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 ; Sat, 2 Jun 1990 02:06:49 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <0aNpRRS00VcJ0BUk4R@andrew.cmu.edu> Precedence: junk Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Sat, 2 Jun 1990 02:06:22 -0400 (EDT) Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #479 SPACE Digest Volume 11 : Issue 479 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Submissions to the SPACE Digest/sci.space should be mailed to space+@andrew.cmu.edu. Other mail, esp. administrivia, should be sent to space-request+@andrew.cmu.edu, or, if urgent, to tm2b+@andrew.cmu.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Topics: Re: Query on Shuttle Aborts Current Ramjets? Re: space news from April 2 AW&ST NASA Photo Archives taxes and night launches ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 15 May 90 20:36:35 GMT From: skipper!bowers@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Al Bowers) Subject: Re: Query on Shuttle Aborts In article <696.264ed789@cc.nu.oz> c8919865@cc.nu.oz writes: > I have an interesting question. I have seen and heard of ATO and >RTLS, but there is a section of the ascent I am not sure about. > If there was ever a situation like 51-L (God forbid) and the new >sensors picked up the warning - what could the astronauts do? Would the >new crew escape system help them out under power, or would the shuttle >just be blown off the stack? If the 51-L situation ever arose again, the result would be the same. There has not been and there is no feasible way to rescue those people in that situation. Even today with the disscussions going on about follow-ons to the STS program, lots of studies have shown that the size of the resuce device needs to be the size of the payload (?!?) in order to work under all the eventualities. The only solution is to accept the risk and press on... -- Albion H. Bowers bowers@elxsi.dfrf.nasa.gov ames!elxsi.dfrf.nasa.gov!bowers `In the changing of the times, they were like autumn lightning, a thing out of season, an empty promise of rain that would fall unheeded on fields already bare.' attributed to Abe Shosaburo by Dave Lowery ------------------------------ Date: 1 Jun 90 21:10:05 GMT From: sam.cs.cmu.edu!vac@PT.CS.CMU.EDU (Vincent Cate) Subject: Current Ramjets? I have found a few examples of ramjets that were really built and flown: Bomarc: Surface to air missile. Powered by a RJ43 ramjet. Talos: Surface-to-air missile. Navajo - Mach 3 cruise missile. Designed to fly at 75,000 feet for up to 5000 miles. Used two Curtiss-Wright 48-inch diameter ramjets. Successfully test-flown. Lockheed X-7: Powered to more than Mach 4 at over 80,000 feet by a Marquardt ramjet (possibly the Marquardt XRJ59-MA-3). Vega: Powered to Mach 4.06 at 96,500 feet. Nord Aviation of France. Seems to have gotten up to Mach 5 and up to 115,000 feet but maybe not both at the same time. However, all of these are pre 1963. Are there any currently flying ramjet-powered missiles or planes? It seems like ramjets would be ideal for air-to-air missiles. Can anyone give me any pointers to sources with information about more modern ramjets? Are there any off-the-shelf ramjets for sale? The reason I am interested is that it looks like ramjets are the best way to get from a B-52 to around 4,000 MPH. At this point rockets, or maybe scramjets when they are developed, could be used to get to orbit. Seems like it might not be too hard to get from the Pegasus to a ramjet first stage Pegasus II (wings and starting speed are already there). If there is an off-the-shelf ramjet that would work it might even be an easy evolution. Thanks for any info, -- Vince ------------------------------ Date: 1 Jun 90 04:33:36 GMT From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!munnari.oz.au!metro!natmlab.dap.csiro.au!ditsyda!lindley@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Craig.Lindley) Subject: Re: space news from April 2 AW&ST in article <8239@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV>, lwall@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Larry Wall) says: > ... various unneccessarily facetious comments, etc. ... > > After all, ya gotta walk before ya can run... :-) > - and presumably one must crawl before walking. It is unfortunate that NASA, after getting up to a reasonable sprint, has collapsed back into a crawl. Perhaps that is why some of us in other parts of the world