Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/pc/text/spacedig/v15_1/v15no137.txt

Internet Message Format | 1993-07-13 | 19KB

Date: Sun, 23 Aug 92 04:59:58
From: Space Digest maintainer <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Space Digest V15 #137
To: Space Digest Readers
Precedence: bulk


Space Digest                Sun, 23 Aug 92       Volume 15 : Issue 137

Today's Topics:
                           Asteroid report
                  Atlas Centaur AC-71 Launch Failure
                           Balloon Launches
            BuckyStalks (was Re: Beanstalks in Nevada Sky)
                   GOP space platform text (2 msgs)
                          Home made rockets
                          Martian Chronology
                 NASA Small business program (2 msgs)
                              PAVE PAWS
                        Private space ventures
           Spacecraft computers: a request for information
                            space industry
                    SPS fouling astronomy (2 msgs)
                  Star Trek (anti-)realism (2 msgs)
         With telepresence, who needs people in Earth orbit?

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

Date: 21 Aug 92 09:33:53 GMT
From: Nick Szabo <[e-mail]>
Subject: Asteroid report
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Forrie Aldrich) writes:
>Recently, and associate mentioned there was a report of a rather large
>asteroid (or some object) approaching or within our solar system, and
>with a trajectory currently in our direction.  And that radio signals
>have been transmitted from said object.
>

We have thousands of large asteroids in our solar system.  People
like Steve Ostro at JPL occasionally bounce radar off them, and analyze
the radio signals that come back.  Could this be the origin of your
rumor?





--
[e-mail]  Public Access User --- Not affiliated with TECHbooks
Public Access UNIX and Internet at [phone] (1200/2400, N81)

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

Date: 23 Aug 92 03:25:43 GMT
From: Dean Adams <[e-mail]>
Subject: Atlas Centaur AC-71 Launch Failure
Newsgroups: sci.space

A General Dynamics Atlas/Centaur booster today failed to place the
Hughes Galaxy 1R satellite into orbit.  After delaying launch for two
days due to bad weather, Saturday's liftoff occurred at the opening of
the launch window at 3:40pm (PST).  All Atlas performance was nominal.
The booster engines separated on schedule, and the sustainer engines
fired as expected.  Centaur insulation, payload fairing, and the first
stage all separated normally.

Following the Atlas-Centaur separation at about 7 minutes into the flight,
the Centaur began it's firing sequence, but the LH2/LO2 fueled engines
apparently never produced thrust.  The vehicle began tumbling out of
control, and the mission was declared a failure.

-{ DA }-

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

Date: 22 Aug 92 22:52:44 GMT
From: Sam Warden <[e-mail]>
Subject: Balloon Launches
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (Paul A. Voytas) writes:

>Descriptions of schemes to have a floating spaceport in the stratosphere
>are also seen from time to time. These would be huge floating structures
>with runways for single stage to orbit type of vehicles. Of course,
>you have to get everything up there in the first place....

With lighter-than-air flight, that's the _easy_ part I would think.  8-)

--

[e-mail] (Sam Warden) -- and not a mere Device.


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

Date: Sun, 23 Aug 92 00:04:09 PDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: BuckyStalks (was Re: Beanstalks in Nevada Sky)
Newsgroups: sci.space

"  Well, why didn't you SAY so?!? We could build the tether around a
temporary Lofstrom loop."

What is a Lofstrom loop?

                                                          Eric Klien

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

Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1992 21:09:01 GMT
From: Robert Bunge <[e-mail]>
Subject: GOP space platform text
Newsgroups: sci.space

As received by FAX from Houston:

GOP Platform on Space

We are a pioneer people. Today's telecommunications revolution
began with the first satellites of the Eisenhower years. So too,
what we now do -- or fail to do -- in space will determine the
future for generations to come.

That is why President Bush established the National Space Council
under Vice President Quayle. Together, they rescued a floundering
space program, revamped NASA, opened up competition, and engaged
the best minds of academia and research in a twofold mission for
mankind. Mission to Planet Earth will define and perhaps mitigate
effects on our fragile environment. Mission from Planet Earth will
open space for science and industry.

