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Date: Mon, 18 Jan 93 05:04:16
From: Space Digest maintainer <digests@isu.isunet.edu>
Reply-To: Space-request@isu.isunet.edu
Subject: Space Digest V16 #059
To: Space Digest Readers
Precedence: bulk
Space Digest Mon, 18 Jan 93 Volume 16 : Issue 059
Today's Topics:
Air Force Space Command
best food for space?
DC-1 and the $23M NASA Toilet
Hewlett Packard conin space
Organic heat shielding. (2 msgs)
Oxygen in Biosphere 2
teaching star trek
Welcome to the Space Digest!! Please send your messages to
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(THENET), or space-REQUEST@isu.isunet.edu (Internet).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1993 03:25:20 GMT
From: Samuel Bryant <astroman@cscns.com>
Subject: Air Force Space Command
Newsgroups: sci.space
Bill Gawne, gawne@stsci.edu writes:
>While the Air Force may wish to claim space command as their own, it is
>in fact a joint service command staffed by folks from all DoD services.
>The USAF is the majority player at space command, but that's all.
Sorry Bill, but Air Force Space Command is 100% Air Force!!
(and has about 30,000 personnel including civilians)
US Space Command is the one you mean, and it is comprised of personnel
from the Air Force, Army, Navy, and Canadian Air Force. It only has a
couple of hundred people and its role is to understand the warfighters
needs and ensure those needs are met with adequate space support. The
commander in chief for US Space Command directs his component commands to
get what he needs on orbit. CINC Space's component commands are:
Air Force Space Command, a MAJCOM with 30,000 personnel
Army Space Command, 400 personnel
Navy Space Command, 750 personnel
So when people speak of Space Command they _are_ referring to Air Force
since they mean the command that does the work -- launching, and
controlling satellites on orbit.
The Air Force is the National Executive Agent for spacelift and is responsible
for all DoD launches. They buy the satellites, boosters, and man the
launch bases and ranges at Cape Canaveral AFS, FL and Vandenberg AFB, CA.
Not to mention the 49 remote tracking stations around the world. Yes, those
are Air Force - Not Navy, Not Army, and Not US Space Command.
If we go to war, CINC Space (Commander In Chief for US Space Command) takes
operational control of
all space activities he needs to support the warfighter. But the work
is still done by Air Force Space Command personnel on Air Force Bases and
remote stations.
I used the pronoun HE on purpose. CINC Space is the leader of a combatant
command and will be a Fighter Pilot. CINC Space is also CINC NORAD,
Commander in Chief for the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
CINC Space is also, the Commander of Air Force Space Command. Yes, the
man is triple hatted and two of his positions require Fighter Pilot
backgrounds (not my idea). So, as long as women can't be fighter pilots,
don't ever look for them as CINC Space or CINC NORAD.
>If you want to work there you have to go thru one of the existing service
>academies or a ROTC program. Then HOPE that someday all your wishes come
>true and you're assigned there. But you're more likely to find yourself
>on the ground tracking stuff in space, than in space yourself.
No, not true because of your top level error that Air Force Space Command
is a joint command. You would have to go through the Air Force Academy,
an Air Force ROTC program, the Officer's Training School, OR::
Direct commission as a Doctor, Nurse, or Lawyer
You are correct in assuming the difficulty in becoming an actual
astronaut. There just are many positions available. But as I said
earlier, Air Force Space Command has about 30,000 personnel which includes
civilians. There are lots of opportunities to work on something exciting
and inovative.
>US Space Command is considered a "combatant command", similar to the
>much more well known US Central Command (CENTCOM was the headquarters
>of Desert Shield/Storm, the made for TV war.) The Space Commander is (?)
>a 4 star billet, and I've heard it alternates between Air Force and Navy
>officers. Perhaps somebody who works for Space Command can confirm or
>refute this.
Yes, US Space Command is a combatant command, but his "combatants" are in
his component commands, Air Force, Army, and Navy.
Air Force General (4 stars) Charles Horner is CINC Space (Commander in Chief
for US Space Command), his deputy is a Navy Admiral (3 stars) and the
positions will never rotate. Air Force will always be CINC Space. There
is no law or regulation preventing a rotating CINC but if the Navy ever
asked, they would have to give up CINC Pacific Fleet to an Air Force
General in return. No, they never even ask..........
General Horner is triple hatted;
CINC Space - Commander in Chief for US Space Command
CINC NORAD - Commander in Chief North American Aerospace Defense
Command
Commander - Air Force Space Command
BTW, his deputy at NORAD is a Canadian and those positions never rotate
either.
Sorry to rag on you so much Bill, but I'm very proud of my command and a
little sensitive when people make bold statements which are incorrect.
During peacetime, Air Force Space Command is _SPACE_COMMAND_
We do launch, We do satellites, We command and control space!
Captain Samuel Bryant
HQ Air Force Space Command
sbryant@spacecom.af.mil
or
astroman@cscns.com
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 17 Jan 1993 10:03:00
From: Eric Cotton <Eric.Cotton@f6507.n124.z1.fidonet.org>
Subject: best food for space?
Newsgroups: sci.space
Put your food into a "Chef" like home-brew container think how
they put icing on the cake!!! Use a 1,2, or 3 liter bottle neck
to serve as your spout. If you're really gung-ho, purchasaa icing
spreader!! Lotsa luck...Eric
One un-related ?
