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 ; Wed, 30 May 1990 02:12:49 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <0aMqF2O00VcJI6iU56@andrew.cmu.edu> Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Wed, 30 May 1990 02:12:19 -0400 (EDT) Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #463 SPACE Digest Volume 11 : Issue 463 Today's Topics: Re: HAWAII AND STAR WARS Re: Manned mission to Venus Re: HAWAII AND STAR WARS Giotto Update - 05/29/90 Magellan Update - 05/29/90 Re: HAWAII AND STAR WARS One Small Step for a Space Activist Vol 1 No. 5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 May 90 15:59:39 GMT From: sdd.hp.com!samsung!emory!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!IDA.ORG!pbs!pstinson@ucsd.edu Subject: Re: HAWAII AND STAR WARS In article <1050400017@cdp>, jhanson@cdp.UUCP writes: > HAWAII TO BE SACRIFICED TO STAR WARS! > > The State of Hawaii is proposing to construct a Star Wars Rocket > Launch Facility in the Ka'u District of Hawaii Island (southern end of > the Big Island). An Environmental Impact Statement is due to be > completed in the latter part of 1990. > How far away from this site is that active volcano? Won't lava flows be a problem? ------------------------------ Date: 29 May 90 23:04:45 GMT From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!rex!rouge!dlbres10@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (9240 Fraering Philip) Subject: Re: Manned mission to Venus Yes, Mark, the soviet landers were able to survive on Mars, none of them longer for two days. (Sure you still want to go?) Have you noticed that besides the joint Venus / Halley mission, after Glasnost their next plans are in 2005? And that budget problems may give it the ax? Noone wants spectacle in a country with long lines for bread. Philip Fraering dlbres10@pc.usl.edu ------------------------------ Date: 29 May 90 15:45:09 GMT From: mephisto!prism!dsm@rutgers.edu (Daniel McGurl) Subject: Re: HAWAII AND STAR WARS In article <1050400017@cdp> jhanson@cdp.UUCP writes: >HAWAII TO BE SACRIFICED TO STAR WARS! (is this message a joke? If so, I missed the smiley here) > >The State of Hawaii is proposing to construct a Star Wars Rocket >Launch Facility in the Ka'u District of Hawaii Island (southern end of >the Big Island). An Environmental Impact Statement is due to be >completed in the latter part of 1990. Ah, but we already know the results of this unreleased study? Or is the following information just guesswork? > >SOLID ROCKET MOTOR EXHAUST HAZARDS > >The State plans to use three different rockets at the proposed Ah, the state of Hawaii wants it's own nuclear defense system? They must be fairly paranoid :-) >rocket launch facility, all would use solid rocket motors (SRM). SRMs >release large amounts of both aluminum and hydrogen chloride (forms >hydrochloric acid) into the atmosphere. For example, the Delta rocket >releases approximately 10 tons of aluminum (as 20 tons of aluminum >oxide) and about 10 tons of hydrogen chloride into the environment >during each launch. Great! I tell you what, I'll take the aluminum and HCL dispersed over the ocean, and you can live with the nuclear warheads exploding on your doorstep. >A recent study, reported in the British medical journal "LANCET", >Jan. 14, 1989, found a direct relationship between aluminum in the water >supply and Alzheimer's disease. The report concludes "The results of >the present survey provide evidence of a causal relation between >aluminum and Alzheimer's disease." In other words, the more aluminum >that was present in the drinking water, the more cases of Alzheimer's >disease that occurred. Oh, and I take it that the aluminum released by these rockets would all go into the drinking water. It would be nice if you posted meaningfull statistics instead of hype. If your worried about drinking aluminum, then it's probably more effective to stop drinking out of aluminum cans... >HYDROGEN CHLORIDE is a severe pulmonary and skin irritant. Direct >contact produces serious corneal and skin burns. Chronic contact may >cause nasal ulceration, dental erosion and dermatitis. Hydrogen chloride >is mutagenic (HAZARDLINE). Well, I don't know about you, but I have no intention of being anywhere close to launching rockets. Consider how many thousands of people go to watch shuttle launches? If the health hazard was that great, do you think that NASA would allow people that close to the site? >MAJOR FLUIDS AND GASES USED FOR LAUNCHING >DIMETHYLHYDRAZINE (UDMH) >HYDRAZINE >NITROGEN DIOXIDE The big so what here... Everyone knows that these substances can be