Especially in this Columbian year, we hail the President's decision
"to return to the moon, this time to stay, and then a journey to
tomorrow, a mission to Mars."

Investments in space, though aimed at the future, pay dividends
right now -- in research and medicine, in international
competitiveness and domestic opportunity. This must not be diverted
to political pork barrels. The journey to the stars used to be a
bipartisan adventure, but many Democrat officeholders have jumped
ship.

Republicans, by contrast, are determined to complete Space Station
Freedom within this decade. Our agenda is to lower the cost of
access to space, and to broaden that access to the private sector,
with a family of new launchers; to build and fly sensors for the
global environment; and to advance cutting-edge capabilities like
the National Aerospace Plane and single-stage-to-orbit rockets, so
technological breakthroughs can be quickly exploited. We will
promote space-based enterprise, not a restricted preserve for
government. We will continue international cooperation in space
ventures and welcome Russia's cosmonauts and citizens of other
nations to fly for freedom.



Bob Bunge
[e-mail]

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

Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1992 00:41:57 GMT
From: Jeff Privette <[e-mail]>
Subject: GOP space platform text
Newsgroups: sci.space

|> As received by FAX from Houston:
|>
|> GOP Platform on Space

As Charlie Brown's schoolteacher said, "Blah bla bla blah blah blah."

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

Date: 21 Aug 92 18:48:51 GMT
From: Dani Eder <[e-mail]>
Subject: Home made rockets
Newsgroups: sci.space

>In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (George Gassaway)  writes:
>> If "Estes" rocekts are not enough for you folk, try some of the
>> commercially made larger rocket motors. Notably, Aerotech, who makes
>> engines for consumers in the that go to E and F power. FAR more snesible
>> than making your own. I've been into this hobby for 22 years and know
>> better than to try to make up my own. Eventually, somebody gets injured
>> of killed making up their own stuff. Just not worth it!!!
>>

Even 'professionals' sometimes have accidents.  I recall Thiokol, who
makes the Solid Rocket Motors for the Space Shuttle having a fire
in one of their casting pits that wiped out the building it was
in.  The casting pit is where you mix and pour the solid fuel, far
away from any humans, in Utah.

Dani Eder

--
Dani Eder/Boeing/Advanced Civil Space/[phone](w)/232-7467(h)/
Rt.1, Box 188-2, Athens AL 35611/Member: Space Studies Institute
Physical Location: 34deg 37' N 86deg 43' W +100m alt.
***THE ABOVE IS NOT THE OPINION OF THE BOEING COMPANY OR ITS MANAGEMENT.***

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

Date: Sat, 22 Aug 92 02:37:54 PDT
From: [e-mail] (Kenneth Freeman)
Subject: Martian Chronology

Has a Martian calender been worked up for the benefit of future
colonists? Would the moons have a practical or a _pro forma_ role?
---
Free Tibet.
UUCP: {ucsd nosc}!crash!pnet01!kfree INET: [e-mail]

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

Date: 22 Aug 92 20:14:05 GMT
From: Edward D Wright <[e-mail]>
Subject: NASA Small business program
Newsgroups: sci.space

The NASA Small Business Innovative Research program (SBIR) may be
contacted at......
   SBIR Program Manager
   Code CR
   National Aeronautics and Space Administration
   Washington DC 20546.
The deadline for the 1993 applications is July 1993.  Initial grants
are reported to be in the $50k range.

Thanks to everyone who responded.
Ed Wright

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

Date: 22 Aug 92 23:38:38 GMT
From: Mary Shafer <[e-mail]>
Subject: NASA Small business program
Newsgroups: sci.space

On 22 Aug 92 20:14:05 GMT, [e-mail] (Edward D Wright) said:

Ed> Initial [SBIR] grants are reported to be in the $50k range.

To be more precise, Phase I SBIRs may not exceed $50,000.  Phase II
SBIRs may not exceed $500,000.

