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Date: Fri, 19 Feb 93 05:23:20
From: Space Digest maintainer <digests@isu.isunet.edu>
Reply-To: Space-request@isu.isunet.edu
Subject: Space Digest V16 #200
To: Space Digest Readers
Precedence: bulk
Space Digest Fri, 19 Feb 93 Volume 16 : Issue 200
Today's Topics:
*advocate* anonymous postings
Allen's problem
Antimatter/Atomic Booms for Jettison!
A response from Anonymous
CAPE YORK RUMOUR
COSPAS/SARSAT info?
ESA press release
Getting people into Space Program!
ICEBurg/Water Powered Space Ships.
Mars Rescue Mission, what if! (2 msgs)
Nobody cares about Fred? (2 msgs)
Orbits/Mission/Temp/Planets FTP Computer Programs?
Pressure fuel delivery, ideas regarding, ICEBURGs!
Reliable Source says Freedom Dead, Freedom II to be developed (2 msgs)
Sabatier Reactors.
SETI and Virtual Reality
SSTO/DC-X in the Media..
Titan or Bust! (Saturn Moon)...
Welcome to the Space Digest!! Please send your messages to
"space@isu.isunet.edu", and (un)subscription requests of the form
"Subscribe Space <your name>" to one of these addresses: listserv@uga
(BITNET), rice::boyle (SPAN/NSInet), utadnx::utspan::rice::boyle
(THENET), or space-REQUEST@isu.isunet.edu (Internet).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 18 Feb 93 03:41:51 GMT
From: "Lyle J. Mackey" <lestat@wixer.cactus.org>
Subject: *advocate* anonymous postings
Newsgroups: news.admin.policy,comp.org.eff.talk,alt.privacy,sci.space,sci.astro,sci.crypt
In article <1993Feb16.191517.12896@fuug.fi> an8785@anon.penet.fi (8 February 1993) writes:
>
>Now that we've seen that pseudonymous postings are not an
>unmitigated evil by demonstrating their accountability and
>responsibility, we need to go further and to *promote*
>pseudonymous postings as a positive good.
I personally don't believe that pseudonymous postings are appropriate in a
serious discussion area. If there is a LEGITIMATE reason for concealing the
posters' identity, perhaps, but simply because they're not so sure if they
want their name attached doesn't qualify as LEGITIMATE in my book. (Oh,
and if you can come up with a legitimate purpose for anonymous postings,
please, enlighten me.)
>The reason that they are to be encouraged is that the
>pseudonymous article distance the ego of the poster
>from the content of the message. That is, defense of
>the posting is divorced from defense of the self and
>conversely, advocacy of a position is separated from
>simple self-promotion.
If one is not comfortable with the postings of his idea, and is not willing
to stand behind his ideas, what reason has he to push his ideas upon us?
>True, a lot of sludge will be channeled by Anonymous. But
>of far more importance will the occasional Copernican theory
>(still censored in some areas until the early 19th C.) be able
>to surface without intimidation or retribution.
This is NOT the 19th century, Usenet readers/posters are NOT likely to be
persecuted for a post with their name attached (and if they ARE, posting
to an anonymous source will do very little to prevent that), and it sounds
to me like you're trying to justify posting without responsibility under
the guise of "to keep us out of trouble".
>But for the rest of us, this difficult and frustrating process of
>learning effective strategies of analysis and resolution is identical
>with education in our free society, a society that is slowly
>transcending national boundaries at the speed of light.
Past experience has shown that the anonymous services have lent themselves
far more frequently to the abusers than the users. I suppose you're also
opposed to the concept of Caller ID, full disclosure, and accountability of
public servants.
If you really want to see how reliable anonymous (or even "friend of a friend"
stories) are, take a look at the Enquirer, Weekly World News, or any of the
other tabloids that quote "reliable sources" or "unnamed informants" when
presenting their far-fetched and destructive stories.