nasty, but not more so than any regular launch... >BERYLLIUM-POWERED STAR WARS ROCKETS >Star Wars payloads will include a new weapons system called Space >Based Interceptors (SBI). Morton Thiokol is building a solid-fueled >first stage, which uses beryllium hydride fuel, to be used for SBIs. >Beryllium replaces the aluminum in the fuel, reducing fuel weight by >about 45%. Fascinating! Henry, why haven't you mentioned this in your postings? Such a wonderful increase in booster effeciency. I'm just impressed that Thiokol has already been awarded a contract to build rockets that would go against the ABM treaty... Hrmmm. Must have missed the news where we decided to ignore the treaty... >ENDANGERED SPECIES Oh no, more dangerous launch stuff. >SEA TURTLES >MAMMALS >ENDANGERED BIRDS Perhaps your not aware that one of out major launching fields (KSC) is also a huge wildlife refuge. As I recall it has a thriving Manatae (sp?) population while the animal population has been declining from boating accidents. There are also many other endangered species in the area. >WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP: >Contact you congressional representatives and ask them to >cut funding for Star Wars. That's right folks, let's cut funding of those production systems... Please, >Jay Hanson 808-322-7268 >78-6622 Alii Drive, >Kailua-Kona, HI 96740 -- Daniel Sean McGurl "He is always decieving you into believing Office of Computing Services and that he's only hunting for mice." Information and Computer Science Major at: Georgia Institute of Technology ARPA: dsm@prism.gatech.edu ------------------------------ Date: 29 May 90 16:02:29 GMT From: usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@ucsd.edu (Ron Baalke) Subject: Giotto Update - 05/29/90 Giotto Update May 29, 1990 The European Space Agency (ESA) will decide this week whether to send the Giotto spacecraft on a second mission to get a closeup of a comet Grigg-Skjellerup. The spacecraft was reactivated last February to determine its capabilities for another mission and found its camera to be severely damaged but most of the other experiment systems are functional. The health of the camera will be a major factor in the decision on whether to continue with a extended mission for Giotto. ESA scientists would like to send the craft to look at comet Grigg Skjellerup in June 1992 and to do so would require a course correction maneuver this summer to utilize an Earth flyby in July, 1990. _ _____ _ | | | __ \ | | Ron Baalke | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov | | | |__) | | | Jet Propulsion Lab | baalke@jems.jpl.nasa.gov ___| | | ___/ | |___ M/S 301-355 | |_____/ |_| |_____| Pasadena, CA 91109 | ------------------------------ Date: 30 May 90 02:30:38 GMT From: usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@ucsd.edu (Ron Baalke) Subject: Magellan Update - 05/29/90 Magellan Status Report May 29, 1990 The Magellan spacecraft is now 106,287,907 miles from Earth, 11,000,297 miles from Venus, and traveling at a heliocentric velocity of 74,455 mph. The spacecraft is has completed a 27 orbit simulated Cruise Mapping Test. Part 3 Orbits #13 through #20 This section covers Orbits #13 of the Cruise Mapping Test which began at 5:38:58 AM PDT on Wednesday, May 23, through Orbit #20 which ended at 8:18:58 AM on Thursday, May 24. The Magellan spacecraft continues to perform nominally during all simulated orbits. Each star calibration of the 8 orbits discussed during the reporting period were successful with an average per orbit update of 0.017 degrees. Momentum wheel desaturations were performed on Orbit #15 and Orbit #18. The red alarm for the solar panel's Sun loss sensor was disabled for the rest of the Cruise Mapping Test as planned, and the solar panels continue to unwind during each mapping pass. No new red alarms have occurred. The Radar Team reports that the Radar system is performing nominally and no alarms have been seen. Out of 13 acquisitions, 13 met the 1 minute criteria. In all cases where the one minute acquisition was met, good radar data was assumed at the Maximum Likelihood Convolutional Decoder (MCD) in-lock time to better indicate actual Deep Space Network (DSN) performance. The DSN is not committed to a one-minute acquisition in the one-way mode. The first acquisition was significantly delayed due to an unexpectedly large temperature induced frequency offset. Incorporation of this effect should allow one-way acquisitions in the one to three minute range. Total scheduled Two-Way High-Rate Telemetry Data = 1938 minutes Total Two-Way High-Rate Telemetry Data Lost = 37 minutes Good Two-Way Data Capture Rate = 98.1% Part 4 Orbits #21 through #27 This section covers Orbits #21 of the Cruise Mapping Test which began at 8:18:58 AM PDT on Thursday, May 24, through Orbit #27 which ended at 7:38:58 AM on Friday, May 25. The spacecraft continues to perform flawlessly during all simulated orbits. Each star calibration of the 7 orbits discussed during the reporting period were successful with an average per orbit update of 0.020 degrees. Momentum Wheel Desaturations were performed on Orbits #21, 24, 27. The cruise 23-2 sequence was successfully uploaded during Orbit #22, the first such upload without verifying the DSN's signal acquisition prior to transmission. Thus, the upload verified the capability to uplink the new sequence while the spacecraft is on Earth point, and to continue mapping without interruption. After Orbit #25, the C23-1 sequence was cancelled as planned. Orbit #26 executed a successful radiometer calibration and Orbit #27 validated by execution the apoapsis occultation mapping strategy. No red alarms have occurred. The Radar Team reports that the Radar system is performing nominally and no alarms have been seen. Out of 13 acquisitions, 13 met the 1 minute criteria. In all cases where the one minute acquisition was met, good radar data was assumed at the MCD in-lock time to better indicate actual DSN performance. The first acquisition was delayed due to an incorrect calculation of the necessary frequency offset to predictions. Total scheduled Two-Way High-Rate Telemetry Data = 2679 minutes Total Two-Way High-Rate Telemetry Data Lost = 65 minutes Good Two-Way Data Capture Rate = 97.6% _ _____ _ | | | __ \ | | Ron Baalke | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov | | | |__) | | | Jet Propulsion Lab | baalke@jems.jpl.nasa.gov ___| | | ___/ | |___ M/S 301-355 | |_____/ |_| |_____| Pasadena, CA 91109 | ------------------------------ Date: 29 May 90 19:53:44 GMT From: davidc@umd5.umd.edu (David Conrad) Subject: Re: HAWAII AND STAR WARS From article <8791.2662642b@pbs.uucp>, by pstinson@pbs.uucp: > In article <1050400017@cdp>, jhanson@cdp.UUCP writes: >> HAWAII TO BE SACRIFICED TO STAR WARS! >> >> The State of Hawaii is proposing to construct a Star Wars Rocket >> Launch Facility in the Ka'u District of Hawaii Island (southern end of >> the Big Island). > How far away from this site is that active volcano? Won't lava flows be a > problem? I had heard that a commerical spaceport was being discussed for Ka Lae (South Point). If this is the same site as is being discussed above, it is about 35-40 miles or so from Kilauea Volcano. While I would assume that is far enough away to be safe from the Kilauea generated lava flows, Mauna Loa, which is the volcano which made Ka Lae, is still active and I think the last lava flow on that side of the island was around 1950 or so. Additionally, the area is quite often subject to low grade earthquakes (I was in a 5.5 quake in January). -drc ------------------------------ Date: 29 May 90 22:29:36 GMT From: usc!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!umich!ox.com!itivax!vax3.iti.org!aws@ucsd.edu (Allen W. Sherzer) Subject: One Small Step for a Space Activist Vol 1 No. 5 One Small Step for a Space Activist... by Allen Sherzer Tim Kyger I Think They Mean It This Time! Every week, the president meets with the congressional leadership to talk about legislative issues. The May 1 meeting, however, was different; in addition to the usual participants the leadership of the NASA authorization and appropriation subcommittees attended. Unlike previous meetings, the only item on the agenda was space. This "Space Summit" is the first time in 15 years a meeting like this has been called. The summit was not a decision making meeting but rather an open exchange of views on the future of the US space program. President Bush reiterated his support for bases on Luna and Mars and restated his belief that NASA will need support from other public and private agencies to achieve this goal. Members of Congress (with the notable exception of a few very powerful members) also expressed support. The attendees also expressed the need for greater continuity in NASA goals and programs. Hopefully, this will help to get stable multi-year funding for some of these projects. Finally, some ways of paying for the President's space goals were discussed. This is good news for the space movement. Some of our ideas and goals are being accepted at the highest levels of government. Grassroots activism can make it possible if chapters write to and meet with their Representatives