Space & Astronomy/Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso/pc/text/spacedig/v15_2/v15no238.txt

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Date: Wed, 23 Sep 92 05:06:42
From: Space Digest maintainer <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Space Digest V15 #238
To: Space Digest Readers
Precedence: bulk


Space Digest                Wed, 23 Sep 92       Volume 15 : Issue 238

Today's Topics:
                 ALTERNATIVE Comet Rendezvous Mission
               Clinton's platform on the space program
                      Clinton and Space Funding
               Discussion of SETI Goals and Objectives
                       Drop nuc waste into sun
Life not Death through Space Exploration (Was Re: Population Fascism!)
                      Magellan Update - 09/22/92
                PLANETLIKE OBJECT SPOTTED BEYOND PLUTO
                    Pluto/direct: what to name it?
                           Radio allocation
                   satellite construction question
                      Sayonara, Mariner Mark II
                                 SETI
            Space Platforms (political, not physical : -)
             SSTO Alert: Senate Conference starting soon

    Welcome to the Space Digest!!  Please send your messages to
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 22 Sep 92 17:28:52 GMT
From: "Don M. Gibson" <[e-mail]>
Subject: ALTERNATIVE Comet Rendezvous Mission
Newsgroups: sci.space

Wait, my calander doesn't say April 1st!

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

Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1992 18:53:40 GMT
From: Mike Van Pelt <[e-mail]>
Subject: Clinton's platform on the space program
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]> writes:
>      CLINTON/GORE ON AMERICA'S SPACE PROGRAM

Another translation from bureacrat-speak:

>*    Maintain the Space Shuttles integral role in
>     our civilian space program.  The Shuttle is
>     extremely complex and will always be expensive
>     and difficult to operate.  But we must take
>     full advantage of its unique capabilities.

Scuttle anything which might threaten the shuttle's position.  Goodbye
DC-X, and barriers (for "public safety" and "environmental" reasons to
be sure, *cough* *cough*) against any private company trying to provide
competing launch services.
--
Mike Van Pelt                   Without objective evidence, "bell ringing"
LSI Logic/Headland Products     is indistinguishable from "crying wolf".
sun!indetech!hsv3!mvp              -- Steve Emmerson
[e-mail]

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

Date: 22 Sep 92 17:37:33 GMT
From: Herman Rubin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Clinton and Space Funding
Newsgroups: sci.space,talk.politics.space,alt.politics.bush,alt.politics.clinton

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Allen W. Sherzer) writes:
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Devon E Bowen) writes:

            ..................

>Oh space is not ny only issue but I do think it is an important one. Just
>looking at the differences in their space policies IMHO tells a lot about
>the canidates and their stands.

>Clinton's space people oppose efforts to reduce costs. They prefer to
>stick with older and more expensive systems. They also want to keep the
>government in firm control of the entire program.

>This unimaginative attitude seems to go hand in hand with Clinton's other
>programs and positions.

>>I, personally, vote for what I think is best for the
>>society in general and not just my individual interests.

>Me too. I have absolutely no personal interest in space. I am not employed
>by NASA or any space related effort. I will not profit by any particular
>space policy.

I think this is a perverted use of the term "interest."  Mr. Sherzer and I
both have no direct financial involvement which will be affected by the
precise space policy.  However, I have a great personal interest in space,
as I consider immediate major space activity, leading to a large, and
preferably highly varied, human presence in space as by far the best hope
for the future of mankind, and for human freedom.  I believe that Mr. Sherzer
also considers a massive manned presence in space as important for the
future well-being of humanity.  These are interests.
--
Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399
Phone: [phone]
[e-mail] (Internet, bitnet)
{purdue,pur-ee}!pop.stat!hrubin(UUCP)

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

Date: 22 Sep 92 15:11:07 GMT
From: Mark Gryzwa 4-6860 <[e-mail]>
Subject: Discussion of SETI Goals and Objectives
Newsgroups: sci.space

I haven't seen much of a discussion on this group with regards to SETI,
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.  I thought this might be an
opportunity to get a thread started.

My questions are:
1.)  What are the goals of the SETI project?
2.)  What is NASA listening for and can they respond if they hear
something?
3.)  How is the listening being accomplished?
4.)  What does NASA hope to gain by hearing something?

There, perhaps that will get things started.