-LjM
--
Lyle | lestat@wixer.cactus.org | Team Doofus | No animals were harmed
James | Social Engineer | '89 Kaw EX500 | during the creation of
Mackey | Beer Snob, Liberal | DoD 587 | this .signature.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 93 18:32:28 EST
From: Tom <18084TM@msu.edu>
Subject: Allen's problem
In article <1lu78iINNkcv@mojo.eng.umd.edu> sysmgr@king.eng.umd.edu writes:
....
>So tell me, Mr. Sherzer, what is the REAL reason why you don't like NASA?
>Were you denied a job there?
>Astronaut slot?
>It is obvious you have an axe to
>grind, beause they're incapable of meeting your standards of perfection.
I aksed Allen a while ago about people that suggest HE is bad, rather
than his ideas. (Specifically, how he stays courteous with thoses types)
He admitted to an evil electric machine attatched to his back that makes
him post against NASA, Fred and Shuttle. So there's no need to get
personal! (Sorry for giving away your private, personal trouble, Allen,
but I feel the need to offer support for people in very difficult
situations :-)
Personally, my problem with NASA extends to most of the fedgov.: They
spend my money, which was taken by force, in stupid ways. If they
spent it in good ways, it would still be immoral, but at least we'd
all complain less. I think Allen, as well as others, do a very good
job, which I could not match, of showing how the waste of some of
NASA's choices are objective facts, rather than just opinion.
I'd like to see the opposite argument presented in as convincing a way.
Yes, there are good things that NASA does, but that doesn't mean
the wasteful things are good, too!
-Tommy Mac
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom McWilliams | 517-355-2178 (work) \\ Inhale to the Chief!
18084tm@ibm.cl.msu.edu | 336-9591 (hm)\\ Zonker Harris in 1996!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1993 02:50:55 +0000
From: Andrew Haveland-Robinson <andy@osea.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Antimatter/Atomic Booms for Jettison!
Newsgroups: sci.space
In article <1993Feb17.172632.4350@aio.jsc.nasa.gov> kjenks@gothamcity.jsc.nasa.gov writes:
>In my Introduction to Nuclear Engineering class, I was taught that
>there are four ways of limiting exposure to radiation:
> 1) Increase the distance between yourself and the source
> 2) Decrease your exposure time
> 3) Increase your shielding
> 4) Reduce the intensity of the source
>
>If somebody has come up with a new way, please advise.
>light bulb!<
5) Never need to do any of the above in the first place!
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Haveland-Robinson Associates | Email: andy@osea.demon.co.uk |
| 54 Greenfield Road, London | ahaveland@cix.compulink.co.uk |
| N15 5EP England. 081-800 1708 | Also: 0621-88756 081-802 4502 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
<<>> Those that can, use applications. Those that can't, write them! <<>>
> Some dream of doing great things, while others stay awake and do them <
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1993 18:12:10 GMT
From: dgilbert <dgilbert@jaywon.pci.on.ca>
Subject: A response from Anonymous
Newsgroups: news.admin.policy,alt.privacy,comp.org.eff.talk,sci.space,sci.astro
>>>>> On Tue, 16 Feb 1993 22:38:28 GMT, mccall@mksol.dseg.ti.com (fred j mccall 575-3539) said:
fred> In <vpsoc.729897617@manning> vpsoc@cs.UAlberta.CA (Rob Eitzen) writes:
>barnhart@ddsw1.mcs.com (Mr. Aaron Barnhart) writes:
fred> No protections other than it being against the law for anyone but the
fred> Postal Service to put something in your mailbox, you mean? It may be
Yes, but the origional analogy still holds. It is easier than
trivial to send anonymous snail mail. Don't put a return address on
it, and drop it into a letter box at some busy intersection.
Dave.
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|David Gilbert, University Of Guelph, Ontario | Two things can only be |
|Preferred : dgilbert@jaywon.pci.on.ca | equal if and only if they |
|Possible : dgilbert@snowhite.cis.uoguelph.ca| are precisely opposite. |
---------------------------------------------------------GLO----------------
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1993 12:12:01 GMT
From: Luke Plaizier <lukpla@scorch.apana.org.au>
Subject: CAPE YORK RUMOUR
Newsgroups: sci.space
Watch out for this Cape York (AUSTRALIAN Launch Site Proposal)
rumour. It has been heard that the Cape York proposal has received
something like A$800M in funding and WILL be going ahead. If this is
more than just a rumour, then a public announcement will be given in
the NEXT FEW WEEKS as to the commencement of construction on the
project.
