Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/pc/text/spacedig/v09_5/v9_533.txt

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Subject: SPACE Digest V9 #533

SPACE Digest                                      Volume 9 : Issue 533

Today's Topics:
         Newspaper article on Insat accident results
              Re: Don't mess with NASA?
           NASA Prediction Bulletin Format
              Re: ADA and space station
         JOB VACANCY: for British Cosmanaut.
           Re: Satellite Images - at home!
    Re: NASA GIVES ASSISTANCE TO PRIVATE LAUNCH COMPANY!!
             Re: Phobos pictures
           Re: Satellite Images - at home!
    Re: Dumping excess heat to space (was Re: IS FUSION GOOD ???)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:     Thu, 29 Jun 89 15:02:19 CDT
From: Will Martin <[e-mail]>
Subject:  Newspaper article on Insat accident results

This was in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Wednesday, June 24 1989, page 3C:

SATELLITE LAUNCH WEEKS AWAY

Washington -- A "very unfortunate" launch pad accident last week in
Florida will delay what was to have been the first major private-sector
US launch of a satellite by at least several weeks and possibly many
months, officials say.

McDonnell Douglas Corp. was scheduled to loft a communications satellite
for the government of India aboard its Delta 2 rocket on Thursday,
making it the first American company to dispatch a paying customer's
cargo to orbit.

The company is one of three major American rocket makers trying to
compete for commercial satellite business with the European consortium
Arianespace, which has cornered more than half the free world market.

The competition is an outgrowth of the Reagan administration's efforts
to encourage development of a private-sector launch industry. Previous
US launches have been conducted by NASA or the Air Force.

The accident happened June 19, when a hoist cable snapped, allowing a
heavy steel hook to fall on the $70 million Insat 1D satellite and
damage a critical antenna.

The cable was part of a 5-ton bridge crane that had been used to lift
the satellite 116 feet to the top of a Delta 2 rocket, built by McDonnell
Douglas Space Systems Co. of Huntington Beach, CA, at a launch pad
leased from the Air Force at Cape Canaveral.

The satellite has been removed from the rocket and sent to the company's
Florida facility, where potentially lethal propellants must be unloaded
before the satellite's manufacturer, Ford Aerospace Communications Co.
of Palo Alto, CA, and a representative of the customer, India's
Department of Space, will be able to assess the damage, according to
McDonnell Douglas spokesman [sic] Sheila Carter.

The company plans to proceed with other launches scheduled on its Delta
rockets, she said, including a Navstar navigation satellite in late July
and a British media satellite in mid-August.

"There's a good chance the satellite will have to be sent back" to the
plant in California, said Susan Pearce of Ford Aerospace. There is no
spare antenna, and a new one may have to be built.

Some sources said that finding a new launch slot might take longer than
repairing the satellite -- up to a year if the launch schedule isn't
juggled to make a new opening.

In addition to the Delta boosters, Martin Marietta Astronautics Group of
Denver is marketing a commercial version of the big Titan 34D rocket,
and General Dynamics Corp. of St. Louis is selling Atlas-Centaur rockets.
***End of Article***

Hope this is of interest and doesn't duplicate something already posted!
(I see the Space stuff on the Digest and it runs about a week or so
later than the USENET.)

Regards, Will Martin

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

Date: 26 Jun 89 16:39:43 GMT
From: hpfcdc!hpfcdj![e-mail]  (Bob Myers)
Subject: Re: Don't mess with NASA?

>He definitely isn't.  I consider the DC-3 a charming historical relic,
>period.  If you want class when climbing into an aircraft, it has to have
>afterburners.

BIG "afterburners".  Say, something along the lines of five F-1 engines...:-)



Bob Myers            | "One man's "magic" is another man's engineering.
myers%hpfcla@hplabs. |     "Supernatural" is a null word."
hp.com               |                   - Lazarus Long/Robert A. Heinlein

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

Date: 30 Jun 89 05:03:13 GMT
From: agate!helios.ee.lbl.gov!ncis.tis.llnl.gov!blackbird![e-mail]  (TS Kelso)
Subject: NASA Prediction Bulletin Format


As a service to the satellite user community, the following description
of the NASA Prediction Bulletin's two-line orbital element set format is
uploaded to sci.space on a monthly basis.  The most current orbital elements
from the NASA Prediction Bulletins are carried on the Celestial RCP/M, (513)
427-0674, and are updated several times weekly.  Documentation and tracking
software are also available on this system.  The Celestial RCP/M may be
accessed 24 hours/day at 300, 1200, or 2400 baud using 8 data bits, 1 stop
bit, no parity.

==============================================================================

Data for each satellite consists of three lines in the following format:

AAAAAAAAAAA
1 NNNNNU NNNNNAAA NNNNN.NNNNNNNN +.NNNNNNNN +NNNNN-N +NNNNN-N N NNNNN
2 NNNNN NNN.NNNN NNN.NNNN NNNNNNN NNN.NNNN NNN.NNNN NN.NNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Line 1 is a eleven-character name.

