[e-mail]>
Subject: Freedom's orbit
Newsgroups: sci.space

  I'm interested in orbital information (altitude, eccentricity,
inclination, etc.) about the space station Freedom.  Has NASA
released information about the orbit they are planning to put
Freedom into?  If so where can I get a hold of it or who can I
contact?
  Could someone E-mail me or post an article if they know?  Thanks.

Sean Fifield
University of Michigan

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

Date: 13 Jan 93 13:02:39 EST
From: "John F. Woods" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Galileo Stuck Ribs / Remote Manipulator?
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (fred j mccall 575-3539) writes:
>In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (David Hinz ([e-mail])) writes:
>>A co-worker of mine brought up an interesting question about the
>>service problems such as we are seeing with Galileo.  How feasable
>>would it be to incorporate a robotic arm manipulator into these designs,
>>articulated so that it could reach everything on the probe/satellite?
>If we can't get an antenna to deploy properly, what do you think the
>odds are that such an arm would work?

Ah, well, you just modify the antenna design so that in the event that the
arm fails, you can use the antenna to repair the arm.......    :-)

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

Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 21:03:25 EST
From: John Roberts <[e-mail]>
Subject: Galileo Stuck Ribs / Remote Manipulator?

-From: [e-mail] (Robert Hearn)
-Subject: Re: Galileo Stuck Ribs / Remote Manipulator?
-Date: 13 Jan 93 21:14:29 GMT
-Organization: Spartacus Software

-In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
-(David Hinz ([e-mail])) wrote:
-> A co-worker of mine brought up an interesting question about the
-> service problems such as we are seeing with Galileo.  How feasable
-> would it be to incorporate a robotic arm manipulator into these designs,
-> articulated so that it could reach everything on the probe/satellite?

Some of the replies to this appeared to miss a point. If the only function
of the robot is to help deploy the antenna if it gets stuck, then it doesn't
have to be as reliable as the antenna to increase the overall probability
of getting the antenna open. However, I agree that it's probably not
worthwhile, for the other reasons given.

-Or maybe a little repair robot that can wander around to wherever it's
-needed.
-Give it magnetic feet or something to grip onto everywhere.
-Make it small and cheap; send two or three along.

You need three - call them Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Expect one to blow off
when you pass through Saturn's rings. (From the movie "Silent Running".)  :-)

John Roberts
[e-mail]

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

Date: 13 Jan 93 19:31:29 GMT
From: rabjab <[e-mail]>
Subject: Galileo Stuck Ribs / Remote Manipulator?
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (fred j mccall 575-3539) writes:

>>A co-worker of mine brought up an interesting question about the
>>service problems such as we are seeing with Galileo.  How feasable
>>would it be to incorporate a robotic arm manipulator into these designs,
>>articulated so that it could reach everything on the probe/satellite?

>If we can't get an antenna to deploy properly, what do you think the
>odds are that such an arm would work?
>I would say that it's simply not practical.

I seem to remember that a Surveyor lunar lander used a remote
manipulator to push a balky experiment box to the ground when
its lowering wire jammed.  Don't know if this function was anticipated.

-rabjab

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

Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 22:30:31 EST
From: John Roberts <[e-mail]>
Subject: Helium

-From: [e-mail] ("Phil G. Fraering")
-Subject: Re: Anti atom stability, etc...
-Date: 13 Jan 93 03:35:09 GMT

-\Having a limited education in cryogenics is hampering my understanding
-/of this phenomenon. I understood that helium cannot exist in liquid
-\state at 6 Atm.

-In general gas laws work the other way: increace the pressure, and the
-"boiling" point of the liquid will increace.

In general that's true, but don't take any bets on helium - it's extremely
weird stuff. Helium can't exist as a *solid* at atmospheric pressure -
its melting point is -272.2 C at 26 atmospheres pressure. The part about
liquid at 6 Atm doesn't sound right.