--
Mary Shafer  DoD #0362 KotFR NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, CA
[e-mail]                    Of course I don't speak for NASA
 "There's no kill like a guns kill." LCDR "Hoser" Satrapa, gunnery instructor
                       "A kill is a kill."  Anonymous

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

Date: 21 Aug 92 12:44 PDT
From: Mark Goodman <[e-mail]>
Subject: PAVE PAWS
Newsgroups: sci.space

To:    sci.space
From:  Mark Goodman ([e-mail])
Re:    meteoroid detection
Date:  21 Aug 1992

Several people have pointed out my error in dismissing OTH radars
as meteor detectors.  I hang my head in shame.  Plasma trails,
doppler shifts, yes, yes.  I was thinking of their weakness as
early-warning radars against cruise missile attack, but that's
a different story.

It is news to me that the PAVE PAWS radar in Georgia does not
operate.  I knew the OTH/B radars were mothballed or operating
on limited schedules.  I assume the BMEWS radars for warning
against (former) Soviet ICBMs are still working.  But there
haven't been any (former) Soviet ballistic missile subs off our
coasts for years.

+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
|       Mark W. Goodman       | What a terrible thing it is |
| [e-mail] -- econet | to lose your mind.          |
| [e-mail]  |                             |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

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

Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1992 21:47:58 GMT
From: "Phil G. Fraering" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Private space ventures
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] writes:

>In <[e-mail]> Simon Demler writes:
>>Does it also bother you that these people could be spending some money
>>on the drought problems in Africa rather than on some space program
> Nope, it doesn't bother me at all. The planet is overpopulated as it
>is. Besides, how do you fix a drought ???
> -----------------------------------------------------------------

Massive weather control. Of course, the greens won't like it
very much if anyone drops a couple hundred square miles of
evaporating film off of Somalia, and starts seeding clouds
with whatever the latest material is...

There have been rumors of secret attempts to alleviate droughts
bandied about (although I doubt them); the reason they're supposedly
kept secret is the possibility of having to pay for any damage it
_might_ have caused.

...

--
Phil Fraering [e-mail] where the x is a number from 1-5.
Phone: [phone]
SnailMail: 2408 Blue Haven Dr., New Iberia, La. 70560

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

Date: 20 Aug 92 22:21:52 GMT
From: Morris Jones <[e-mail]>
Subject: Spacecraft computers: a request for information
Newsgroups: sci.space

I'm working on an undergraduate computer applications report, and I
would appreciate any information on the use of computers in space
systems. Details on languages used, physical components, memory,
protocols, etc would interest me. Please e-mail me with any details.


Morris Jones. University of New South Wales. Happy International Space Year!

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

Date: Sat, 22 Aug 92 14:04:10 PST
From: Michael Wallis <[e-mail]>
Subject: space industry
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (Allen W. Sherzer) writes:

> In article <[e-mail]> Mark Goodman <[e-mail]> writ
>
> >There are really no private space launch providers
> >outside the United States -- Arianespace is the closest thing.
>
> So what are Atlas, Delta, and Titan, chopped liver?

No, they're INSIDE the United States.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[e-mail] - Michael Wallis

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

Date: Sat, 22 Aug 92 13:25:28 PST
From: Michael Wallis <[e-mail]>
Subject: SPS fouling astronomy
Newsgroups: sci.space

roelle@uars_mag.jhuapl.edu (Curtis Roelle) writes:

> Are there really persons out there who believe a fair assessment of
> the physical universe can be made by restricting our view to the
> celestial cones around Earth's polar regions?

About as many as believe that there'll be > 1000 SPS satellites in GEO
with 30% albido brightening up the night sky for everyone.

Give it a rest, folks.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[e-mail] - Michael Wallis

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

Date: Sat, 22 Aug 92 13:35:34 PST
From: Michael Wallis <[e-mail]>
Subject: SPS fouling astronomy
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (Frederick A. Ringwald) writes:

> In article <roelle.714081429@uars_mag>
> roelle@uars_mag.jhuapl.edu (Curtis Roelle) writes:
>
> > Are there really persons out there who believe a fair assessment of
> > the physical universe can be made by restricting our view to the
> > celestial cones around Earth's polar regions?
>
> Hey, wait a minute. THIS wouldn't happen in any case. A full-up SPS
> system would brighten the entire sky, largely due to scattered light in
> the Earth's atmosphere. This would be seen by any observer on Earth,
> except those above |82| degrees latitude, who would see a dark sky
> (providing it's night, it's clear, and no aurora is around).

