Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 7997;andrew.cmu.edu;Ted Anderson Received: from beak.andrew.cmu.edu via trymail for +dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr11/tm2b/space/space.dl@andrew.cmu.edu (->+dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr11/tm2b/space/space.dl) (->ota+space.digests) ID ; Tue, 22 May 90 01:26:50 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Tue, 22 May 90 01:26:16 -0400 (EDT) Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #435 SPACE Digest Volume 11 : Issue 435 Today's Topics: Magellan Update - 05/21/90 Re: space news from April 9 AW&ST Hubble Space Telescope Update - 05/21/90 Cape York Space Port Re: space news from April 9 AW&ST Re: Endangered squirrels Re: Contact policies terraforming sources Re: space news from April 2 AW&ST Re: Hubble Space Telescope Update - 05/21/90 Re: space news from April 2 AW&ST Re: Hubble Space Telescope Update - 05/21/90 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 21 May 90 17:29:39 GMT From: usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@ucsd.edu (Ron Baalke) Subject: Magellan Update - 05/21/90 MAGELLAN STATUS REPORT May 21, 1990 The Magellan spacecraft continues in excellent health today. The spacecraft is 104 million miles from Earth and 13 million miles from Venus. Heliocentric velocity is 71,000 miles per hour. One way light time is 9 minutes and 19 seconds. The first week of a two-week Cruise Mapping Test was completed on May 17. On May 14, the radar start-up test successfully cycled the radar instrument on and off through each operating mode. The test also verified that the telemetry was normal and the problem with receiving data seen in the test last December has been corrected. On May 16, the radar functional test was successfully performed, putting the spacecraft in a 8 minute "mapping pass" complete with a requisite star calibration and tape recorder playbacks. No anomalies were experienced on the spacecraft although a couple of minor anomalies were discovered, and corrected, in the ground data processing software and procedures. The daily star calibrations during the week were all successful with average attitude updates of less than 0.05 degrees. Several non-standard commands were successfully transmitted, including a resetting of battery and radar thermal control limits, resetting tape recorder tape position counters, and the commands to initiate the various test activities. SPACECRAFT Distance from Earth (mi) 104,101,936 Velocity Heliocentric 71,313 mph One-way light time 9 mins, 19 secs _ _____ _ | | | __ \ | | Ron Baalke | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov | | | |__) | | | Jet Propulsion Lab | baalke@jems.jpl.nasa.gov ___| | | ___/ | |___ M/S 301-355 | |_____| |_| |_____| Pasadena, CA 91109 | ------------------------------ Date: 21 May 90 16:21:11 GMT From: mephisto!prism!ccoprmd@handies.ucar.edu (Matthew DeLuca) Subject: Re: space news from April 9 AW&ST In article <2927@softway.oz> greg@softway.oz (Greg Rose) writes: > >Strange, one of the smallest, most isolated countries in the world >stands up to one of the biggest and most powerful (and who the party >of the first part relies upon for defence) and tells them that they don't >want their nuclear weapons thanks, AND YOU CALL THIS WIMPING OUT? >I'd like to see a lot more of this. > >(When was the last time you told the gang of muggers where to get off...:-) I was under the impression that the alliance was freely entered upon by all three parties; did we beat the New Zealanders over the head until they signed the treaty? In any case, there were no nuclear weapons stationed on New Zealand soil; the nuclear weapons in questions were the ones that *may have been* carried on U.S. ships making port calls. Standard U.S. policy is not to tell whether or not a particular ship is carrying nuclear weapons; I assume this is for security reasons, i.e., we don't want to tell the terrorists which ships to try to board in the night or whatever. Not a likely scenario, of course, but better safe than sorry. The New Zealand government wanted us to certify that there were no nukes aboard the ships. Also, no nuclear *powered* ships were to be allowed in New Zealand waters... I can only attribute this to 'wimping out'. If I remember this correctly, we were given no notice of this change in policy; the new government (they had an election just before all this happened) just told the arriving fleet to certify that they were nuclear-free. >By the way, New Zealand objects far more to the nuclear weapons than >to the nuclear stuff in general. But bear in mind that they don't need >nuclear power stations, so why bother with figuring out how to cope >with nuclear accidents? My understanding of their policy is that they wouldn't >have any real problem with shooting reactors up (as opposed to >shooting up reactors) from somewhere else, if