(Heard recently - helium 3 does form a superfluid, but at a substantially
lower temperature than helium 4. I'm pretty sure I got that right.)

John Roberts
[e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 21:53:34 EST
From: John Roberts <[e-mail]>
Subject: How much?

-From: [e-mail] (Ron Baalke)
-Subject: Re: How much? (was Re: Moon Dust Sold)
-Date: 13 Jan 93 21:22:58 GMT

-In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey) writes...
->I looked at earlier postings, but couldn't find how many grams of Moon
->dust are in the sample.  Anybody know?

-The weight was never specified, and it would be hard to determine since the
-Moon dust is on 2 inch piece of tape.  I have a photo of it, and just by
-eyeballing it I'd say there is less than a gram there.

I'd guess a lot less than a gram. Does "2 inch" mean the length or the width?

This sample has historical interest as well as intrinsic valuation for being
lunar material.

John Roberts
[e-mail]

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

Date: 13 Jan 93 07:48:12 GMT
From: Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey <[e-mail]>
Subject: How much? (was Re: Moon Dust Sold)
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Ron Baalke) writes:
> The Moon dust that was up for auction yesterday was sold for $42,500.  When
> you include the 10% extra that goes to the auction house, that brings the
> total price up to $46,750.

I looked at earlier postings, but couldn't find how many grams of Moon
dust are in the sample.  Anybody know?  An upper limit on
dollars-per-gram would be a nice figure to feed our periodic flame
wars.

"We call for an immediate ban      Bill Higgins
on all antimatter-related          Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
research, especially as this       Bitnet:     [e-mail]
is fundamental to many third-      SPAN/Hepnet: 43011::HIGGINS
generation nuclear weapon          Internet:  [e-mail]
systems." --A. Gsponer & J. Hurni,
*Nature* v.325 p.754 (26 Feb 1987)

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

Date: 13 Jan 1993 10:33 PDT
From: "Horowitz, Irwin Kenneth" <[e-mail]>
Subject: ISU
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Dave Michelson) writes...
>Where can I find out more about the International Space University?
>A site that I could FTP some files from would be great.  What about
>application forms? :)
>
>I've heard that the 1993 session will be held at the University of Alabama
>at Huntsville but not much else... yet.  Thanks in advance.
>
>--
>Dave Michelson
>[e-mail]
>
Dave,
    What follows below is from a draft version of the ISUnet FAQ, as
provided to me by Steve Abrams, the system manager for ISU.  Hope it helps.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 92 11:45:14 EST
From: [e-mail] (Steve Abrams)
Subject: Re: Returned mail: Host unknown

Good guess, Irwin!  Any staff person of ISU can now be reached via e-mail to
[e-mail].  executive no longer exists.  Sorry for the hassle.

Here is an excerpt from our ISUnet FAQ for your reference:

7. HOW DO I SEND E-MAIL TO THE ISU EXECUTIVE OFFICE?
    Every ISU staff person has e-mail access.  The single,
standard format for their address is:  [e-mail],
where lastname = the person's last name.  Currently valid
addresses are:

   Steve Abrams     [e-mail]    ISUnet (both for
                    [e-mail]     Summer Sessions and
                                             Permanent Campus)
   Jim Brice        [e-mail]     Summer Session
                                             academics and
                                             operations planning
   Goldie Eckl      [e-mail]      Vice President,
                                             Executive Affairs
   Patrick French   [e-mail]    Permanent Campus
                                             Planning
   Gene Fujii       [e-mail]     Intern
   Ryan Harris      [e-mail]    Intern
   George Haskell   [e-mail]   Vice President,
                                             Academics
   Kim Hudson       [e-mail]    Receptionist,
                                             Shipping & Receiving,
                                             Merchandising
   Matt Lynch       [e-mail]     Publications
   Sterling North   [e-mail]     Founder's
                                             Association, fund-
                                             raising, public
                                             relations, promotion
   Young-Min Shim   [e-mail]      Vice President,

