Message-ID: <8YJMXwy00UkZIUE05r@andrew.cmu.edu>
Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU
From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU
To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 89 05:16:45 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: SPACE Digest V9 #395

SPACE Digest                                      Volume 9 : Issue 395

Today's Topics:
		 Barium Cloud Experiment (Forwarded)
			     ET exposure
			Re: NSS Hotline Update
			    Re: Gauquelin
				Tesla
			    Private Space
	Re: URGENT -- SPACE STATION FUNDING VOTE ON TUESDAY!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 24 Apr 89 18:17:19 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Barium Cloud Experiment (Forwarded)

Dwayne C. Brown
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                    April 24, 1989


ADVISORY


The rocketborne scientific experiment, carrying two canisters of 
barium that will release a multi-colored artificial cloud, will 
occur tonight at 9:32 p.m. EDT pending weather conditions.

The experiment was scheduled for release Sunday but was postponed 
due to minor technical problems.

The cloud is expected to be visible along the East Coast.

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

Date: Sun, 23 Apr 1989 15:25-EDT 
From: Dale.Amon@H.GP.CS.CMU.EDU
Subject: ET exposure

> "Dr. Brian T. Clifford (Pentagon) announced 10-5-82 that cases of
> citizen-extraterrestrial contact were illegal under Title 14,
> Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations (and adopted
> 7-16-69, a few days before the first moon landing).  The Code

I hereby publicly and solemnly swear that I will break this law if ever
given the opportunity. Furthurmore I will make any and all information so
gained fully public regardless of personal consequences.

Admittedly, it is rather unlikely that I'll have said opportunity. But
it's the thought that counts...

If true, this kind of statist garbage is why we need the libertarian
movement around. SOMEONE has stand up and tell the government to go
**** itself.

						Smash the State,
						Dale Amon

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

Date: 23 Apr 89 17:43:23 GMT
From: umigw!steve@handies.ucar.edu  (steve emmerson)
Subject: Re: NSS Hotline Update

In article <246900022@cdp> jordankatz@cdp.UUCP writes:

>Your voices have been heard, but a lot more talking will have to
>be done to save space!

I didn't realize space was in danger :-).

>[refering to the creation of the National Space Council] Bush stated that
>the National Space Council will provide coherence, continuity and
>commitment to the US exploration and development of space.

One way to provide those desireable qualities is to have a political
consensus; we don't seem to have one.  Another way is to insulate the
agency from political forces.  Appointing a policy committee which has
the vice president as its chair guarantees, in my opinion, the reverse.
-- 
Steve Emmerson                     Inet: steve@umigw.miami.edu [128.116.10.1]
SPAN: miami::emmerson (host 3074::)      emmerson%miami.span@star.stanford.edu
UUCP: ...!ncar!umigw!steve               emmerson%miami.span@vlsi.jpl.nasa.gov
"Computers are like God in the Old Testament: lots of rules and no mercy"

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

Date: Sun, 23 Apr 1989 15:13-EDT 
From: Dale.Amon@H.GP.CS.CMU.EDU
Subject: Re: Gauquelin

For a thorough rebuttal to the Gauquelin paper, check back issues of
the Skeptical Inquirer, somewhere back around 79-80 I think.

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

Date: Sun, 23 Apr 89 14:06:14 EDT
From: Henry_Edward_Hardy@ub.cc.umich.edu
Subject: Tesla

