Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 0;andrew.cmu.edu;Network-Mail Received: from andrew.cmu.edu via trymail for ota+space.digests@andrew.cmu.edu ID ; Sun, 10 Jul 88 23:23:46 -0400 (EDT) Received: by andrew.cmu.edu (5.54/3.15) id for ota+space.digests; Sun, 10 Jul 88 23:22:00 EDT Received: by angband.s1.gov id AA09530; Sun, 10 Jul 88 20:22:30 PDT id AA09530; Sun, 10 Jul 88 20:22:30 PDT Date: Sun, 10 Jul 88 20:22:30 PDT From: Ted Anderson Message-Id: <8807110322.AA09530@angband.s1.gov> To: Space@angband.s1.gov Reply-To: Space@angband.s1.gov Subject: SPACE Digest V8 #267 SPACE Digest Volume 8 : Issue 267 Today's Topics: space news from April 11 AW&ST Crisis in NASA funding Crew problems on Bulgarian/Soviet mission? Re: Nuclear Fantasma Re: Nuclear Fantasma Re: Book Review wanted Re: SPACE Digest V8 #244 Re: Book Review wanted Re: Recycling Pershing-II's ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 6 Jun 88 11:43:04 EDT From: loeb@BOURBAKI.MIT.EDU To: marsh@mitre-bedford.arpa Cc: Space@angband.s1.gov Subject: space news from April 11 AW&ST Because explosive-powered ejection seats of pretty dangerous in the event of NO emergency. They can cause their own emergancy. For the first few flight of the shuttle, they included such seats for the 2 pilots (the only passengers). They were removed when the shuttle was deemed a little safer, and when they started having more than just the 2 pilots. Not much fun if the pilots eject and leave the passengers to enjoy the remainder of the flight. danny ------------------------------ Reply-To: pnet01!jim@trout.nosc.mil Date: Mon, 6 Jun 88 10:15:02 PDT From: jim@pnet01.cts.com (Jim Bowery) To: crash!space@angband.s1.gov Subject: Crisis in NASA funding I just want to thank Don Doughty for posting the names and addresses of key congressional leaders to contact about NASA funding in this time of funding crisis. They have my advice to squeeze NASA as hard as they can as long as NASA remains intransigent toward its proper role in American society. I encourage others on the network to contact their congressmen and let them know of this rare opportunity to give NASA some incentive to reform. UUCP: {cbosgd, hplabs!hp-sdd, sdcsvax, nosc}!crash!pnet01!jim ARPA: crash!pnet01!jim@nosc.mil INET: jim@pnet01.cts.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Jun 88 18:01:11 EDT From: Glenn Chapman Subject: Crew problems on Bulgarian/Soviet mission? An interesting development has occurred in the Soviet/Bulgarian space mission planed for tomorrow (June 7th). The Russians have stated that the final crew choice would occur tonight (June 6th)! Previously they had stated that the prime crew would consists of Victor Savinyhk (commander with 75 days on Soyuz T4/Salyut 6 and 168 days on Soyuz T13/Salyut 7 in June '85 - the Salyut rescue mission), Anatoly Stoyanov (rookie cosmonaut: Flight engineer) and Alexander Alexandrov (Bulgarian - backup on Soyuz 33 - Apr. '79). The backup crew was stated as Vladimir Lyakhov, Anatoloy Solovyev (rookie) and Krasimir Stoyanov (Bulgarian rookie). Now it looks like there may be problems with the prime crew and they will decide who will fly the night before the mission. They have not stated the crew name during the past month, while the actual primary and backup teams were presented to the press back in December. Another interesting point here, it has been stated that the Bulgarian will probably do a space walk, the first by a non USA/USSR space traveler. Finally it turns out that the Austrian mission for 1992 is not a guest cosmonaut, but rather the first paying passenger for the Soviets. The bill is for $13 million, rather cheap by western standards since it includes the training as well as the flight. Mean while the House and Senate committees are meeting this week to cut about $500 million out of the space station budget. At this rate Russian space liners will be taking passengers to Soviet hotels in orbit before the NASA station is built. Does not any one in Congress listen? Glenn Chapman MIT Lincoln Lab ------------------------------ Date: 6 Jun 88 19:46:37 GMT From: paulf@shasta.stanford.edu (Paul A. Flaherty) Subject: Re: Nuclear Fantasma In article <8806060632.AA06382@angband.s1.gov> ELIOT@cs.umass.EDU writes: > > Consider this. Using a bomb (of any type) to clear a landing site > might create a landing site, but destroys a large amount of scientific > data in the process. (Every feature and rock on the surface of > Mars can be considered scientific data). It is difficult to think > of any useful experiments that can be done in such an artifically > manipulated environment. Enter the rovers. Since by definition, nice flat areas are uninteresting, we want to get away from the landing site anyway. The real question that the sci folks had to answer was "can we get far enough away to do real science", and the answer for the blast size was "yes". The real problem (arrghhh, n+1 times I've had to post this) is