are inspired by the thought of our own programs, however humble they may be, or however difficult to initiate. - by the way, John Robertson (ex-JPL) says hello. He was in 315. craig lindley, csiro, dit sydney, Australia lindley@ditsyda.oz -- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Craig Lindley ( lindley@ditsyda.oz ) CSIRO Division of Info. Tech., Sydney. ------------------------------ Date: 10 May 90 16:14:31 GMT From: skipper!shafer@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Mary Shafer) Subject: NASA Photo Archives Transparancies of all NASA photos available to the public can be borrowed from the photo archive. You can have copies or prints made. NASA Audio-Visual Facility 918 North Rengstorff Ave Mountain View, CA 94043 (415) 604-6270 -- Mary Shafer shafer@skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov ames!skipper.dfrf.nasa.gov!shafer NASA Ames Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, CA Of course I don't speak for NASA ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Jun 90 14:39:45 PDT From: hairston%utdssa.dnet%utadnx@utspan.span.nasa.gov X-Vmsmail-To: UTADNX::UTSPAN::AMES::"space+@andrew.cmu.edu",HAIRSTON Subject: taxes and night launches Dan Tilque (ogicse!zephyr.ens.tek.com!wrgate!mrloog!dant@ucsd.edu) writes: >hairston%utdssa.dnet%utadnx@utspan.span.nasa.gov writes: > >>>--Alan Wexelblat >>> The taxes of every American west of the Mississippi are used to pay off >>> the interest on the national debt. (back of the envelope calculation deleted) >I believe that if you change the statement to only talk about income taxes, >it's about right. The US government receives taxes from a variety of >sources. The last time I checked (several years ago) import taxes were >the largest source (about 40 or 50 percent) and income taxes second (about >30%) of total tax revenues. Okay, the original purpose of my posting was to show how you could do back of the envelope calculations to get reasonable estimates without having to muck about trying to find the exact number in lost in some government document. I broke down and went over to the library and found the phonebook-sized budget for fiscal 1990 and found the tables showing 1989 figures. Turns out things are a bit more complicated. For fiscal 89 the government spent 1.142 trillion dollars, took in 990 billion dollars and ran a deficit of 152 dollars. Of the 990 billion (actually 990.7 billion) taken in the sources were: personal income taxes: 445.7 billion social security: 359.4 billion corp. income taxes: 103.6 billion excise taxes: 34.1 billion other 47.9 billion so, no, import taxes (which are some portion of "other") are not 40 or 50% of the revenue. The original posting just said "the taxes", which implies all federal taxes paid (since state and local taxes don't go to the feds (in most cases)), and that means income taxes and social security taxes (81% of all funds taken in). So technically, yes, if you limit it to just personal income tax revenues, then the personal income taxes of the 38.8% of us west of the Big Muddy does just pay the interest on the debt. But then we chip in a slightly larger amount of taxes in the form of social security, corporate income taxes, and so on. So the original statistic still comes under the heading of "lying with statistics" since it implies that ALL of our taxes are going to paying the interest on the debt. Enough of this, back to space science. Someone asked why the shuttle mission was scheduled for a night launch. According to AWaSTe it's because they want to do most of the observations while on the nightside (yes you can do some of them on the dayside), and launching at night puts them in an orbit that only crosses the South Atlantic Anomaly (where the Van Allen belts dip closest to the Earth) while on the dayside. The electronics on the telescopes are sensitive enough that the radiation from the SAA would mess up the observations. We're working on finding a good general reference about the Van Allen belts for those who have asked, give us a week or so. ______________________________________________________________________ Marc Hairston--Center for Space Science--University of Texas at Dallas SPAN address UTSPAN::UTADNX::UTD750::HAIRSTON "It is better to light a single candle than to get all hot and sweaty trying to light a grape."--C. Barsotti ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V11 #479 *******************