In "Subject: Fer-de-lance by TE Bearden," fuzzy@aruba.arpa (John Karabaic)
says, 
>
>	My boss, who has a wonderful sense of humor, gave me this somewhat
>	off-the-wall book to read in my spare time.  The book is called
>	Fer-de-lance, by TE Bearden, LtCol, USA, Ret., and it is basically a
>	set of briefing charts, background text for the person giving the
>	briefing, and set answers to a number of questions.
>
>	The premise of the book is that Nikola Tesla discovered a unifying
>	force way back when which can do some pretty amazing things... Anyone
>	have any references on this guy's work?
>
Well, I think that there are a number of scientific questions about some of
Tesla's more outlandish claims, such as having received radio messages from
extra-terrestrials. I think that this, along with Tesla's many personal
peculiarities (such as his germ phobia and his insistence on exactly
calculating the cubic contents of his food before eating) has led many of
his valid achievements to be overlooked. 
-
I have published a rather lengthy historical article on Tesla in the August,
1988 edition of "Full Disclosure," some excerpts from which are quoted or
paraphrased below.
-
Tesla was born between July 9 and 10, at exactly midnight, in 1856 in the
Yugoslavian village of Smiljan, in Croatia (now part of Yugoslavia.) He
invented the alternating current in 1883, and emigrated to America the next
year. He died in 1943.
-
Tesla invented the Tesla Polyphase System (now commonly known as the
alternating current) in use throughout the world today. Marconi's patents
for radio were voided by the Supreme Court in 1944 on the grounds that Tesla
had invented radio before Marconi. Tesla also invented and demonstrated a
great many other devices, such as the first hydro-electric generating plant
at Niagara Falls, the Tesla Coil, radio controlled teleoperated boats and
submarines, and the carbon-button lamp. 
-
The Smithsonian Magazine recently carried a  list of some of Tesla's other,
less well-known patents and inventions:
>
>	...florescent lights, x rays, the electron microscope, microwave
>	transmission, satellite communication, solar energy, guided missiles,
>	computers, the automobile speedometer, television, vertical takeoff
>	aircraft, and radar."
>
It is the strange behavior of the U. S. government following Tesla's death
which gives the most historical credence to claims that there are other
"lost" works of Tesla. The following is quoted from my Full Disclosure
article:
>
>	Tesla died in his sleep on January 7, 1943, at the age of 86.
>
>	Although Tesla had been a naturalized American citizen for more than 50
>	years, since July 30, 1891, his papers and effects were impounded by
>	the FBI. They were then released into the custody of the Office of
>	Alien Property (OAP).
>
>	Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show some of
>	the reasons for keen interest in the documents apparently shown by the
>	U. S. government. A letter from January 8, 1943, [the day after Tesla's
>	death] from an agent in the New York Bureau, named Foxworth, to the
>	head of the New York division of the agency described some of the
>	reasons that the FBI wanted the documents secured:
>>
>>	EXPERIMENTS AND RESEARCH OF NIKOLA TESLA, DECEASED
>>	
>>	Espionage -- M. Nikola Tesla, one of the world's most outstanding
>>	scientists, died January seventh, nineteen forty-three at the Hotel
>>	New Yorker, New York City. During his lifetime, he conducted many
>>	experiments in connection with the wireless transmission of electrical
>>	power... and what is commonly called the death ray.
>>
>	Foxworth went on to describe other putative inventions of Tesla, such
>	as a "working model" of a "revolutionary type of torpedo" and perfected
>	plans for his wireless power transmission scheme. 
>
>	The bulk of Tesla's papers were later given into the custody of the
>	Yugoslav government. However, some of Tesla's papers seem to have
>	disappeared into the U. S. military research complex. As late as
>	September 5, 1945, Col. Holliday of the Equipment Laboratory,
>	Propulsion and Accessories Subdivision, wrote to Lloyd L. Shaulis of
