Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 7997;andrew.cmu.edu;Ted Anderson Received: from corsica.andrew.cmu.edu via trymail for +dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr1/ota/space/space.dl@andrew.cmu.edu (->+dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr1/ota/space/space.dl) (->ota+space.digests) ID ; Tue, 13 Jun 89 05:16:32 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Tue, 13 Jun 89 05:16:20 -0400 (EDT) Subject: SPACE Digest V9 #484 SPACE Digest Volume 9 : Issue 484 Today's Topics: Re: Hang gliders and "bailing out" Astronaut "Pinky" Nelson to leave NASA (Forwarded) Saturn V Management of Scientific Data Re: Space Station computer system Re: asteroid almost hits earth Condensed CANOPUS - 1989 April ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 9 Jun 1989 16:12-EDT From: Dale.Amon@H.GP.CS.CMU.EDU Subject: Re: Hang gliders and "bailing out" > is because I recall seeing one scheme using a rather unusual parachute > to do most of the declerating at very high altitude, high enough to keep > the heat loads down to what a conventional spacesuit could handle.) The first AMROC commercial suborbital flight has a paying customer testing a parasol like device. It faces outward initially, I guesss acting somewhat like a ballute. Then it flips over to act as a Mary Poppins-like drogue chute. (That unfortuneately sums up my total knowledge of the gadget. Maybe someone else who was at George's session remembers more details. Glenn??) ------------------------------ Date: 9 Jun 89 14:42:28 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: Astronaut "Pinky" Nelson to leave NASA (Forwarded) Barbara Selby Headquarters, Washington, D.C. June 9, 1989 Jeffrey Carr Johnson Space Center, Houston RELEASE: 89-89 ASTRONAUT "PINKY" NELSON TO LEAVE NASA Three-time space flight veteran George D. "Pinky" Nelson, Ph.D., will leave NASA on June 30 to accept academic and administrative positions at the University of Washington, Seattle. Nelson has been named assistant provost at the university as well as an associate professor of astronomy. "I am excited with the prospects of a new challenge at the University of Washington in Seattle," Nelson said. "At the same time, I know that I will miss NASA and the Johnson Space Center, especially the people. I don't think there is a more dedicated, motivated and skilled group around. Thanks to everyone for making the past 11 years so enjoyable." He added, "I hope to continue to promote the space program in my new career, because I believe that the exploration of space and the development of new technology is key to the future success of our civilization." Nelson joined NASA with the first Shuttle-era astronaut selection in January 1978. While awaiting a flight crew assignment, he flew as scientific equipment operator aboard the WB-57F high-altitude research airplane, flew as chase plane photographer for Shuttle mission STS-1 and served as support crewman and Capcom for missions STS-3 and STS-4. He made his first flight as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS 41-C in April 1984. The 41-C crew successfully deployed the Long Duration Exposure Facility and retrieved, repaired and replaced into orbit the ailing Solar Maximum Satellite. Nelson flew the Manned Maneuvering Unit and, with fellow crewman James "Ox" van Hoften, repaired and deployed the Solar Max during two spacewalks in the first space salvage operation in history. Nelson flew again in January 1986 aboard Columbia on mission STS 61-C which featured the deployment of the SATCOM KU satellite, experiments in astrophysics and materials processing, and a night landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. In September 1988, Nelson made his third flight as a mission specialist aboard Discovery on the first post-Challenger mission, STS-26. Discovery's crew successfully deployed a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-C) and operated 11 mid-deck scientific experiments in returning the nation's Space Transportation System to flight. Nelson has a total of 411 hours in space aboard three different Shuttle orbiters, including 10 hours of spacewalk. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Jun 89 10:55:25 PDT From: Peter Scott Subject: Saturn V For the several correspondents who've recently posted questions about the Saturn V, there's an excellent article in the June/July _Air & Space Smithsonian_ (if I could only read 2 aerospace mags, they'd be that one and _Final Frontier_; really good stuff). Did any of the Saturn V first stages land in diveable water (sport scuba, <150')? If so, where??? One of those would make for terrific wreck diving. Peter Scott (pjs@grouch.jpl.nasa.gov) ------------------------------ Date: 9 Jun 89 17:52:20 GMT From: ogccse!hitomi@husc6.harvard.edu (Hitomi Ohkawa) Subject: Management of Scientific Data I would like to know if there are any research projects in various areas of natural science that could be improved if there were a better form of data management, e.g., a better database system that enables you to correlate and to access relevant data efficiently rather than a simple file system storing raw, unstructured data. Examples that quickly come to mind include chemistry/biology applications such as DNA databases, massive data handled in astrophysics and geology. I am trying to come up with a design of databases suited to scientific applications, and collecting information on requirements regarding management of scientific data, experimental or otherwise. Since I had been in physics before I got into computer science, I am in particular interested in physics application, though any information on the above issue is greatly appreciated. Below is my address; Hitomi Ohkawa Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering Oregon Graduate Center 19600 N.W. Von Neumann Drive Beaverton, Oregon 97006-1999 (503) 690-1151 hitomi@cse.ogc.edu (CSNET) Thank you very much in advance. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Jun 1989 16:23-EDT From: Dale.Amon@H.GP.CS.CMU.EDU Subject: Re: Space Station computer system THEY NEVER LEARN DEPT... > IBM is developing the workstations and the current mockup models are > PS/2 model 80s, cleverly hidden behind rack mockups. The real > workstations, however, will not be model 80s. Currently there are no > plans to use the 80486 or any other processor. It seems to me that there are loads of highly capable workstations that can be bought off the shelf. If you want to get fancy, you can probably pay a bit to get them repackaged in your favorite rack mount. But developing a special workstation for use in a single space station is utterly assinine. Whoever made the decision to reinvent yet another wheel at great expense should be fired. I really am getting tired of this kind of bullshit for brains design methodology. It's right up there with the power supplies that are useless to anyone else. But then, maybe they had to design special computers to run on their special power supplies. Have to justify them somehow... No wonder our $8B 1992 space station is going to cost $30B and be on paper by 1998. ------------------------------ Date: 8 Jun 89 21:02:01 GMT From: jtk@mordor.s1.gov (Jordan Kare) Subject: Re: asteroid almost hits earth In article <5000@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV> lwall@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Larry Wall) writes: >.... Let's remember that ecological niches aren't cast in >concrete... What about all those alligators living in the New York City sewer system?? Jordin Kare ------------------------------ Date: 9 Jun 89 18:44:24 GMT From: frooz!cfashap!willner@husc6.harvard.edu (Steve Willner) Subject: Condensed CANOPUS - 1989 April Here is the condensed CANOPUS for April 1989. There are 12 articles. (There was supposed to be a thirteenth, but I couldn't download it. Maybe next month.) CANOPUS is copyright American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, but distribution is encouraged. See full copyright information at end. ----------CONTENTS -- 5 ARTICLES CONDENSED---------------------- SMALL EXPLORERS SELECTED - can890403.txt - 4/4/89 COMMERCIAL ROCKET FLIGHT A SUCCESS - can890404.txt - 4/4/89 VOYAGER STATUS - can890408.txt - 4/3/89 "RED AIR" LAUNCHED FROM WALLOPS - can890411.txt - 4/11/89 SPACE TRANSPORTATION ANALYSIS STARTS - can890412.txt - 4/11/89 ----------------------------------------------------------------- SMALL EXPLORERS SELECTED - can890403.txt - 4/4/89 NASA today announced selection of four spacecraft {from 51 proposals submitted!} in the Small Explorer program initiated in 1988. Small Explorers weigh approximately 400 lbs. and can be launched from available Scout-class expendable launch vehicles. o Solar, Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer, Glenn M. Mason, University of Maryland, College Park. A study of solar energetic particles, anomalous cosmic rays, galactic cosmic rays and magnetospheric electrons. Launch in mid-1992. o Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite, Gary J. Melnick, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Mass. A study of how molecular clouds collapse to form stars and planetary systems. Launch in mid-1993. o Fast Auroral Snapshot Explorer, Charles Carlson, University of California, Berkeley. An investigation of the processes operating within the auroral region. Launch in late 1993. o Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS), Charles E. Cote, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, Md. It will provide daily mapping of global ozone and detect global ozone trends. This investigation is a high-priority Earth observing mission that is critical to monitoring long-term stratospheric ozone depletion trends. No launch date given. COMMERCIAL ROCKET FLIGHT A SUCCESS - can890404.txt - 4/4/89 The first commercially-procured and -licensed space launch was held March 29 at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The 14-minute Consort 1 mission carried a 650-pound materials science payload developed by the Consortioum for Materials Development in Space at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Launch services were procured from Space Services Inc. of Houston, Texas. VOYAGER STATUS - can890408.txt - 4/3/89 Editor's note: The following information is taken from the March 22 status report for the Voyager 2 spacecraft. A bright cloud feature on Neptune, similar to spots seen by planetary astronomers using Earth-based telescopes, is visible in images taken by Voyager 2 on January 23, 1989, when the spacecraft was about 309 million kilometers from the planet. The fact that distinct cloud features are visible while the spacecraft is still so distant suggests that pictures taken as Voyager 2 approaches its August 1989 flyby of Neptune will show many more features than were visible in the atmosphere of Uranus, which Voyager 2 encountered in January 1986. ---------- Spacecraft Review and Status Both Voyager spacecraft have survived in space for nearly 12 years, and although each has experienced some hardware failures, they are still in robust health and capable of returning valuable scientific data well into the next century. Each Voyager is powered by three radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), which produce electrical energy through the conversion of heat generated by the radioactive decay of plutonium-238. At launch, the power output of the RTGs was about 423 watts. The power output steadily declines as the plutonium decays, and is now about 380 watts. The science instruments require about 105 watts. ---------- Instrument Descriptions and Health {Most of the 10 science instruemnts are astonishingly healthy. The biggest loss seems to be in the photopolarimeter, where five of the eight original color filters and four of the eight original polarization analyzers are no longer accessible.