Also, this is the clincher, it has been rumoured that not only
will the Zenit be launched from Ausralian soil, but so will the
Proton.
Oh, thank you for the fall of the USSR.......
Luke.
------------------------------
Date: 18 Feb 93 22:21:12 +1300
From: michael@otago.ac.nz
Subject: COSPAS/SARSAT info?
Newsgroups: sci.space
G'day.
Can anyone point me to a source of information on the COSPAS/SARSAT
search-and-rescue satellites? I'm interested in user-oriented details like how
many satellites there are, how often they go over any given point, how
accurately they can locate a beacon, and so on. Reason: we just got a local
terminal here (previously the nearest one was in Western Australia!), and I'm
thinking of buying an EPIRB.
Thanks,
Michael(tm) Hamel, Analog Digital Inftrumentf, Dunedin, New Zealand.
POTARCH (n.)
The eldest male in a soap opera family.
------------------------------
Date: Thursday, 18 Feb 1993 08:42:17 CET
From: Hermann Schneider <HSCHNEID@ESOC.BITNET>
Subject: ESA press release
Newsgroups: sci.space
Joint Press Release ESA/CNES Nr 06.93
Paris, 17 February 1993
FIRST OPERATIONAL TEST ON ARIANE-5
SOLID BOOSTER GOES WELL
The first test on the P230 solid booster for the European Ariane-5
launcher took place on 16 February 1993 at 1721h Paris time, on its
teststand at the European spaceport at Kourou in French Guiana.
The first indications are that the test went well; an initial report
will be issued by 22 February, after the booster has been
thoroughly inspected.
The test was carried out with the booster in "battleship"
configuration, i.e. with a heavier structure than it will have in its
flight version; it was the first of a series of eight that will be
needed to qualify the launcher. The next test will be run once the
results of the first have been analysed, and will then be done in
"flight" configuration.
The Ariane-5 launcher will be fitted with two P230 boosters, each
30 metres high and containing 237 tonnes of propellant grain in
three segments. Each booster has a thrust equal to that of the
most powerful Ariane-4 (the A44L version), which makes it the
most powerful booster ever built in Europe.
This first test was run under the responsibility of Europropulsion
(a firm owned jointly by Difesa e Spazio, of Italy, and the French
Societe Europeenne de Propulsion) and CNES (the French space
agency). CNES designed the teststand, and was in charge of
carrying out the test.
The P230 solid booster forms part of the European Space Agency's
Ariane-5 Programme, the prime contractorship of which ESA has
delegated to CNES.
Television channels wishing to obtain a Betacam cassette of this
test (4 minutes duration) should send a fax to 33.1.42.73.76.90.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1993 03:49:40 GMT
From: Dave Rickel <drickel@bounce.mentorg.com>
Subject: Getting people into Space Program!
Newsgroups: sci.space
In article <1lppptINNds3@access.digex.com>, prb@access.digex.com (Pat) writes:
|> BUt the X-15 was a massive success, for a very difficult problem
|> and it delivered a functionally operational spacecraft.
Hmm. Stretching a bit, i think, to call the X-15 an operational spacecraft.
NASA gave the X-15 pilots (well, some of them) astronaut's wings, but the
craft never came close to orbital velocity. I doubt (but could well be
wrong) that the X-15 could have survived reentry from orbit.
I've heard that there were plans to launch a derivative into orbit.
david rickel
drickel@sjc.mentorg.com
------------------------------
Date: 18 Feb 93 10:56:27 GMT
From: nsmca@acad3.alaska.edu
Subject: ICEBurg/Water Powered Space Ships.
Newsgroups: sci.space
Why not combine the methods suggested and their components..