When you type ,,, does your ccomputer type in a lot of junk like
ckeck maarrrks and extra letters???? If so, Plls reeplly!!
See what I mean!!
Eric Cotton
* Origin: *AmeriComm*, 214/373-7314. Dallas'Info Source. (1:124/6507)
------------------------------
Date: 18 Jan 93 06:58:05 GMT
From: Dave Michelson <davem@ee.ubc.ca>
Subject: DC-1 and the $23M NASA Toilet
Newsgroups: sci.space
In article <1993Jan15.060020.22460@fulcrum.oz.au> steve@fulcrum.oz.au (Steve
Taylor) writes:
>I think the zero gravity toilet scene was on an orbital shuttle, not the
>main ship.
The zero-G toilet was on the earth-moon shuttle "Aries".
---
Dave Michelson University of British Columbia
davem@ee.ubc.ca Antenna Laboratory
------------------------------
Date: 18 Jan 1993 09:06:14 GMT
From: stevep@hpscit.sc.hp.com
Subject: Hewlett Packard conin space
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space
|> Is there anyone from HP on the net? I think I've seen network address
|> with "hp" in them. Is this Hewlett Packard?
|>
|> Tony Ryan, Homn. Sec., Astronomy Ireland, P.O.Box 2888, Dublin 1, Ireland.
Sure is. I've not heard of any specific HP into Space stuff. There was the
HP handheld calculator that was used on some (I think) Apollo missions.
--
=======================================================================
!! Steve Pearce Hewlett-Packard !!
!! SSG/CSY Pinewood, UK !!
=======================================================================
------------------------------
Date: 18 Jan 93 05:27:09 GMT
From: Josh 'K' Hopkins <jbh55289@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: Organic heat shielding.
Newsgroups: sci.space
prb@access.digex.com (Pat) writes:
>gary@ke4zv.UUCP (Gary Coffman) writes:
>>
>>are a preferred solution. Honeycomb composite structures are another good
>>solution, but remain very expensive to fabricate.
>Too the best of my understanding, the chinese use Bamboo heat shields
>on their rocket capsules. The bamboo carbonizes, and becomes an almost
>perfect insulator. A friend of mine watched a thermite lance get halted
>by a piece of plywood. the carbon just sucked up the heat.
Actually, I think they use(d) oak. They may also use bamboo, but it sounds like
you may have it confused. I believe oak's an ablative material, at least in
the form they use it in. Personally, I'd like to know just how well osage would
hold up. I don't know its thermal properties, but it's mighty stubborn stuff.
>any low cost vehicle plans ever look at these?
Well, obviously the chinese have (which is of course, a perfectly good and
perfectly useless answer). I don't know just how well the stuff works but it
sounds like it might be worth looking into. Space colonies could grow their
own heat shields.
--
Josh Hopkins jbh55289@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
Q: How do you tell a novice from an expert.
A: A novice hesitates before doing something stupid.
------------------------------
Date: 18 Jan 93 07:07:06 GMT
From: Dave Michelson <davem@ee.ubc.ca>
Subject: Organic heat shielding.
Newsgroups: sci.space
As a point of interest, the original plan for the Saturn S-IVB stage
was to use balsa wood for insulating the LH2 tank. (The details
are discussed in Stages to Saturn, an often quoted source in this
group :-) Only after determining that they would need far more balsa
than the world could every hope to supply (!) did they switch to a
synthetic material...
---
Dave Michelson University of British Columbia
davem@ee.ubc.ca Antenna Laboratory
------------------------------
Date: 18 Jan 1993 04:28:04 GMT
From: Pat <prb@access.digex.com>
Subject: Oxygen in Biosphere 2
Newsgroups: sci.space
I imagine O2 is being consumed into CO2, by the animals including crew
and that due to low light levels or insufficient plant areas and
low ocean algae productivity, the CO2 is floating around, also
some carbonates may be being created in the ocean. I believe i saw
something where CO2 levels rose dramatically enough in early days,
that a CO2 scrubber had to be put into B2. so i imagine those
calcium tabs have a lot of the missing O2.
Taber can ytou comment on this? and did you guys consider setting
up a small sabatier reactor to recycle the CO2, or was this against
operating principles, I imagine a Laser printer sized solar driven
sabatier reactor should be able to produce ~1 CF of O2 every hour.
not a lot, but enough to balance the problem. certainly easier then
continuing to get calcium resupply missions. After all Mars
doesn't have a lot of general sales stores :-)
Besides, the sabatier reaction will be vital for mars exploration, so might as
well get some R&D experience on small solar sabatier reactors.
Course, zubrins proposal is for nuclear driven reactors, but we could
get by on solar for a weight penalty.
pat
------------------------------
Date: 18 Jan 93 08:17:02 GMT
From: Bill HEELAN <wheelan@cs.mcgill.ca>
Subject: teaching star trek
Newsgroups: sci.space
From article <1993Jan17.134606.5044@wkuvx1.bitnet>, by cabanc@wkuvx1.bitnet:
> [...] Any way I am doing research into using Star Trek as a teaching
> tool for students. [...]
Choose your examples carefully! I'm sure all TNG fans remember when
Geordi informed us that the surface of a planet was at -293 C. :-)
- Bill
------------------------------
End of Space Digest Volume 16 : Issue 059
------------------------------