} ---------- Voyager 2's Health Both Voyagers have experienced several health pblems since launch, some minor and some rather major ones. Nonetheless, mission controllers have in every case been able to identify the problems and provide a way to continue to meet mission objectives. In September 1977, about a month after launch, Voyager 2 suffered a hardware failure in the FDS. {Flight Data Subsystem - collects and formats all data, including compression and encoding.} As a result, 15 engineering measurements can no longer be made (about 215 engineering measurements remain). In 1978, eight months after launch, Voyager 2's main radio receiver failed, and a tracking loop capacitor failed in the backup receiver. As a result, Voyager 2 can receive signals in only a narrow "window" of frequencies -- and the window slides. The flight team has devised a rigorous routine for commanding the spacecraft. Signals are sent several times at different frequencies to determine the receiver's current frequency "window". Commands are then transmitted, after calculating where the receiver's "window" will be, and taking into account how the signal frequency will change due to the Earth's rotation and other motions. The receiver problem occurred nearly a year before Voyager 2 reached its first objective, the Jupiter system, yet successful encounters of Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus followed. In August 1981, just after Voyager 2 passed Saturn, the scan platform quit moving. The failure has been attributed to a lack of full lubrication of the bearing area between the gear and pin in the azimuth actuator. Lubricant has probably migrated back to the bearing surfaces, healing the problem. Just days before its closest approach to Uranus, Voyager 2 suffered the loss of one word of memory in one FDS processor. As a result, bright and dark streaks appeared in images. Only imaging data was affected, and a software patch was sent to bypass the failed bit. "RED AIR" LAUNCHED FROM WALLOPS - can890411.txt - 4/11/89 RED AIR -- Release Experiments to derive Airglow Inducing Reactions -- was designed to study the formation of ionospheric holes. Releases of CO2 into the ionosphere at 70 km altitude cause a red airglow at 630 nm wavelength. Two releases of carbon dioxide into this region were conducted at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility at Wallops Island, Va., recently. SPACE TRANSPORTATION ANALYSIS STARTS - can890412.txt - 4/11/89 General Dynamics Space Systems Division has been awarded a $5.5 million, three-year contract to conduct a Space Transportation Infrastructure Study (STIS) for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. The objective is to develop recommendations for an integrated transportation approach that will support space objectives and goals and make best use of available and potential resources. --------------SEVEN ARTICLES BY TITLE ONLY----------------------- NASA PERSONNEL CHANGES - can890401.txt - 4/3/89 HIGH-ENERGY ASTROPHYSICS RESEARCH ANNOUNCEMENTS - can890402.txt - 4/3/89 UPDATED VERSION OF "CURRENT SOLAR ACTIVITY - CAN890303.TXT" - CAN890405.TXT - 4/7/89 THOMPSON TO BE NASA DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR - can890406.txt - 4/5/89 SHUTTLE SCIENCE CREWS NAMED - can890407.txt - 4/5/89 MAGELLAN ON TRACK FOR LAUNCH - can890409.txt - 4/5/89 SATELLITE SERVICING CONFERENCE PLANNED - can890410.txt - 4/5/89 ----------------END OF CONDENSED CANOPUS----------------------------- This posting represents my own condensation of CANOPUS. For clarity, I have not shown ellipses (...), even when the condensation is drastic. New or significantly rephrased material is in {braces} and is signed {--SW} when it represents an expression of my own opinion. The unabridged CANOPUS is available via e-mail from me at any of the addresses below. Copyright information: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CANOPUS is published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Send correspondence about its contents to the executive editor, William W. L. Taylor (taylor%trwatd.span@star.stanford.edu.) Although AIAA has copyrighted CANOPUS and registered its name, you are encouraged to distribute CANOPUS widely, either electronically or as printout copies. If you do, however, please send a brief message to Taylor estimating how many others receive copies. CANOPUS is partially supported by the National Space Science Data Center. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Steve Willner Phone 617-495-7123 Bitnet: willner@cfa 60 Garden St. FTS: 830-7123 UUCP: willner@cfa Cambridge, MA 02138 USA Internet: willner@cfa.harvard.edu ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V9 #484 *******************