Lines 2 and 3 are the standard Two-Line Orbital Element Set Format identical
to that used by NASA and NORAD.  The format description is:

Line 2
Column     Description
 01-01     Line Number of Element Data
 03-07     Satellite Number
 10-11     International Designator (Last two digits of launch year)
 12-14     International Designator (Launch number of the year)
 15-17     International Designator (Piece of launch)
 19-20     Epoch Year (Last two digits of year)
 21-32     Epoch (Julian Day and fractional portion of the day)
 34-43     First Time Derivative of the Mean Motion
        or Ballistic Coefficient (Depending on ephemeris type)
 45-52     Second Time Derivative of Mean Motion (decimal point assumed;
           blank if N/A)
 54-61     BSTAR drag term if GP4 general perturbation theory was used.
           Otherwise, radiation pressure coefficient.  (Decimal point assumed)
 63-63     Ephemeris type
 65-68     Element number
 69-69     Check Sum (Modulo 10)
           (Letters, blanks, periods = 0; minus sign = 1; plus sign = 2)

Line 3
Column     Description
 01-01     Line Number of Element Data
 03-07     Satellite Number
 09-16     Inclination [Degrees]
 18-25     Right Ascension of the Ascending Node [Degrees]
 27-33     Eccentricity (decimal point assumed)
 35-42     Argument of Perigee [Degrees]
 44-51     Mean Anomaly [Degrees]
 53-63     Mean Motion [Revs per day]
 64-68     Revolution number at epoch [Revs]
 69-69     Check Sum (Modulo 10)

All other columns are blank or fixed.

Example:

NOAA 6
1 11416U          86 50.28438588 0.00000140           67960-4 0  5293
2 11416  98.5105  69.3305 0012788  63.2828 296.9658 14.24899292346978

Note that the International Designator fields are usually blank, as issued in
the NASA Prediction Bulletins.

--
Dr TS Kelso                           Asst Professor of Space Operations
[e-mail]          Air Force Institute of Technology

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

Date: 30 Jun 89 14:13:01 GMT
From: att!tsdiag!scr1![e-mail]  (Jeff Schnell)
Subject: Re: ADA and space station

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (54317-T.EBERSOLE) writes:
> "Course Description:
> Ada is not "just another programming language," but rather was specifically
> designed to impact software development across the entire software life
> cycle as no language has ever done before. Participants are shown how SW
> written in Ada is more understandable and reliable than that written in
> other languages, and how SW systems are more modifiable and maintainable
> when developed using Ada.
>
< Interesting stuff deleted

   How could I get to see this conference???  Please email me back.
--
Jeffrey J. Schnell   System Support Eng.      | Concurrent Computer Corp.
FAX:  [phone]   Ph: [phone]       | 2 Crescent Place, M/S 117
UUCP: ucbvax!rutgers!petsa!tsdiag!scr1!jeffs  | Oceanport NJ, 07757

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

Date: Fri, 30 Jun 89 14:58:18 -0500
From: [e-mail], DANIEL J <[e-mail]>

unsubscribe space "Daniel Pezely"

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

Date: 30 Jun 89 11:28:37 GMT
From: mcvax!ukc!etive![e-mail]  (Bob Gray)
Subject: JOB VACANCY: for British Cosmanaut.

JOB VACANCY: British cosmonaut required.

The agreement between a British consortium and the Soviets
for a British Cosmonaut to visit the Mir space station was
finally signed yesterday.

The trip, codenamed Juno, will take place sometime in 1991
and will last eight days.

The #16 million ticket price is to be raised via
sponsorship, advertising and the sale of the TV rights.

The special telephone hotline has already taken hundreds of
calls from applicants.

Candidates should be between 21 and 40 years of age and
possess a formal scientific training in either biology,
applied physics, engineering or medicine. A shortlist of 300
will be drawn up, and two will eventualy be chosen to train
with the Soviets.

Both will have to learn Russian [although I suspect you will
stand a better chance if you already speak it].

If anyone wants to apply, the phone number given was
<UK> 01-224-2211 Mon-Fri 9am-7pm and 10am-5pm at weekends.

If you are planning to phone from outside Britain, remember
those times are in BST.
    Bob.

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

Date: 29 Jun 89 15:00:45 GMT
From: mcvax!ukc!icdoc!syma![e-mail]  (Des Watson)
Subject: Re: Satellite Images - at home!

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] writes:
>
> The only organisation I know of who are dedicated to weather satellite picture
> reception are the Remote Imaging Group in the UK. They also supply a range of
> equipment at reasonable prices. They can probably put you in touch with someone
> closer to home.

I have the doubtful honour of being the membership secretary of this
organization. At present, there are just over 1000 members, mainly in the UK,
and the majority seem to be actively receiving weather satellite signals.
E-mail to me will get you a membership application form, or indeed, a list
of "local" members (but only those who have not objected to their names
being used for this purpose).

Interest in this subject seems to be growing - there have been many articles
published recently in the (amateur) radio/electronics press.

Des Watson         Phone: [phone]       | Computer Science
UUCP: ...mcvax!ukc!cogs!desw                   | Maths & Physics Building
ARPA: [e-mail]| Univ. of Sussex, Falmer
JANET:[e-mail]                   | Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK

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

Date: 30 Jun 89 12:26:49 GMT
From: mcvax!ukc!etive![e-mail]  (Bob Gray)
Subject: Re: NASA GIVES ASSISTANCE TO PRIVATE LAUNCH COMPANY!!