Such as a combined ICEBURG ship with a Solar Sail.. A ICEBURGS major problem
seems to be getting it moving/changing its orbit/inertia..
I do like the idea of using the ICEBURG mass as a straight/simple system of
directing the the water escaping.... Mayeb a combo of the idea of using hihg
pressure water as like the idea of a cutting "torch" or "saw".. use the
lasers to free the water, collect the water, then pressurize it
(using energy from solar power?), then direct the water as
jets (see ma no air), namely maneuvering jets as well as main drive. Use the
Sail to get the ICEBurg moving..
Or maybe yet, use the stream of water against the sail kind of like a water
powered device (to wierd?).. See Ma water power is not out of style...
Does anyone see/watch "Beyond 2000"?
==
Michael Adams, nsmca@acad3.alaska.edu -- I'm not high, just jacked
If I get to wierd, step back, think and then tell me Im crazy..
------------------------------
Date: 18 Feb 93 11:04:34 GMT
From: nsmca@acad3.alaska.edu
Subject: Mars Rescue Mission, what if!
Newsgroups: sci.space
Wierd question? What is the mission to Mars fails, and the astronauts are
stranded, maybe not int he end, but early on. What steps would be done if
anything to rescue them??
Scenario if early in the mission, mabe a fly by resupply mission (space drop
versus air drop?).
If later in the mission, namely on the way home. what is there available to
help them home..
Just being wierd as usual..
==
Michael Adams, nsmca@acad3.alaska.edu -- I'm not high, just jacked
(Im unemployed so my views are my own, so you can't blame anyone but me)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1993 13:25:05 GMT
From: Herman Rubin <hrubin@pop.stat.purdue.edu>
Subject: Mars Rescue Mission, what if!
Newsgroups: sci.space
In article <1993Feb18.030434.1@acad3.alaska.edu> nsmca@acad3.alaska.edu writes:
>Wierd question? What is the mission to Mars fails, and the astronauts are
>stranded, maybe not int he end, but early on. What steps would be done if
>anything to rescue them??
Very little. The Scott expedition to the south pole died. Any frontier
is a dangerous place.
>Scenario if early in the mission, mabe a fly by resupply mission (space drop
>versus air drop?).
Would the astronauts have the mobility to get to the supplies? If so, this
might be done, It would take about 6 months to get the supplies there.
>If later in the mission, namely on the way home. what is there available to
>help them home..
Now there is the problem of matching orbits without brakes. It MIGHT be
barely possible early in the return. Later, matching velocities would
take too long even if massive boosters, etc., were available off the shelf.
Imagine a pinball setup, where you have a ball falling back in a bad way.
You can launch a new ball to deflect it, but if must get over a large hump,
so must have high initial speed. But to deflect it in a desirable manner,
it must hit it with a very low relative speed. But you must get it there
very fast. Is it even possible?
--
Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399
Phone: (317)494-6054
hrubin@snap.stat.purdue.edu (Internet, bitnet)
{purdue,pur-ee}!snap.stat!hrubin(UUCP)
------------------------------
Date: 18 Feb 93 09:37:03 GMT
From: Gary Coffman <ke4zv!gary>
Subject: Nobody cares about Fred?
Newsgroups: sci.space
In article <1993Feb17.022223.3908@iti.org> aws@iti.org (Allen W. Sherzer) writes:
>In article <1993Feb16.161058.16432@ke4zv.uucp> gary@ke4zv.UUCP (Gary Coffman) writes:
>
>>a truss based Mir II. This has been typical of the two
>>programs, we occasionally wake up and try to make heroic
>>leaps while they just plod along like the tortoise and
>>the hare.
>
>
>You will recall that it was the tortise that won the race.
Yeah, but I also recall that it was a fairy tale. Apollo beat
the Soviets to the Moon as the hare playing catch up. It remains
to be seen whether Freedom or Mir II will be first (or best) in
orbit. The US has traditionally been a sprinter rather than a
distance runner in technological competitions. That's often cost
us more money and effort than would strictly be necessary. It's
a result of being driven by public whim rather than by a dictatorship
that can deny bread to the people in order to march toward an objective.