--
Mark Gryzwa                |  ** Slower Traffic Keep Right, PLEASE **
Analog and RF Engineer     |
Magnetic Resonance Imaging | My school colors were clear.  We used to say,
  [e-mail]     | "I'm not naked, I'm in the band."-S.Wright

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

Date: 22 Sep 92 10:47:07 GMT
From: "Hr.Naepflein/PHILOS" <sinix!egn>
Subject: Drop nuc waste into sun
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Paul Dietz) writes:
>There's an easier way to get the stuff out of the solar system.  Shoot
>the stuff off into solar orbit, then blow it up (I mean really blow it
>up, to vapor, via a low-yield nuclear explosion).  The debris gets
>entrained in the solar wind and is swept out of the solar system at
>100 km/s.  This would reduce the delta-V needed to only 4 km/s or so.

Well, the easiest and most energy and cost saving way to get rid
of nuc waste is not producing any! Don't flame me, it's my opinion!

>    Paul F. Dietz
>    [e-mail]
>

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Emil Naepflein                   _--_|\       Phone: [phone]
Sedelbreite 15        A fan of  /      \      Mail:  egn%philos.uucp@unido
W-8069 Geisenfeld               \_.--._/
Germany                               v

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

Date: 20 Sep 92 20:30:57 GMT
From: "Frederick A. Ringwald" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Life not Death through Space Exploration (Was Re: Population Fascism!)
Newsgroups: sci.space

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

> In case someone would post that I am bashing the elite, I am not.

Good thing, too, since you're one of them.

After all, you're studying at a university, physics, isn't it? And when
you get finished, people are going to call you a rocket scientist.

Not that this is at all bad: if someone says "you don't have to be a
rocket scientist to (fill in the blank)," you can promptly retort with
"I AM a rocket scientist!" Try it, it works like a charm.   ;-) / 2

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

Date: 23 Sep 92 03:41:06 GMT
From: Ron Baalke <[e-mail]>
Subject: Magellan Update - 09/22/92
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary

Forwarded from the Magellan Project

                     MAGELLAN STATUS REPORT
                      September 22, 1992

1.  Magellan continues to operate normally, performing the
    battery reconditioning sequence.

2.  Commands to reconfigure the power system relays for
    reconditioning battery #2 were uplinked yesteray morning
    and the 55-hour discharge process was started.  The
    reconditioning of battery #2 will be completed by
    tomorrow.

3.  In the next few days controllers are planning to change
    the fault protection routines which handle recovery from a
    spurious shutoff of the Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier
    (TWTA).  Since the 360kHz subcarrier will not be needed
    for gravity data collection through the end of Cycle 4,
    the spacecraft will return to "Carrier only plus X-band
    telemetry" in the event of a TWTA SSO.

4.  The next command sequence will be uplinked on Friday.
    Through most of the mission-to-date the sequences have
    been prefixed with an "M" to denote a Mapping sequence.
    During Cycle 4, the letter "G" will be used to denote
    Gravity data collection.  The letter is followed by a
    digit denoting the year, i.e. "2" (for 1992), and the day-
    of-year, i.e. 269.  Thus the next command sequence is
    G2269.
     ___    _____     ___
    /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|     Ron Baalke         | [e-mail]
    | | | |  __ \ /| | | |     Jet Propulsion Lab |
 ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |__   M/S 525-3684 Telos | Quiet people aren't the
/___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | only ones who don't say
|_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                     | much.

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

Date: 22 Sep 92 17:24:07 GMT
From: Stan Ryckman <alden!sgr>
Subject: PLANETLIKE OBJECT SPOTTED BEYOND PLUTO
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space,alt.sci.planetary

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (John A. Weeks III) writes:
>We need a new "Grand Tour" flight.  The Pluto direct flights should be directed
>to fly past Chiron (I think thats the name of the thing discovered in the
>neighborhood or Saturn), then Pluto, then past this new planet.  Perhaps a
>few new objects will be sighted beyond Pluto in the mean time that can be
>added to the mission.
>
>Since you cannot get much of a direction change when flying past small
>objects, would a flight like this be possible?  Do these objects line
>up or are they even in the same plane?  Could one get gravity assists
>from some of the larger planets in order to fly by these smaller objects?

Well, bad news.  The new object (1992 QB1), planet or not, is just
about in the opposite direction from Pluto at present.  Unfortunately,
press reports such as "...beyond Pluto..." cannot be taken literally.
Such a combined flight would not be feasible now [maybe wait a few
hundred years and they'll "line up" :-( ].

I don't know in what direction Chiron lies at present.

