Message-ID: <UaItan-00VcJEV=k55@andrew.cmu.edu>
Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU
From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU
To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU
Date: Fri, 18 May 90 02:44:04 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #421

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 11 : Issue 421

Today's Topics:
	     NASA Headline News for 05/17/90 (Forwarded)
			 Re: Surface of Venus
			       Magellen
	       Hubble Space Telescope Update - 05/17/90
	       Payload Status for 05/17/90 (Forwarded)
		       Re: why there are no ETs
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 17 May 90 18:29:10 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: NASA Headline News for 05/17/90 (Forwarded)

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, May 17, 1990                Audio Service: 202/755-1788
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This is NASA Headline News for Thursday, May 17....

Kennedy Space Center ground crews are replacing the space shuttle 
Columbia's coolant valve.  Following a check of the coolant 
system, the new valve will be tested.  Work is expected to 
continue throught the next week.  Payload team members continue 
to service the Astro-1 with liquid Argon while protected in the 
Columbia payload bay.
                            ********

Hubble Space Telescope controllers report significant progress 
has been made in resolving one of the main problems.  They 
believe the "jitter" can be reduced or eliminated through 
software changes. 

All of the flight systems continue to function well.  Checkout
and activation of the science instruments is ahead of schedule.  
Operators plan on Friday to further refine focusing of the 
secondary mirror.  
                            ********

The Galileo spacecraft is about 97 million miles from Earth. 
Round-trip communications time takes just over 17 minutes.  It 
has logged over 371 million miles since launch and is traveling 
in solar orbit at over 64,000 miles per hour.  Two maneuvers 
recently transmitted by the Jet Propulsion Flight Team brought 
the trajectory closer to the program for the Earth gravity assist 
this December.  Four more steps will begin next month.

                            ********

A unique software control system tells a new robot how to explore
unstable terrain.  The six-legged, aluminum "Ambler" walks 
similar to a cross-country skier.  Future rovers could reach 
areas on the Moon and Mars inaccessible to man or wheeled 
vehicles.  It is one of the concepts of NASA's robotic and manned 
technology program.  
                            ********

Aerospace Daily reports Arianespace will launch two satellites
this summer.  The launch of a French direct broadcast television 
satellite and a West German telecommunications satellite will be 
the first since an Ariane 44L booster exploded about two minutes 
after liftoff last February.  Analysis revealed the cause was due 
to a small piece of cloth lodged in a water line leading to one 
of the first stage engines.

                            ********


----------------------------------------------------------------
Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA 
Select TV.  All times are Eastern.


Thursday, May 17...................


          12:00-2:00 P.M.   AMBLER planetary
                            robot vehicle video followed
                            by a series of video programs
                            including:
                                   Mercury Program.
                                   Earth life of a spacecraft.
                                   Project Laser.

Thursday, May 24...................

          11:30 A.M.        NASA Update will be
                            transmitted.


All events and times are subject to change without notice.  These 
reports are filed daily, Monday through Friday, at 12 Noon, EDT.
This is a service of the Internal Communications Branch, NASA HQ.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
NASA Select TV: Satcom F2R, Transponder 13, C-Band 72 Degrees 
West Longitude, Audio 6.8, Frequency 3960 MHz.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Thu, 17 May 90 18:36:11 EDT
From: John Roberts <roberts@cmr.ncsl.nist.gov>
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are those of the sender
	and do not reflect NIST policy or agreement.
Subject: Re: Surface of Venus


>From: mcgill-vision!quiche!calvin!msdos@bloom-beacon.mit.edu  (Mark SOKOLOWSKI)
>Subject: Re: Terraforming Venus (was: Manned mission to Venus)

>And beside, I don't see we should
>disfigurate the venusian landscapes with craters. For God's sake,
>ALL the solid objects in our solar system (except Venus and Earth) are
>SURSATURATED with those boring, destructive round circles, so please,
>DON'T DESTROY THE BEAUTIE OF VENUS!!!!!

Why do you assume the surface of Venus is free of impact craters? I agree the
thick atmosphere would tend to stop the smaller meteors, but the really big
ones (i.e. ~1km or more) that go through Earth's oceans pretty much as though
there were nothing there should have even less trouble blasting the surface of
Venus. Given the low wind speed, uniform temperatures, and lack of 
precipitation on the surface, I would assume that weathering is very slow
at best.