If we had applied the Soviet management style to our projects, with our
vastly greater resources, we'd be much further along with capsules and
tin cans in orbit. There's no denying that. However that's been politically
impossible here. Note, however, that our style does lead to considerable
advantages of it's own. For example we never had to use vacuum tubes in our
manned space systems. Our eclectic development system allowed for deviations
from a set plan, not as quickly as some would like, but nonetheless our systems
are usually more capable in the end.
Gary
--
Gary Coffman KE4ZV | You make it, | gatech!wa4mei!ke4zv!gary
Destructive Testing Systems | we break it. | uunet!rsiatl!ke4zv!gary
534 Shannon Way | Guaranteed! | emory!kd4nc!ke4zv!gary
Lawrenceville, GA 30244 | |
------------------------------
Date: 17 Feb 1993 11:27 CST
From: wingo%cspara.decnet@Fedex.Msfc.Nasa.Gov
Subject: Nobody cares about Fred?
Newsgroups: sci.space
In article <1993Feb17.022223.3908@iti.org>, aws@iti.org (Allen W. Sherzer) writes...
>In article <1993Feb16.161058.16432@ke4zv.uucp> gary@ke4zv.UUCP (Gary Coffman) writes:
>
>>a truss based Mir II. This has been typical of the two
>>programs, we occasionally wake up and try to make heroic
>>leaps while they just plod along like the tortoise and
>>the hare.
>
>
>You will recall that it was the tortise that won the race.
>
> Allen
Funny that I do not remember them winning the race to the moon or the cold
war or.....
Where do you get your information Allen that the original truss could not be
built in orbit? You seem to spend a lot of time pushing the "fact" with not
engineering basis for it. I seem to remember a shuttle mission where a 90
foot section of the truss was built.
There seems to be a lot of talk about the Truss with little understanding
about what I buys. It buys expandablility. It buys the ability to add on
ad infinitum to the station after it gets into orbit. As the station begins
to be utilized and proves its worth we can expand it into what we really
want it to be in the end. Allen can not seem to see this. Unfortunately NASA
has to do with SSF kind of what NASA JPL did with Voyager, do the grand tour
and build a spacecraft that can do the grand tour and more without telling
the congress critters that it can. Think about this for a while Allen.
Dennis, University of Alabama in Huntsville
------------------------------
Date: 18 Feb 93 10:39:45 GMT
From: nsmca@acad3.alaska.edu
Subject: Orbits/Mission/Temp/Planets FTP Computer Programs?
Newsgroups: sci.space
Is there any FTP (or commerical) programs to see and compute missions to
different planets/moons/asteroids and such. Maybe exterrestial missions..
Might be nice to have soem nice graphics, but a monochrome is okay..
Why this request, I want to be able to plan missions in the future and
understand how hard it is to plan a mission to another planet and steer it in..
Also is there a program to figure out how having a planet of a different star,
an orbit, a albedo factor and such, and then compute what the temperature is
and such.. Im a role playing person, and once saw the formulas and such in a
Gaming Mag, and did some programming to get what I wanted, or that the formula
said, but Im not sure if I was correct..
Later and have fun.. Hello from Nome Alaska. The last frontier...
Michael Adams
NSMCA@ACAD@.ALASKA.EDU
I'm not high, just jacked
------------------------------
Date: 18 Feb 93 11:28:18 GMT
From: nsmca@acad3.alaska.edu
Subject: Pressure fuel delivery, ideas regarding, ICEBURGs!
Newsgroups: sci.space
In article <C2MAq9.11M@zoo.toronto.edu>, henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes:
> In article <1993Feb17.150008.15241@bsu-ucs> 01crmeyer@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu (Craig Meyer) writes:
>>...I'd like to suggest a couple ways to possibly make pressure-feed
>>lighter, and see if you think they hold any water:
>>
>>Use a high-pressure gas to deliver the fuel in the same manner as
>>a perfume atomizer.