they thought they were >reasonably safe. This is all well and good; any country that deosn't want anything to do with nuclear weapons/power has that right...but if they are changing their policy from a more permissive stance, they should meet with any country that will be affected and work out amendments to treaties; unilateral actions are generally considered rude. Followups are directed to talk.politics.misc; I haven't mentioned the word 'space' in here once. :-) -- Matthew DeLuca Georgia Institute of Technology Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, Office of Computing Services for they are subtle, and quick to anger. ARPA: ccoprmd@prism.gatech.edu ------------------------------ Date: 21 May 90 17:50:30 GMT From: usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@ucsd.edu (Ron Baalke) Subject: Hubble Space Telescope Update - 05/21/90 Hubble Space Telecope Update May 21, 1990 The first picture taken by the Hubble Space Telescope yesterday was supposed to be just an engineering test, but it surprised scientists by revealing an unsuspected double star. The inaugural photo sequence showed bright, crisp stars against a black background and clearly revealed as a double star an object which had previously only been suspected as being a doublet. James Westphal, wide field and planetary camera investigator, said "the images were at least twice, if not three times better than expected. We could get lots of science out of this right now." There was little evidence of drift or unwanted movement in the longer exposures, showing the telescope's stabilizing gyroscopes to be working. Over the next seven months, the telescope's optical system will be precisely aligned giving the instrument 10 times the clarity of ground-based observatories. Picture quality is expected to improve several times as Hubble loses air and water from its Earth days. _ _____ _ | | | __ \ | | Ron Baalke | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov | | | |__) | | | Jet Propulsion Lab | baalke@jems.jpl.nasa.gov ___| | | ___/ | |___ M/S 301-355 | |_____| |_| |_____| Pasadena, CA 91109 | ------------------------------ Date: 20 May 90 04:37:41 GMT From: usc!samsung!munnari.oz.au!metro!otc!softway!cluster!ray@ucsd.edu (Raymond Lister) Subject: Cape York Space Port In article <1990May14.034107.11219@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: White House is dithering on whether to let United Technologies Corp's USBI division get involved in managing the Cape York spaceport. The problem is that although the spaceport would be in Australia and manned by Australians, they'd be using Soviet boosters. Then, in article <1990May18.081501.968@melba.bby.oz.au> gnb@bby.oz.au (Gregory N. Bond) writes: Well, the security guards and the cleaners might be Australians. I doubt thant any of the "key" personnel would be ... My compatriot is incorrect. The launch team will be Australian. (The real problem for the White House is not that the rockets are Russian. The American rocket industry can see itself loosing business, and has spent quite a lot of money lobbying politicians to prevent it happenning.) Raymond Lister Department of Computer Science University of Sydney AUSTRALIA Internet: ray@cs.su.oz.AU ------------------------------ Date: 21 May 90 15:58:40 GMT From: swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!umich!wsu-cs!jjb@ucsd.edu (Patrick B. Haggood) Subject: Re: space news from April 9 AW&ST In article <1990May16.053143.4156@utzoo.uucp>, henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: > > Letter from James Duval in Pasadena... "If Columbus or Magellan had been > victims of the same 'analysis paralysis' that seems to grip NASA management, > they'd still be pacing the decks pondering the weather, food preservation, > scurvy and the possible long-term effects of constant seasickness and salt > air exposure. Fortunately, they were explorers, not bureaucrats... ...few > people today would argue that the risk was unacceptable and that these > expeditions should not have taken place until advances in transportation > technology could virtually eliminate all risk... ...my guess is cruising > the planets in inflatable modules beats crossing seas in wooden ships." Actually, the greater inhibitor to space exploration seems to be financial. Damn straight *I'm* going to do a urine/Cocacola spectral analysis exam if this mission is costing me $15 gazillion dollars... Besides, Magellan didn;t have to throw his boat away after the trip (yeah, I know he died, I'm trying to make a point!) :-) . -- Patrick B. Haggood Wayne STate University Detroit, MI Physics - Class of 1991 (-2?) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 21 May 90 12:40:27 PDT From: greer%utdssa.dnet%utadnx@utspan.span.nasa.gov X-Vmsmail-To: UTADNX::UTSPAN::AMES::"space+@andrew.cmu.edu" Subject: Re: Endangered squirrels In SPACE Digest V11 #427, philmtl!philabs!briar!rfc@uunet.uu.net (Robert Casey) writes: >I see squirrels (grey ones) all around in surburban NYC. They don't seem to >mind the presence of homo sapiens. Are the red ones on this mountian very >different from the grey squirrels I see lots of? I would guess, as long as >you don't knock down too many trees, that the squirrels wouldn't be much >bothered. > >But I'm no squirrel expert. They're not just any old red squirrels, but Mt. Graham Red Squirrels. According to an article in _The Dallas Morning News_, 20-MAY-1990, the top of Mt. Graham is sort of an evolutionary island. It's high enough that it still has pine trees and that sort of vegetation while all around is desert, which the squirrels can't cross because of the way they've evolved. Estimates of the Mt. Graham red squirrel population range from 50 to 150 individuals. Actually, plans are to have seven separate facilities up there, of which the VATT is the first. The VATT will take up about 9 acres and when the entire development is complete it will take about 25 acres. Since the squirrels' habitat spans about 10,000 acres, I don't see how they'd die off even if they didn't get along with people. Maybe their protectors are just trying to fend off the destruction of yet another wilderness. _____________ Dale M. Greer, whose opinions are not to be confused with those of the Center for Space Sciences, U.T. at Dallas, UTSPAN::UTADNX::UTDSSA::GREER "If we do not succeed, then we run the risk of failure." -- J. Danforth Quayle ------------------------------ Date: 21 May 90 15:05:47 GMT From: ogicse!plains!hennebry@uunet.uu.net (Michael J. Hennebry) Subject: Re: Contact policies In article mr10+@andrew.cmu.edu (Michael Reed) writes: , henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: > In article <1990May18.081501.968@melba.bby.oz.au> gnb@bby.oz.au (Gregory N. Bond) writes: >> problem is that although the spaceport would be in Australia and >> manned by Australians, they'd be using Soviet boosters. > > The way you build up experience is to build a spaceport and start using > it, which is what Australia is doing! :-) Most technicians and the like > will have to be trained almost from scratch anyway, since there are no > Western technicians with Soviet booster experience. Australia has enough > of an aerospace industry -- the space side of it isn't large but isn't > quite zero -- to supply a lot of the people needed. It might be desirable > to have experienced US or European people in the top-level jobs for the > early stages, though. The are enough of us down here with more enthusiasm than you give us credit for. Give us a text book and a day or two and coffee aside, we'll have it down pat! Luke. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Signature? This is the best I can do! | University of Newcastle | (Australia, not UK) The Sabbath was made for man, not | man for the Sabbath! (Good enough?) | c8919865@cc.nu.oz So work and be merry! | Shuttle Assasin....... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: 21 May 90 09:05:54 GMT From: bfmny0!tneff@uunet.uu.net (Tom Neff) Subject: Re: Hubble Space Telescope Update - 05/21/90 > Hubble Space Telecope Update > May 21, 1990 > Picture quality is expected to improve >several times as Hubble loses air and water from its Earth days. ^^^^^^^^^ Could the "sunrise wobble" be due to venting reaction effects? -- US out of North America, NOW!! /: Tom Neff -- Richard O'Rourke :/ tneff%bfmny0@UUNET.UU.NET ------------------------------ Date: 21 May 90 15:52:02 GMT From: pilchuck!seahcx!phred!petej@uunet.uu.net (Pete Jarvis) Subject: Re: space news from April 2 AW&ST In article <21189@boulder.Colorado.EDU> lhotka@boulder.Colorado.EDU (Doug Lhotka) writes: > >I seem to remember from somewhere (in First Aid Training I think) that >breathing pure O2 is not only dangerous, but can be lethal. When divers >exceed the 'normal' dive limits they are breathing a mixture of helium and >oxygen...is it possible the EVA guys do the same thing? I realize that the >pressure problem is reversed, but even still pure O2? Anyone out there work >with the systems involved who can definitively answer this question? > The answer is that they are breathing it at much reduced pressure, around 3 psi...........Peter Jarvis ------------------------------ Date: 21 May 90 20:12:55 GMT From: sunybcs!bowen@rutgers.edu (Devon E Bowen) Subject: Re: Hubble Space Telescope Update - 05/21/90 In article <3755@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov>, baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov (Ron Baalke) writes: |> The first picture taken by the Hubble Space Telescope yesterday was |> supposed to be just an engineering test, but it surprised scientists |> by revealing an unsuspected double star. So where do I ftp it from? 8-) Devon ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V11 #435 *******************