In article <[e-mail]> mordor!rutgers!pnet01.cts.com![e-mail] writes:
>NASA, AMROC AGREE TO CRITICAL CHEMICAL EXCHANGE

>>                                    .....NASA provided two drums
>>(about 600 lbs.) of the chemical to AMROC.

>Approximate wholesale value of 300kg H2O2 is a few hundred dollars.

Anyone like to estimate what the cost of preparing all the
publicity handouts about providing the drums of H2O2 was?
    Bob.

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

Date: 30 Jun 89 16:25:03 GMT
From: mcvax!ukc!etive![e-mail]  (Bob Gray)
Subject: Re: Phobos pictures

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Nick Watkins) writes:
>The albedo variations are very different to Viking images, with the channel
>floor and low land between the remnant blocks of the collapsed terrain
>showing up significantly darker than the rest of the cratered uplands. The
>photos, if Infra-red, could be indicative of sub-surface volatiles in these
>regions.

Yes, this sounds like the image which featured on the
original C4 news report I posted about originaly.

They specificaly mentioned it was an infra-red image but
didn't mention what part of the spectrum.

The channel floors between the blocks were said to be
between two and three kilometers wide.

Obviously that Giant statue of Elvis was life size, if this
is the city the inhabitants came from. :->
    Bob.

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

Date: 28 Jun 89 18:17:59 GMT
From: hpfcdc!hpldola![e-mail]  (Paul Bame)
Subject: Re: Satellite Images - at home!

Save yourself some trouble and confusion and find a copy of "The Weather
Satellite Experimenter's Handbook".  I don't have one but it's supposed
to be pretty good.

In general, the several types of weather sats aren't too hard to receive
but the "imaging" satellites (Landsat, SPOT) likely use digital encoding
and/or encrypting.  Weather sats are made for lots of folks to be able
to use, satellites which are either classified or make money are often
designed to be useful only to a particular ground station (or a few).

The polar orbiting weather satellites use a ~137 MHz signal and transmit
continuous images of what's under them.  The geosync ones use 1.6GHz
(e.g., you might need a dish).

Since this stuff involves radio, you might try asking further questions in
rec.ham-radio too.  Hams have been active in image communication for a very
long time.


    -Paul Bame N0KCL

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

Date: 29 Jun 89 15:39:45 GMT
From: cs.utexas.edu!wasatch!uplherc!esunix![e-mail]  (Bob Pendleton)
Subject: Re: Dumping excess heat to space (was Re: IS FUSION GOOD ???)

From article <[e-mail]>, by [e-mail] (890 x76196):
> If it is difficult to eliminate waste heat from industrial processes
> into space, why not reduce the heat recieved from the sun?
>
> With a (relatively) unlimited energy budget it should be possible to
> launch a number of large, reflective, satellites to reflect away
> excess incoming solar energy.
>
> Dana Khoyi @ Wang Labs (...uunet!wang!dana)

Yes, that will reduce the amount of heat recieved from the sun. It
will also reduce the amount of light from the sun. Plants live by
photosynthesis, they work off of light, not heat. So reducing the heat
coming from the sun might have some nasty side effects. Just possibly
the destruction of the entire ecology of the earth.

"With a (relatively) unlimited energy budget it should be possible to"
move all the heat producing industries into space. Once in space
getting rid of the heat isn't that difficult a problem. Once in space
it should be cheaper to mine the asteroids for many raw materials and
ship only finished products to earth.

"With a (relatively) unlimited energy budget it should be possible to"
collect much of the accumulated industrial wastes and either ship them
off planet, convert it to something useful, or make it harmless.

"With a (relatively) unlimited energy budget it should be possible to"
provide clean water, clean air, food, and the opportunity for an
education, to every person on earth. In other words, freedom from
want.

Is fusion good? Is penicillin good? I doubt that I would be alive
today if penicilin had not been discovered. I'm convinced that both of
my children would not have survived past age 2 without antibiotics.

But I know that antibiotics have caused major social changes. Some of
those changes are ones I don't much like. But all in all I think
antibiotics are a good thing.

Is fusion good? Yes I think it will be good. Why? Because cheap energy
will give everyone more choices. And reduce the personal risks of
those choices. I'm sure there will be social changes that I don't
like. But social changes that result from personal choices are better
than social changes driven by grinding poverty.

The original poster made a number of nasty statements about the
ability of the average person to "handle" the reponsibility that
comes with unlimited energy. The answer to this is that some people
will make mistakes. Some people will die from those mistakes. The rest
will make good choices and learn from their own and others mistakes.
But they will do it freely.

            Bob P.

P.S.

Those that want to dictate what is good for the people should learn
the lesson of Tiananmen square.

--
-              Bob Pendleton, speaking only for myself.
- UUCP Address:  decwrl!esunix!bpendlet or utah-cs!esunix!bpendlet
-
-             Reality is stranger than most can imagine.

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

End of SPACE Digest V9 #533
*******************