>
> This is a pump, of a type known as an ejector. The problem is that you
> need vast amounts of gas.
>
>>a. Transfer fuel from thin-walled main tank to theoretical smaller,
thick-walled
>> secondary tanks by *light* pressure-feeding.
>>b. Close valve between main tank and secondary pressure tanks.
>>c. Pressure-feed fuel from secondary pressure tanks...
>
> This is a reciprocating pump of a slightly unusual type. Gas consumption
> should not be significantly higher than for a straight pressure-fed system,
> but it's not clear to me why it has much of an advantage over a reciprocating
> pump powered by a turbine or something on that order. You've got much
> of the same complexity (valves etc.), and all the weight of large amounts
> of pressurization gas.
>
>>about standard pressure-feed systems:
>>I've read of a aluminum natural gas tank (for a bus) being wrapped with
>>carbon-fiber to hold a great deal more pressure. I suppose the same technique
>>could be applied to non-cryogenic propellant tanks (Or is it common practice
>>already)?
>
> Filament-wound pressure tanks are routine practice in modern space hardware.
>
>>How formiddable is the weight of the pressure-gas system itself, which
>>no scheme can reduce?
>
> Substantial, unfortunately. You just plain need large amounts of *gas*,
> which amounts to a fair bit of weight in itself, and storage is also a
> headache. The lightest gases, hydrogen and helium, are particularly
> painful to store.
> --
> C++ is the best example of second-system| Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
> effect since OS/360. | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry
Maybe combines the pump with an ICEBurg Space Ship. Use the Water and Steam as
the gas?? (or am I missing something, Im not an engineer/scientist..)
==
Michael Adams, nsmca@acad3.alaska.edu -- I'm not high, just jacked
------------------------------
Date: 18 Feb 93 10:54:38 GMT
From: George William Herbert <gwh@soda.berkeley.edu>
Subject: Reliable Source says Freedom Dead, Freedom II to be developed
Newsgroups: sci.space
A source that I consider reliable inside NASA HQ has stated
that Freedom is indeed dead. However, NASA Administrator
Goldin will personally lead a (well funded) look at new
concepts for building a station that will better address percieved
needs, so a new station is hoped to rapidly follow Freedoms demise.
Opinion: This is not a bad thing. Freedom has been scaled back,
redesigned, reworked, and still has muddled design issues that
make it a tremendous boondoggle. Stopping and starting over
with what we now know will likely produce a much more cost-effective
station in the mid to long term, even if it's flight takes longer
to begin.
[appologies for unnoticed typos; it's late, and I've been working hard]
-george william herbert
President, Retro Aerospace
gwh@retro.com
gwh@soda.berkeley.edu
gwh@lurnix.com
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1993 14:31:10 GMT
From: "Allen W. Sherzer" <aws@iti.org>
Subject: Reliable Source says Freedom Dead, Freedom II to be developed
Newsgroups: sci.space
In article <1lvpte$eus@agate.berkeley.edu> gwh@soda.berkeley.edu (George William Herbert) writes:
>A source that I consider reliable inside NASA HQ has stated
>that Freedom is indeed dead.
I have confirmed this with both NASA and Congressional sources. I thing
there is also a UPI story on it as well. The sources say that $2.3 billion
will be allocated to station work next year. About half will go for
termination liability and the rest into designing a new station. The new
station should be more Mir like in scope kind of like ISF. Total price
of the new station is said to be $4.8 billion.
One source said that Joe Talbot of NASA Langley will be going to
California to sork on the transition.
>However, NASA Administrator
>Goldin will personally lead a (well funded) look at new
>concepts for building a station that will better address percieved
>needs, so a new station is hoped to rapidly follow Freedoms demise.
One source also said this is a probation period for Goldin. If he pulls
this off, he can keep is job.
>Opinion: This is not a bad thing.
Agreed. It's too early to say but this may result in a real station. I
look forward to being able to support this.