BTW, _any_ three objects are always in a plane.  Maybe you meant
"near the Earth's orbital plane?"  If so, both Pluto and 1992 QB1
are near it, but again I don't know about Chiron.

Stan.
--
X-Obligatory-.sig
    Stan Ryckman   [e-mail]

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

Date: 22 Sep 1992 17:03:47 GMT
From: "Kevin W. Plaxco" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Pluto/direct: what to name it?
Newsgroups: sci.space

Tombaugh isn't dead.  Shouldn't that preclude the present naming
technique?

-Kevin

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

Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1992 15:02:43 GMT
From: Dillon Pyron <[e-mail]>
Subject: Radio allocation
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Tom) writes:
>For that matter, what's wrong with suing, based on the infringement of
>radio waves upon my peacful, quiet EM field?  Solar power has already
>brought up the question of 'solar rights'.
Try this one: "If those people are going to beam signals into my backyard, I
have a right to use them".  Just let me know what prison they assign you to,
I'll write.
>
>The FCC is supposed to make decisions based on...what?  I guess I don't
>really know.  I imagine it's something really vague and unenforcable like,
>'public welfare' or some such gov agency double-talk.
By the empowering law.  Not that that tells us much :-(
>
>And now, the FCC is 'the big guy'.  Between taxes, licensing, and the
>disposal of frequencies, the FCC is the de facto owner of the entire
>EM spectrum in the US.
By international treaty and US law, they ARE the owner.  And, since they are a
wing of the US government, and since WE are the US government, we own the
spectrum.  Yeah, right.
>
>-Tommy Mac                     .  "                  +
>.------------------------  +                      *       +
>|   Tom McWilliams; scrub       ,     .                        "        +
>|  astronomy undergrad, at     *       +;.     .  '             There is
>| Michigan State University   '                      .    "   no Gosh!
>|   [e-mail]                        '      ,   *
>|       [phone]       ;  +  '                                 *
>'-----------------------
>
Gosh Tommy, I would have expected you to be more cynical by now :-)
--
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)     |"Do something different, DISAPPEAR"
[e-mail]          |  "DISAPPEAR"
                                     _A Day On Earth_
                                     Brave Combo

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

Date: 22 Sep 92 20:34:25 GMT
From: Bob McGwier <idacrd!n4hy>
Subject: satellite construction question
Newsgroups: sci.space

The previous poster claimed that satellites were built with holes in them.
This is in general true.  However, many satellites built in the former
Soviet Union have most if not all the electronics modules inside pressurized
containers.  This greatly reduces the stress on components, reduces
outgassing requirements, and allows cheaper components to be used.
The amateur radio satellites, RS-10/11, and RS-12/13 I know for a fact
are piggy back electronics modules inside the pressurized vessel of the
primary payload.

BMc.

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

Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1992 16:41:00 GMT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Sayonara, Mariner Mark II
Newsgroups: sci.space

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Nick Szabo) writes...
>In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey) writes:
>>>         **  Cassini Redesigned -- [...]
>>>         Key features of the re-designed mission include:  Cassini-unique
>>> spacecraft with body-fixed instruments, and a lighter spacecraft permitting
>>> the launch by a standard Titan IV vehicle.
>>
>>I guess this puts an end to the fiction of the Mariner Mark II
>>"series," huh?
>
>
>Mariner Mark II wasn't always a fiction.  It became so when the
>planetary exploration budget was reduced by an order of magnitude, from
>$3 billion per year ($92) in the 1970's to $300 million a year today, a
>level over an order of magnitude less than the Shuttle budget.  There's no
>such thing as a standard bus in this size range when we can only afford to
>fly one  mission per decade of this size.  Not that I object to the size
>cutback; I would rather see ten small missions than one big mission, and
>I've lobbied for that for years. Unfortuneately, the choice has boiled down
>to one small mission (per year) vs. no big missions.  ("Big" only relative
>to other automated planetary missions, understand.  The old Mariner Mark
>II missions would have each cost less than 1% of one astronaut project
>to low earth orbit, SSF).
>
>
Yes but how many people dream of building a planetary mission (I am one by the
way). Children dream of goin into space and being astronauts.  That is why
their are space camps springing up all over the planet.  This will in the
long run bring more money to planetary science than all the ranting and raving
in the world.  By the way planetary spacecraft construction is my forte Nick
BUT I am a realist and I recognize what it will take to gain long lasting
support for space and that is manned missions and Space Station Freedom.