In any event, the beauty (if any) of the surface of Venus is the presence of
bare, broken rock. If you make the surface rougher, you increase the surface
area, so aren't you by definition increasing the beauty? :-)
            John Roberts
            roberts@cmr.ncsl.nist.gov

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

Date: 17 May 90 19:11:27 GMT
From: swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!pikes!ndimas@ucsd.edu  (Nicholas Dimas)
Subject: Magellen

Hello everyone, my name is Nicholas Dimas.  I see a lot of news about
Magellen and Galileo on the net.  Can someone please tell me who is going
where, who built what, who launched what, and what the status is with them.

Send mail via Internet:

			ndimas@pikes.denver.colorado.edu

			
				Thank You
				Nicholas Dimas

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

Date: 17 May 90 16:23:50 GMT
From: swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!forsight!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@ucsd.edu  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: Hubble Space Telescope Update - 05/17/90


                    Hubble Space Telescope Update
                           May 17, 1990
 
The first stage of focusing the Hubble Space Telescope was
completed yesterday and a guidance system test was started.
The guidance system test is necessary before the telescope
can take its first picture, which is still scheduled for Sunday.
Engineers were able to bring the telescope to within .0000747
of an inch of being focused and that if a second focusing
procedure goes well, the first picture, of star cluster NGC 3532,
could be acquired late this weekend. The turn-on process for the
telescope is a complicated process and will take eight months to
complete.
       _   _____    _
      | | |  __ \  | |       Ron Baalke           |  baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov
      | | | |__) | | |       Jet Propulsion Lab   |  baalke@jems.jpl.nasa.gov
   ___| | |  ___/  | |___    M/S 301-355          |
  |_____| |_|      |_____|   Pasadena, CA 91109   |

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

Date: 17 May 90 18:29:52 GMT
From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov  (Peter E. Yee)
Subject: Payload Status for 05/17/90 (Forwarded)


    Daily Status/KSC Payload Management and Operations 05-17-90.
    
    - STS-31R HST (at VPF) -
    
    Post launch GSE removal continues.
    
    
    - STS-35 ASTRO-1/BBXRT (at Pad-A) -
    
    BBXRT liquid argon servicing will be performed today.
    
    
    - STS-40 SLS-1 (at O&C) -
    
    The mission sequence test was completed Wednesday.  Module
    leak checks and MVAK training will be performed today.
    
    
    - STS-41 Ulysses (at ESA 60) -
    
    PAM-S spin balance operations will continue today at a 60.
    VPHD preps will continue today at the VPF.
    
    
    - STS-42 IML-1 (at O&C) -
    
    Module pyrell foam replacement, floor staging, and rack
    staging will continue today.
    
    
    - STS-45 Atlas-1 (at O&C) -
    
    Cable installations will continue today.
    
    - STS-46 TSS-1 (at O&C) -
    
    HDRR cables were removed third shift Wednesday.
    
    
    - STS-47 Spacelab-J (at O&C) -
    
    No work is scheduled for today.
    
    
    - STS-55 SL-D2 (at O&C) -
    
    Rack 12 staging will continue today.
    
    
    - HST M&R (at O&C) -
    
    Paper closure and ORUC interface testing will be performed
    today.

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

Date: 17 May 90 16:48:03 GMT
From: pyuxp!pyuxe!nvuxr!deej@bellcore.com  (David Lewis)
Subject: Re: why there are no ETs

In article <15492@bfmny0.UU.NET>, tneff@bfmny0.UU.NET (Tom Neff) writes:
] In article <1990May11.052904.11302@cs.rochester.edu> yamauchi@cs.rochester.edu (Brian Yamauchi) writes:
] >tneff@bfmny0.UU.NET (Tom Neff) writes:
] >>I still like my explanation.  When you achieve interstellar travel
] >>or communication, someone comes along and kills you.
] >
] >Which also has the same flaw mentioned above -- it assumes the killers
] >are able to succeed in all cases.  I can believe in berserkers, but
] >not in omniscient, omnipotent berserkers.
] 
] If you know how to move asteroids around you can take out Earth's higher
] civilization RIGHT NOW.  Splash a few of them and we're back to the Dark
] Ages just like >that<.

Somehow, I think that by the time we achieve interstellar travel or
communication (beyond splashing RF out all over the place), we won't
have much trouble dealing with a few pesky asteroids...

-- 
David G Lewis					...!bellcore!nvuxr!deej
	(@ Bellcore Navesink Research & Engineering Center)
			"If this is paradise, I wish I had a lawnmower."

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

End of SPACE Digest V11 #421
*******************