Allen
--
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Allen W. Sherzer | "A great man is one who does nothing but leaves |
| aws@iti.org | nothing undone" |
+----------------------117 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX----------------------+
------------------------------
Date: 18 Feb 93 09:20:23 GMT
From: Gary Coffman <ke4zv!gary>
Subject: Sabatier Reactors.
Newsgroups: sci.space
In article <1lrqqbINN63m@access.digex.com> prb@access.digex.com (Pat) writes:
>
>Note For the Record. Henry says My Idea, which other people had also
>proposed, is not a terribly difficult thing to do. But that NASA, and
>all the other net shuttle supporters ( two people leap to mind)
>do not propose this fairly simple engineering task.
>
>If people are going to defend the shuttle as this marvelous
>workshop, then i suggest we see it do some real workshop
>type activities. Refueling satellites is a very reasonable
>mission, and it seems beyond the shuttles capacity.
>
>I would view this example as a reasoonable argument that the
>shuttle is a lousy workshop.
The Shuttle is a marvelous workshop *solely* because it is the *only*
heavy lift workshop *flying* regularly to various orbits with interesting
payloads. It's not a marvelous gas station, though it could be pressed into
that service at considerable cost. Shuttle's critical advantage is that it
is not a paper airplane. That's all, but that's enough for now. Only when
better systems become *operational* will the need for Shuttle disappear.
Gary
--
Gary Coffman KE4ZV | You make it, | gatech!wa4mei!ke4zv!gary
Destructive Testing Systems | we break it. | uunet!rsiatl!ke4zv!gary
534 Shannon Way | Guaranteed! | emory!kd4nc!ke4zv!gary
Lawrenceville, GA 30244 | |
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1993 03:49:07 GMT
From: gawne@stsci.edu
Subject: SETI and Virtual Reality
Newsgroups: sci.space
In article <Feb18.021311.41938@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU>,
wallacen@ColoState.EDU <an e-mail address which bounces>
(nathan wallace) writes:
>According
>to a NOVA program on SETI, the gentleman who invented the famous equation
>to determine the probability of other intelligent life in the universe
Frank Drake, (UC Santa Cruz?). The equation is called the Drake
Equation, and contains six multiplicative terms. As I recall three
are astronomical and can be estimated with some confidence, while the
other three are biological and nobody has any idea of their values.
-Bill Gawne, Space Telescope Science Institute
"Forgive him, he is a barbarian, who thinks the customs of his tribe
are the laws of the universe." - G. J. Caesar
------------------------------
Date: 18 Feb 93 10:21:52 GMT
From: nsmca@acad3.alaska.edu
Subject: SSTO/DC-X in the Media..
Newsgroups: sci.space
Question, so far I have not seen anything on the NEWS about SSTO, DC-X or DC-Y
or DC-1. Did I miss something or was I looking for the wrong thing??
Or is DC-X a super secret thing that no body knows about??
If people want to build it, let people know what it is. The media can be a
friend and also an enemy..
I know how it can be an enemy, you try running a campaign for a Liberterian
in a state in the pocket of the Federal Government, Unions, Oil Companies
with the media owned by a Rupublican or by Liberal Environmentalists..
If people want to know they will find it.. But they must know it exists..
Basically if people want to let someone know something, buy a radio/tv station.
Lenin once wrote about "those who control the media, control the minds of the
masses" or something like that.. I knwo the old conspiricy thing..
Hello to the Illuminati..
Michael Adams
NSMCA@ACAD@.ALASKA.EDU
I'm not high, just jacked
------------------------------
Date: 18 Feb 93 10:28:33 GMT
From: nsmca@acad3.alaska.edu
Subject: Titan or Bust! (Saturn Moon)...
Newsgroups: sci.space
Is there a planned mission to Titan in the near future??
Is there any comets/meteors and such that go from near earth orbit that also
pas by Titan? Maybe from Mars to Titan..
What moon was it that 2010 went to or near to..
Michael Adams
NSMCA@ACAD@.ALASKA.EDU
I'm not high, just jacked
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End of Space Digest Volume 16 : Issue 200
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