that a small blast really won't pulverize the boulders that we'd have problems with. > On the other hand finding a way to avoid obstacles seems feasible > and would be itself a technological contribution. Finding a way > to generate 1m resolution images of Mars (and doing so) would actually > be a valuable scientific investigation, in addition to supporting > a landing. Um, we already have 1m resolution in three colors, and with some perspective info. Problem is, 1m is still a pretty big boulder; if you want to make you lander survive 1m boulders, you can, but the weight penalty is hideous. We've currently settled on a multipad doppler radar system. > In summary, a brute force approach might land a space craft. A > more elegant approach could both land it, and generate considerable > side benefits, without destroying anything. Turns out that the blast would provide us with tons of info on atmospherics and seismics, especially after the penetrators land. Like I said before, at this point, it's doubtful that we can get a blast that will eliminate large boulders. As long as that's the case, the political realities of the situation doom the proposal. As an aside, I note that one of the Summit items was "the peaceful use of nuclear explosions in space". -- -=Paul Flaherty, N9FZX | One Internet to rule them all, -- Tome Computer Systems Laboratory | One Internet to find them; of Stanford University | One Internet to bring them all, Internet ->paulf@shasta.Stanford.EDU | And in the Ether bind them. Hacking ------------------------------ Date: 6 Jun 88 20:24:28 GMT From: beckenba@csvax.caltech.edu (Joe Beckenbach) Subject: Re: Nuclear Fantasma Hello folks! Sorry to be late with this information: The latest numbers floating around at the Mars Observer Camera project are 250 sq. meter minimum per pixel using the wide angle optics, and 1.4 sq. meter per pixel using the narrow angle optics. Depending on the number of observations of a possible landing site, and the response of the optics to two features very close together, a site should be able to be evaluated for rock greater than 4 meters across [3 raw pixels], and possibly (through enhancement and multiple-view processing) down to 1.5m [one raw pixel]. I'm just barely starting on the MOC team, so please don't take this as gospel truth. As soon as I learn more about the optics, especially the resolution (from the test procedures to be designed and written), I'll try to summarize. Now all we need is an orbit to draw the Observer closer.:-) I think that these figures are for an orbit 450 km from the Martian surface-- I'll check the whiteboard again in my (shared) office next week. -- Joe Beckenbach beckenba@csvax.caltech.edu Caltech 1-58, Pasadena CA 91125 Ground Support Environment, programmer "This is space? Neat." Mars Observer Camera Project Caltech Planetary Sciences Division ------------------------------ Date: 6 Jun 88 21:45:58 GMT From: grits!ddavey@bellcore.com (Doug Davey) Subject: Re: Book Review wanted In article <3057@polyslo.UUCP> jsalter@polyslo.UUCP (The Ag Major) writes: > Has anyone read Stephen Hawking's new book? I just saw it in our campus > store (at a price a bit above my current available funds) and I am wondering > about it's contents. Specifically if it is written for the layman, the > intelligent layman, or the intellectual. I'm currently reading the book (i.e. Hawking's "A Brief History of Time"). It's quite readable by the intelligent layperson, but will not bore an intellectual. E=MC^2 is the only equation in the book. I highly recommend the book to anyone interested in Hawking or his work. Doug Davey, Bellcore, bcr!ddavey #include ------------------------------ Sender: "chaz_heritage.WGC1RX"@xerox.com Date: 6 Jun 88 05:44:51 PDT (Monday) Subject: Re: SPACE Digest V8 #244 From: "chaz_heritage.WGC1RX"@xerox.com In his 11 May 88 07:06:07 GMT Carl Paukstis writes: >I believe that the "official" C-word is "Cocoa", although everybody I've heard (US only) uses "Charlie". You hear "Sugar" occasionally; "Foxtrot" is generally shortened to "Fox".< The NATO phonetic alphabet, standardised both in the US and elsewhere, is: Alfa Bravo Charlie Delta Echo Foxtrot Golf Hotel India Juliet Kilo Lima Mike November Oscar Papa Quebec Romeo Sierra Tango Uniform Victor Whiskey X-ray Yankee Zulu No modifications of these words are normally considered acceptable in conventional radio practice (though this doesn't stop people from modifying them). In UK licenced amateur practice any phonetics may be used provided that they are not 'of a facetious or objectionable nature' - though the NATO set has become standard among all but the 'Old Timers'. Regards, Chaz G6UVO ------------------------------ Date: 7 Jun 88 00:52:28 GMT From: pioneer!eugene@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Eugene N. Miya) Subject: Re: Book Review wanted Query: who read Hawking book? Response 1: liked it I've not read it, but it came up two weeks