on a regular basis. We must also use our public education efforts to make space an issue people care about and ask about. The ball is in our court. If we work to make what each of us believes in happen (whatever that is), it will. Legislative Roundup Space Transportation Services Purchase Act (HR 2674) The vote on the FY'91 NASA authorization bill (HR 4196) by the full House Science Committee has not yet happened, at this writing, and it may or may not have happened by the time you read this. Chairman Roe faces his first primary challenge in years, and naturally enough, his attention is focused on re-election rather than markup. There is therefore time to exert pressure on Mr. Roe. As we said last month, a compromise version of HR 2674 has been added as Title II to this bill. Activists need to work to support Title II of the House FY'91 NASA bill AND get the Senate to pass their own authorization bill with the Title II language in it. Last month, many people wrote to Congressman Roe in support of Title II. The House staff people working to support Title II were very appreciative of this and send their thanks. Keep up the good work and keep the letters coming. [As of today (May 29), a date for markup has not been set. It will not come before June 5 because of the recess. Many letters have been sent to Roe but more are needed to show there is wide support. If you support HR 2674, there is an urgent need to WRITE to Roe for his support of Title II.] Things you should do are: 1. WRITE Representative Roe (he hates phone calls). Ask him to support Title II of HR 4196 (NASA authorization bill). Congressman Roe's address is: Robert A Roe 2243 RHOB Washington DC 20515 2. Call or write Senator Gore 202-224-4944 and ask him to include the original language of HR 2674 in the Senate FY'91 NASA authorization bill and to make passage of a Senate NASA authorization bill a priority. Senator Gore's address is: Senator Albert Gore 393 RSOB Washington, DC 20510 3. Send a letter to Congressmen Walker, Packard, and Brown. They have worked hard to see make this bill happen. Let them know we appreciate their work. Their addresses are: Bob Walker Ron Packard George Brown 2445 RHOB 434 CHOB 2188 RHOB Washington DC 20515 Washington DC 20515 Washington DC 20515 Space Exploration Initiative The Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) is the President's Luna and Mars exploration and initial settlement program (SEI was the Human Exploration Initiative but the name has changed). The Administration is a big supporter of the SEI; the President's budget contained almost $500 million to support planning for a lunar and Mars base but it looks likely that this money will be taken out of the SEI to free $$ for the Mission to Planet Earth. The SEI program does not currently have the support needed to make it happen. In particular, there are two members of Congress in a position to kill the SEI all by themselves. Senator Barbra Mikulski (D-MD) and Congressman Bob Traxler (D-MI) head the Appropriation Subcommittees from which the SEI will be funded. Without their support, nothing will happen. We need to show them that there is wide support among Americans for the exploration and development of space and extraterrestrial resources via private enterprise. Things you should do are: 1. Call, write, and VISIT your Representatives in Congress. Make sure they know you support the return to the Moon and Mars base. 2. Get your chapters involved in public education. - Make people aware of the benefits they get from space. - Make them aware that our space goals are not being pursued in Congress - Get people to think of space as a political issue; get them to demand support from their Representatives. 3. Call or write Senator Mikulski and Congressman Traxler. Let them know you support the GOALS of the President's Space Exploration Initiative. If you live in either of these Representative's home states, it is especially important that you both write and visit them to express your opinion. 4. Write the Vice President and Space Council. They are doing a good job and we need to say 'thanks'. They can be reached at: Dan Quale National Space Council Executive Office of the President Washington DC 20500 Finally, if you need help on any of this contact: Allen Sherzer (313) 769-4108 (work) (313) 973-0941 (home) aws@iti.org (Internet) Tim Kyger (202) 225-2415 (work) (703) 548-1664 (home) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Allen W. Sherzer | Real men write self modifying code. | | aws@iti.org | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V11 #463 *******************