By the way there are several small faster cheaper mission being planned at
JPL right now.  The cancellation of CRAF probably did more to HELP the long
range goals of the planetary program than anything else in recent years.

Dennis, University of Alabama in Huntsville

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

Date: 22 Sep 92 20:30:37 GMT
From: Bob McGwier <idacrd!n4hy>
Subject: SETI
Newsgroups: sci.space

For those of you who care about SETI (search for extraterrestrial
intelligence), the all sky survey begins on October 12 with an
instrument built by JPL (Helmut Wilke's group) on a 34 meter dish
at Goldstone.  At long last, it begins.

BMc

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

Date: 22 Sep 92 17:55:41 GMT
From: Mark Wilson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Space Platforms (political, not physical : -)
Newsgroups: sci.space,talk.politics.space,alt.politics.marrou,alt.politics.libertarian

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

SS:This is getting way off topic for sci.space, but by what right that
SS:the Cubans recognise would a US Libertarian society own any part
SS:of the radio spectrum if they abbrogated the existing governmental
SS:treaties? In particular, how do you think the cubans should respond if
SS:a Miami station decided a cuban military reserve slot was just the
SS:ticket, and "occupied it" and claimed onwership under US guidelines?

SS:Sue under a legal system they do not recognise with no enforcement powers?

Yes, this is a problem.  How to resolve conflicting claims when under
two or more legal systems.  Especially if the two systems are not talking
to each other.

But then this is no less a problem under the current system.

--
--Mark
My opinions are mine, all mine.  Unless someone else claims them first.

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

Date: 22 Sep 92 19:14:32 GMT
From: "Allen W. Sherzer" <[e-mail]>
Subject: SSTO Alert: Senate Conference starting soon
Newsgroups: sci.space,talk.politics.space

The Senate is scheduled to vote today on the Defense Appropriation
Bill. This bill has report language which is very favorable to the
SSRT program and DCX (thanks again to those who wrote). This is in
contrast to the House bill which zeros out SSRT funding.

Beginning tomorrow, the House and Senate will go to conference to
produce the final bill. If you wish to help support SSRT and DCX,
please write two letters as follows.

The first letter should be to Rep. Murtha (address below). Ask him to
support the SDIO SSRT program and fully fund it. Say that you think this
is an important program and you hope it doesn't fall through the cracks
because of its small size.

The second letter should go to Senator Domenici (address below). Thank
him for his past support and ask him to insure that the SDIO SSRT program
is fully funded.

  Rep. John P. Murtha      Senator Pete Domenici
  2423 RHOB                SD-427
  20515-3812               U.S. Senate
  tel: [phone]            Washington, D.C. 20510-3101
  fax: [phone]            Phone:[phone]
                           Fax: [phone]

If you live in a state with a representative or senator on this subcommittee
or even the whole Appropriations Committee, please write to him/her as well.

  Allen

--
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Allen W. Sherzer | "If they can put a man on the Moon, why can't they     |
|  [e-mail]     |  put a man on the Moon?"                               |
+----------------------214 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX----------------------+

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


          id aa26855; 22 Sep 92 21:57:43 EDT
To: [e-mail]
Newsgroups: sci.space
Path: crabapple.srv.cs.cmu.edu!cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!rochester!udel!darwin.sura.net!wupost!sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ames!nsisrv!ltp2.gsfc.nasa.gov!gumley
From: "Liam E. Gumley" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Interactive Computer Ephemeris software from USNO
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.4-b1
Sender: Usenet <[e-mail]>
Nntp-Posting-Host: ltp2.gsfc.nasa.gov
Organization: NASA-GSFC LTP Computing Facility Code 920.2
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1992 16:17:00 GMT
Lines: 14
Source-Info:  Sender is really [e-mail]
Source-Info:  Sender is really [e-mail]

G'day people.

I am trying to get hold of the "Interactive Computer Ephemeris" program
that was designed by the US Naval Observatory.  I just called them and
was told it is no longer available.  Does anyone have a copy that I could
borrow?  Is it public domain?

Cheers,
Liam.
--
Liam E. Gumley                            | Phone    : [phone]
NASA/GSFC MODIS Science Data Support Team | Fax      : [phone]
Research and Data Systems Corporation     | Internet : [e-mail]
Greenbelt MD, USA                         | Opinions expressed here are my own!

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

End of Space Digest Volume 15 : Issue 238
------------------------------