>	the OAP in Washington, confirming an agreement for the photocopying of
>	documents of Tesla's and certifying that the information would be used,
>	"in connection with projects for National Defense by this department."
>
>	Since that time, the United States has officially denied knowing of the
>	existence of any secret Tesla papers. However, one Tesla biographer,
>	Margaret Cheney, has reported that many of the lost papers are kept in
>	a secret library at a Federal agency known to her, but unrevealed for
>	reasons of national security. She states that she believes that the
>	archives contain such lost Tesla works as, "Art of Telegeodynamics, or
>	the Art of Producing Terrestrial Motions at a Distance," "New Art of
>	Projecting Concentrated Non-Dispersive Energy Through Natural Media,"
>	and "A Method of Producing Powerful Radiations."
>
As for Col. Bearden, I can only offer the following quote from a 1984
article in the New York Times regarding a Tesla Symposium at Colorado
College in Colorado Springs:
>
>	Thomas E. Bearden, a retired nuclear engineer and army war games
>	analyst, noted what he said were a number of designs for making weapons
>	based on Tesla's more exotic ideas. The hypothetical devices included
>	what he termed a Tesla Howitzer and a Tesla Shield that could allegedly
>	stop Soviet missiles.	
>
I recall that Glenn Hauser, on his "World of Radio" shortwave broadcast on
July 9 or 10, 1988, discussed the anniversary of Tesla's birth at some
length. As I recall, he referred to an article in a Chicago newspaper which
had said that several airline pilots had observed the rapid formation of
unusual circular clouds over Soviet Asia. It was stated that the almost
instant formation of these condensation clouds of several hundred miles in
radius could be related to the testing of a Tesla device "which could
instantly freeze whole armies into blocks of ice."
-
I also seem to recall a newspaper article in the late 1960's, I believe in
the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which described the exhibitation of a new
Israeli-built device which was demonstrated, as I recall, at a Canadian
bank. The device was used to "magnetize" paper money to the floor so that
robbers couldn't escape with it. It was also mentioned that an application
of the same principles used in the device could be used to make an
electronic shield which could defend planes from missiles. This is very
similar to some of Tesla's claims. Perhaps some of you all could check some
of these references out and then get back to me.
-
I will provide the entire electronic text of the Full Disclosure article on
Tesla (titled, "Tesla, the Modern Prometheus") to anyone who wants to
message me and request it. The back issue may be available from: Full
Disclosure, 1112 S. University, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, voice phone (313) 663-
8900 or (800) 832-4372 (outside Michigan only.)
-
For more information, see "Tesla, Man Out of Time," by Margaret Cheney
(1981); "Science," Vol 214, 30 Oct. 1981, pp. 521-525; "New York Times,"
Aug. 28, 1984, Sec. C, pp 1, 3; "Smithsonian," June, 1986, pp. 121-133.
-
I hope you will find this information interesting.
*
*	"Sacred cows make the best hamburger" - Abbie Hoffman, 1939-1989    *
*                                                                          *
*	Henry Edward Hardy@ub.cc.umich.edu                                  *
*	Henry Edward Hardy@um.cc.umich.edu                                  *
*	"Arbor" on MacNet                                                   *
*                                                                          *
*	University of Michigan Computer Consultant                          *
*	sysop, Arbor Intelligent Systems                                    *
*	President, Althing Communications                                   *
*                                                                          *
*	disclaimer: "Reality is, above all, a scarce resource."             *
*	  -James W. Carey, "Mass Media and Critical Theory", p. 32, (1982). *