                                             Program and Finances
   Beatrice Traub   [e-mail]     logistics (travel,
                                             housing)
   Pascale Traub    [e-mail]    Intern
   George van Reeth [e-mail]  President
   John Wallman     [e-mail]   Summer Sessions,
                                             Affiliate Campuses,
                                             & Research
GROUP ADDRESSES
---------------
We have set up several aliases for specific programmatic areas of ISU
operations.  Since people's responsibilities do change, we do this to make
it easier to contact the right people, even if you don't know who they are.
These groups are listed below:
   [e-mail]    This address is the default
                                address for resolution of all
                                e-mail problems.  Bounced messages
                                are forwarded here and requests
                                for e-mail assistance should be
                                addressed here.
   [e-mail]          This is *THE* address to send all
                                changes to your contact
                                information (mailing address,
                                phone, fax, telex, e-mail, etc.)
                                This is the information that ISU
                                uses daily to send info to you,
                                call you, etc. and it is the
                                information that is provided to
                                the Whois Info Server described
                                above.
   [e-mail]  This address is to be used for
                                anything relating to student
                                applications including, but not
                                limited to:  requesting them,
                                returning them to ISU via e-mail,
                                questions about them, and
                                inquiries about status.  This is
                                also the appropriate address to
                                use to send requests for
                                applications to be sent somewhere.
   [e-mail]    This is specifically for requesting
                                information about the status of an
                                applicant's admissions process.
   [e-mail]        This can be used to ask/answer
                                any/all alumni-related questions.
   [e-mail]      This address should be used to
                                submit articles, news, or
                                information the ISU's quarterly
                                Universe publication.  Also,
                                questions about items appearing in
                                the Universe can be addressed
                                here.
   [e-mail]        These aliases will soon (by the
   [e-mail]        end of October 1992) be evolved
                                into a separate discussion-
                                oriented digest to be distributed
                                to all people interested and
                                involved in the development and
                                implementation of the ISUnet.
                                Currently, this also includes the
                                development of the ISU Space
                                Library.
   [e-mail]         This can be used to ask/answer
                                any/all questions pertaining to
                                the ISU 1993 Summer Session.  Each
                                year, there will be an updated
                                address for each upcoming summer
                                session.
   [e-mail]      This address goes to the ISU
                                Founder's Association and should
                                be used to ask questions about
                                ISU's fundraising and public
                                relations questions, as well as
                                provide information about
                                potential sources of funding,
                                support, or publicity for ISU.
   [e-mail]         This address should be used for
                                issues relating to the
                                administration of ISU in areas not
                                covered by other aliases.
   [e-mail]           This address should be used for
                                issues relating to the
                                ISU Board of Directors.
   [e-mail]           This address should be used for
                                issues relating to the
                                ISU Board of Advisors.
   [e-mail]  This address should be used for
                                issues relating to ISU
                                publications.
   [e-mail]      This address should be used for
                                questions and answers about
                                academically-related issues faced
                                by ISU.
   [e-mail]           This address should be used for
                                questions and answers about the
                                planned Master of Space Studies
                                degree.
   [e-mail]           This address should be used for
                                questions and answers about the
                                planned ISU Permanent Campus
                                System (including Central and
                                Affiliate Campuses, summer
                                sessions in general, and research
                                activities) and the status of any
                                existent RFPs or proposals,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Irwin Horowitz                        |
Astronomy Department                  |"Whoever heard of a female astronomer?"
California Institute of Technology    |--Charlene Sinclair, "Dinosaurs"
[e-mail]                |
[e-mail]                 |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 19:01:03 GMT
From: "Allen W. Sherzer" <[e-mail]>
Subject: More Goldin rumors and how you can help
Newsgroups: sci.space,talk.politics.space

A reliable source told me that Sally Ride was offered and turned
down the job of NASA administrator. This means the current plan
IS to replace Goldin. The other front-runner is Rep. Nelson of
Florida who would be worse than Truly.