ago in a conversation with a windsurfing partner (Bill Burke) who is writing the review for Physics Today: he didn't like it, you can read his review shortly. This means I will have to pick it up..... What's this doing in sci.space? Needless to say Bill has his own cosmology book. Another gross generalization from --eugene miya, NASA Ames Research Center, eugene@aurora.arc.nasa.gov resident cynic at the Rock of Ages Home for Retired Hackers: "Mailers?! HA!", "If my mail does not reach you, please accept my apology." {uunet,hplabs,ncar,ihnp4,decwrl,allegra,tektronix}!ames!aurora!eugene "Send mail, avoid follow-ups. If enough, I'll summarize." ------------------------------ Date: 3 Jun 88 15:41:16 GMT From: oodis01!uplherc!esunix!bpendlet@tis.llnl.gov (Bob Pendleton) Subject: Re: Recycling Pershing-II's From article <8806010951.aa16990@note.nsf.gov>, by fbaube@NOTE.NSF.GOV (Fred Baube): > Another story, also by the same writer, describes the atmosphere > at the Hercules, Inc. plant west of Salt Lake City, where Soviet > inspectors will be stationed for the next 13 years. > > "'Russians are coming, Russians are coming' screamed a recent > headline in the company magazine .. I don't work for Herc, but my wife and a lot of friends of mine work there. I saw the issue of the company magazine with this head line and it describes the way the whole valley feels. Because of the large number of defense contractors, military bases, and other high tech and/or classified activities going on around here, SLC has been an area that Soviet citizens have been barred from visiting. Hercules is not the only company worried that the presence of the KGB in SLC will have a chilling effect on their ability to get and keep contracts. Hercules is just the only one that has to allow the KGB on plant. All Hercules employees are undergoing INF treaty training. Being taught how to recognize an approach by a spy, where not to talk about work while eating lunch, that sort of thing. One of the things they mentioned was that one of the brain damaged Senators from the Pretty, Great State of Utah, gave a list of all the companies doing classified work in a thirthy mile radius of the Hercules inspection office to the local papers, who published it. Thus saving the KGB 1 to 2 years of effort. If he wasn't a Senator, he'd be doing time. The combination of the KGB and the local zoining commision might be enough to get Hercules to pack up and leave Utah, taking 4 thousand jobs with them. The local zoining commision allowed people to build houses across the street from a company that manufactures a few million pounds of explosives a year, the county built a grade school in the over pressure (read blast) zone of a large nitroglycerin plant. All in viloation of a sixty year old agreement between Hercules and the county. Now the county has refused permission to build the plant needed by Hercules to fullfil its Delta 2 and Titan 4 solid motor contracts. The zoning commission says the new facilies are not needed. These aren't government cost+ contracts. Hercules has no reason to build facilities it doesn't need for the contracts. Would you buy a house across the street from a 10 foot barbed wire fence with "Danger Explosives" signs ever 30 feet or so posted on it? Having done so would you feel you had the right to force that company out of business because it might be a danger to you? So what part of Texas is McGregor in anyway? > Company officials are concerned that the Soviets .. will purloin > company secrets .. and that the Pentagon will think twice about > placing new orders at a plant where the Soviets can inspect much > of what comes and goes thru the main gate. They are going to have to build special roads on the Hercules plant to allow Soviet inspectors to drive around and visually inspect all parts of the plant that were used to build PII. That is an awful lot of road and most of the plant. > Their fears have been assuaged only partly by written orders from > [Carlucci and others] barring such discrimination, and by an NSA > pledge to make the company's internal communications network > resistant to electronic eavesdropping." Ah, so thats what the funny truck with all the antennas was! I picked up my wife at work the other day and there was this truck with about a hundred antennas sticking out of it about a hundred yards from the building she works in. I guessed it was NSA, I knew the KGB were still barred from the area. I really would like to know how they are going to make the microwave links between plants eavesdrop proof, or on second thought, maybe I don't want to know that at all. Bob P.-- Bob Pendleton @ Evans & Sutherland UUCP Address: {decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4,allegra}!decwrl!esunix!bpendlet Alternate: {ihnp4,seismo}!utah-cs!utah-gr!uplherc!esunix!bpendlet I am solely responsible for what I say. ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V8 #267 *******************