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

Date: 22 Apr 89 18:50:48 GMT
From: amdahl!ems!questar!dave@ames.arc.nasa.gov  (David Becker)
Subject: Private Space

Henry Spencer writes:
> John McKernan writes:
> > Furthermore, government is the only current source of the amount
> >money needed to build large scale space hardware (with the possible exception
> >of unmanned satellite launchers)...
> 
> Even though doing the same things privately costs an order of
> magnitude less.

NASA has long been critized here for being a government bureaucracy.
That means it is trying (now anyways) to explore space with pork-barrel hardware
and public-image timidity.

However, the government is the only organization that can afford to explore
space for its reasons (public image, Red Threat, constituent
contracting favors, spying ...).  Non-government people need a reason to spend
the 'order of magnitude less'.  I wish I could give some but I don't
see any exploration a private group could afford.

Does the experience of Pegasus and AMROC backup the 'order of
magnatude less' statement?  In other words, exactly how bad do these
efforts make NASA look?  By being American these projects might have
more influence toward some improvements at NASA.

Did the embarassment of telling China to raise their Long-March launch
prices have any impact?  Or what did Fletcher say when a congressional
committee asked when, if ever, he could make a launch for that much?
-- 
David Becker 
and another bug bites, and another bug bites   another bug bites the dust
db@kolonel.MN.ORG

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

Date: 23 Apr 89 12:30:17 GMT
From: schlep.dec.com!jfcl.dec.com!imokay.dec.com!borsom@decvax.dec.com  (Doug Borsom)
Subject: Re: URGENT -- SPACE STATION FUNDING VOTE ON TUESDAY!!

I've been reading sci.space for about three months now, and
I would like to ask some questions that might have been discussed
earlier.  If so, I am sorry.  I am interested in responses and
suggestions as to publications I can go to for more information.
This posting is long.  I don't expect any one person to respond to
all of it.  Thanks.

I am interested in arguments for and against the manned space
program. Imagine talking to your congressman.  Assuming you are
for the manned program, what would you say to her/him to encourage
her/his backing of funding for manned space missions?

Keep in mind that the federal budget is finite in size; one
concern your congressman will have is that dollars for the
manned space program means fewer dollars for other programs.
Keep in mind, too, that the congressman is answerable to her/his
constituents;  the congressman needs strong arguments for the program
so that she/he can sell/defend the program to those she/he represents.

Would you back funding for the manned space program at the expense
of the unmanned program or other research programs, such as the
superconducting super collider?

If you are for the manned program, describe its unique benefits
that cannot be attained by the unmanned program or by earth-bound
research programs.

Are there compelling reasons why the manned program cannot
be done with the Soviets rather than in competition with them?

As your freshman composition instructor used to say, be specific.
I have heard the statement that for every dollar spent on the
US space program, X dollars have been returned. (I don't recall the
value of X, but it was greater than 1).  Assuming this to be true,
how does that return on investment compare with other possible
investments that could have been made?  And how much of that investment
return was specific to the manned space program as opposed to the 
unmanned program?

Assume your congressman is an intelligent person (if you have ever
dealt with  him or her, chances are you have discovered this to be
the case).  Be sophisticated in your arguments.  An approach that is
NOT likely to get you far: "If we don't do it, the Soviets 
(Japanese, whoever) will," unless you can support the contention that
such a situation is likely present a real military or economic threat
to the US.

To help put you in a frame of mind that might be useful when
formulating your arguments, the other day I saw a tv spot placed 
by a pro-space group.  The spot featured a pair of glasses that convert 
sounds into visual cues.  These glasses are intended to help those
with profound hearing impairment, and they are, the tv spot said,
the outgrowth of the space program.  

If I am a congressman considering how federal dollars should be spent,
how compelling do I find this argument? I have constituents who want
money for improved education programs, to fund AIDS research, to treat
babies born with drug dependencies, to retrain workers with jobs in
the smokestack sector, to improve medical care at VA hospitals, to
cleanup toxic dump sites, to fund fusion research, etc. And I can
still remember a town meeting when I was freshman congressman, and I
was confronted by a man who wanted more funding for housing for the
poor. This man was outraged that I had voted down a bill in support of
his program and voted for increased funding for the space program. He
had brought two large photos, one of a group of raggedy people living
under a highway overpass, the other of a lunar astronaut swinging a
golf club on the moon.

Clearly, any thorough defense of the manned space program will include
a statement of purpose and goals for the program.  I am very interested
in what people in this news group believe the purpose and goals
of the man space program are and/or should be.

If you believe that by restructuring the space program, funding for
the manned space program could come largely from private sources, 
(making the need for many of the preceding items academic) please 
say why and what kind of restructuring is needed.

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

End of SPACE Digest V9 #395
*******************