If you want to help, send a letter to Clinton asking that Goldin
retain his job. Letters should go to:

   Govonor Bill Clinton
   PO Box 615
   Little Rock, AR 72203

I'm working on getting a good phone number to call but please write
AND call.

  Allen
--
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Allen W. Sherzer | "A great man is one who does nothing but leaves        |
|  [e-mail]     |  nothing undone"                                       |
+----------------------101 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX----------------------+

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

Date: 13 Jan 93 20:20:15 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: More on helping Goldin stay at NASA
Newsgroups: sci.space

For those of you that are E-Mail junkies, and who refuse to write U.S. mail,
and who want to do convey something about Goldin to the gov.  I suggest that
you e-mail to
        [e-mail]

This was a campain channel for the Clinton group, but there is still a guy
who picks up the mail, and prints it, and passes it on to the people who
process the u.s.mail for Clinton.

It is not 100%, but it is better than doing nothing.

        John Stevens-Schlick

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

Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 19:27:19 GMT
From: Dillon Pyron <[e-mail]>
Subject: needed: a real live space helmet
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (rabjab) writes:
>When I want to feel like I'm in space lately I've been wearing a
>large goldfish bowl over my head, but it bumps around too much
>when I drive.  Where can I buy a decent helmet or get one real cheap?
>It must have earphones with little antennas coming out of them,
>like the ones in Lost in Space.
>Somebody told me there was a contest I could enter with cereal box
>tops to win a spacesuit!  But I can't find the cereal.

No, it was a soap bar.  You had to make up a slogan about the product, and if
they drew your name, you won!    RAH :-)

About the space cadet academy.  Get into the USAFA, spend four years for your
half-track, spend two more going through high performance flight training, four
more proving you're one of the best, two to four years at Edwards and maybe
you'll be an astronaut.  But more than likely, you'll get a street named for
you at some air base.
--
Dillon Pyron                      | The opinions expressed are those of the
TI/DSEG Lewisville VAX Support    | sender unless otherwise stated.
[phone] (when I'm here)     |
[phone] (when I'm home)     |UUCP addresses sound more like shootouts
[e-mail]          |than computer stuff.
PADI DM-54909                     |

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

Date: 13 Jan 93 20:00:29 GMT
From: Craig Keithley <[e-mail]>
Subject: needed: a real live space helmet
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(Edmund Hack) wrote:
>
>
> You will win a spacesuit if you are the fifth? prize winner.  Unless you
> are fully prepared, don't fix it up and walk around in the back yard
> calling "Junebug to Peewee!"

Yep, that's dangerous... Last person that did that ended up in a most
serious adventure.

(See 'Have Spacesuit will travel' by Robert A. Heinlein)

Craig Keithley
Apple Computer, Inc.
[e-mail]
"I have absolutely no responsibility in this matter, what-so-ever"

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

Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 20:55:53 GMT
From: "Edward V. Wright" <[e-mail]>
Subject: needed: a real live space helmet
Newsgroups: sci.space

In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (rabjab) writes:

>Somebody told me there was a contest I could enter with cereal box
>tops to win a spacesuit!  But I can't find the cereal.

The first thing you need is a business card.  Have it
printed with the motto, "Have Spacesuit, Will Babble."

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

Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 22:14:56 EST
From: John Roberts <[e-mail]>
Subject: Oxygen in Biosphere 2

-From: [e-mail] (Brad Whitehurst)
-Subject: Re: Oxygen in Biosphere 2
-Date: 13 Jan 93 15:07:08 GMT
-Organization: University of Virginia

-    Very interesting!  Are the symptoms of non-acclimatized crew
-members similar to altitude sickness or does the higher total pressure
-prevent some of the altitude sickness symptoms from appearing?  I
-don't know, but I would assume that HAPE, for instance, requires lower
-total pressure.  Obviously, a crew member with symptoms that severe
-would require immediate attention, and perhaps evacuation.