I have NO idea where you got your info in SPS systems, but it seems there
is little in what you say that relates to actual SPS designs or proposals.
The SPS systems transmit power in the microwave frequencies not in visible
light. Get some facts, please!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[e-mail] - Michael Wallis

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

Date: Sat, 22 Aug 92 13:40:24 PST
From: Michael Wallis <[e-mail]>
Subject: Star Trek (anti-)realism
Newsgroups: sci.space

[e-mail] (Chris Ralph) writes:

> DP>From: [e-mail] (David Parkins)
> DP>Organization: Cornell Theory Center
>
> DP>In response to the statement that no real navy would let a 35 year captain
> DP>a ship. Reference Captain John Paul Jones US or Colonial navy during
> DP>the US revolutionary war, I'm pretty shure he was around 35 when he got
> DP>his first command.
>
> DP> * Origin: FidoNet/ACSNet Gateway [csource.oz.au] Melbourne, OZ
> (3:632/400.0)
>
> John Paul Jones was 21 when he first took command of a vessel.  He was
> en route to Scotland as a passenger when both skipper and 1st mate died
> of fever.

I don't have his name handy, but there's a Canadian Navy Captain of a
submarine who made Captain at age 25. He had join at age 17, worked and
studied hard and made rapid progress up the command chain in 8 years.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[e-mail] - Michael Wallis

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

Date: 23 Aug 92 04:58:07 GMT
From: "Frederick A. Ringwald" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Star Trek (anti-)realism
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>
[e-mail] (Michael Wallis) writes:

> > DP>In response to the statement that no real navy would let a 35 year captain
> > DP>a ship. Reference Captain John Paul Jones US or Colonial navy during
> > DP>the US revolutionary war, I'm pretty sure he was around 35 when he got
> > DP>his first command.
[...]
> > John Paul Jones was 21 when he first took command of a vessel.  He was
> > en route to Scotland as a passenger when both skipper and 1st mate died
> > of fever.
>
> I don't have his name handy, but there's a Canadian Navy Captain of a
> submarine who made Captain at age 25. He had join at age 17, worked and
> studied hard and made rapid progress up the command chain in 8 years.

Grrr. Read the original post, will you people ?!? John Paul Jones got
where he was during a WAR, during which there is not much EXPLORATION;
and when he was 21, he certainly didn't retain command after they
reached port. Furthermore, a submarine is not a CAPITAL SHIP: it's
still technically a boat, despite the dramatic increase in capability
nuclear power gives it. Does this Canadian officer have the rank of
Captain, or do they just call him that because he commands a vessel?
Old custom, you know. (If a second officer with the rank of Captain
comes aboard, it's customary to call him "Commodore" while he is
aboard, the rationale being no ship can have two captains. This goes
even on a lowly corvette with a Lieutenant commanding; and while aboard
his vessel, you'd better call him Captain!) And does he command a
diesel or nuclear submarine? If it's diesel, it's definitely a BOAT,
not a CAPITAL SHIP, the diffference being greater than that between a
pickup truck and a semi-trailer.

This topic is silly anyway and the matter should drop, and besides, no
one with real experience in a real navy will dispute the original post.

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

Date: 21 Aug 92 09:18:31 GMT
From: Nick Szabo <[e-mail]>
Subject: With telepresence, who needs people in Earth orbit?
Newsgroups: sci.space

Those in search of government pork.  They consider astronauts a good
money-raising technique, much like Greenpeace & their whales.

(But at least donations to Greenpeace are voluntary).

Save the astronauts!  Write your Congressman & join NSS now!  :-)


--
[e-mail]  Public Access User --- Not affiliated with TECHbooks
Public Access UNIX and Internet at [phone] (1200/2400, N81)

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

End of Space Digest Volume 15 : Issue 137
------------------------------