The wide range of conditions known as "mountain sickness" (described in the
10/92 issue of Scientific American) appear to be dependent only on low
partial pressure of oxygen. There may be other medical effects resulting
from low total pressure (even with full partial pressure of oxygen), but
these are less well understood.

John Roberts
[e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 22:37:17 EST
From: John Roberts <[e-mail]>
Subject: polar meteorites

-From: [e-mail] (Joe Cain)
-Subject: Re: polar meteorites
-Date: 12 Jan 93 19:48:19 GMT
-Organization: Florida State University Geology Dept.

-In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
->Re. finding meteorites...
->> Over 100 feet of ice pack has formed since 1944 in Greenland.

->Seems to me I remember a childhood reference which stated that Peary found
->a rather large meteorite (multiton) that had been mined by the local residents
->for some time (decades/centuries/millenia???).

-Let's see, does that mean that Greenland is like a big glacier? If so,
-then would not debris keep moving with the ice flow and eventually
-come out at the edges, perhaps becoming part of icebergs!?

I don't know about possible spread of glaciers, but one significant effect
is the compression of the land. I believe the center of Greenland is now
considerably below sea level (with thousands of feet of ice on top).

I think the glaciers of North America are still in retreat.

John Roberts
[e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 16:20:48 GMT
From: Rich Kolker <[e-mail]>
Subject: Saving an overweight SSTO....
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Gregory N. Bond) writes:
>
>There are a couple of scenarios here:
>
>1) It's overweight by some relatively small amount, say, 5000lbs.  This
>
>2) The mass overrun is a substantial fraction of payload, or exceeds
>
>3) The mass overrun is much larger than that.  At this point, the

Just some added information.  The DC-Y payload weights of 24,800 lb to
eastbound LEO and 10,000 lbs to polar LEO are based on conservative
design considerations.  They include a 15% dry weight pad and a 2 sec
of isp pad.  What the weight pad means is that dry weight can be as much as
15 % over current design expectations and still make the payload weight.
If the dry weight is closer to what they think it will be, then payload
obviously goes up.  If the engines work the way they think, payload
goes up.  In other words, theres quite a bit of slop before payload
starts going down.

++rich
-------------------------------------------------------------------
   rich kolker       [e-mail]
                         < Do Not Write In This Space>
--------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 22:03:43 EST
From: John Roberts <[e-mail]>
Subject: water recycling

-From: [e-mail] (Henry Spencer)
-Subject: Re: DC-1 and the $23M NASA Toilet
-Date: 13 Jan 93 18:00:37 GMT

-In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Pat) writes:
->I watched a NASA fiilm on Select late one night, where they discussed
->the Skylab life support system.  Skylab had three seperate water
->recovery systems.  identical in function and part.
->Water was recovered from exhalation, urine and the shower/handbasin.
->each system used a wick evaporator to distill h2o and then passed the
->vapor through a carbon filter to remove odor and contaminants.

-Odd that this isn't mentioning in "Living and Working in Space", the
-NASA History book about Skylab (which has quite a bit of discussion of
-the waste-handling systems -- some of the detailed decisions about how
-to deal with urine were among the biggest controversies in the project).
-Nor is any of it mentioned in the Skylab News Reference (Hardware
-and Systems).  Nor is any of it mentioned during a how-did-you-go-to-
-the-bathroom interview with Rusty Schweickart, who was on one of the
-backup Skylab crews.

-Sure they weren't talking about the system for the space station?  I know
-they've put a lot of effort into making recycling work for the station.

NASA Select occasionally shows features on planned water recycling systems,
and an old clip on design of space stations that recycle both air and water.
It could have been one of those.

John Roberts
[e-mail]

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

End of Space Digest Volume 16 : Issue 045
------------------------------