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 ; Fri, 29 Jun 1990 01:43:28 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: Precedence: junk Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Fri, 29 Jun 1990 01:42:54 -0400 (EDT) Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #578 SPACE Digest Volume 11 : Issue 578 Today's Topics: CASSINI MISSION PROFILE Anyone Know What MOL Is/Was? Re: Anyone Know What MOL Is/Was? Re: Pegasus Administrivia: Submissions to the SPACE Digest/sci.space should be mailed to space+@andrew.cmu.edu. Other mail, esp. [un]subscription notices, should be sent to space-request+@andrew.cmu.edu, or, if urgent, to tm2b+@andrew.cmu.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 25 Jun 90 18:27:33 GMT From: mcsun!ukc!icdoc!mvax.cc.ic.ac.uk!sund!zmapj36@uunet.uu.net (M.S.Bennett Supvs= Prof Pendry) Subject: CASSINI MISSION PROFILE FACT SHEET: THE CASSINI MISSION The ringed planet Saturn, its major moon Titan andcomplex system of at least 16 other satellites will be thedestination for NASA's and the European Space Agency's Cassini Mission. Named for the Italian-French astronomer who discovered several of Saturn's moons, Cassini is under study at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as one of two initial projects in the Mariner Mark II series of missions to the outer solar system. Early during the spacecraft's four-year tourorbiting Saturn, it will launch a parachuted probe descendingthrough Titan's dense atmosphere to the surface of thesatellite -- which boasts unique organic-like chemistry thatcould provide clues to the origin of life on Earth. On its way to Saturn, Cassini will also execute anencounter with an asteroid and will fly down the magnetotailof Jupiter, performing studies complementing NASA's Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CREJmission and the Galileomission to Jupiter. Recommended by NASA's Solar System Exploration Committee in its report to the space agency in the early 1980s, the Mariner Mark II series will use shared design concepts and advanced manufacturing techniques to build a number of unmanned spacecraft to explore the solar system beyond the orbit of Mars. CRAF and Cassini are the first two missions proposed in the series. MISSION OVERVIEW As currently planned, Cassini would be launched in April 1996 on an expendable rocket. NASA would provide the Titan-Centaur launch vehicle and the Cassini orbiter spacecraft; the European Space Agency (ESA) would contribute the Titan probe. NASA and ESA member countries would providescience instruments for both the orbiter and probe. In order to reach Saturn, Cassini will first execute flybys of the Earth and of Jupiter in order to gain "gravity assist" boosts in velocity to send it on its way. The first flyby of Earth will take place 26 months afterlaunch, followed by the Jupiter flyby some 19 months later. Cassini would then arrive at Saturn in October 2002. During the first leg of its trip -- after launchand before its first Earth flyby -- Cassini will navigatethrough part of the asteroid belt and could perform anencounter with the asteroid Maja in March 1997. After flyingby the Earth at a distance of 300 kilometers (about 190 miles), the spacecraft will be flung out through the asteroid belt where it may be possible to encounter another asteroid. Maja is a carbonaceous, or "C" type, asteroid 78k ilometers (about 50 miles) in diameter. Two small asteroids are being considered as possible additional targets (only one of the two asteroids could be visited). Cassini's final encounter before proceeding toSaturn will be with Jupiter, which it will pass at a distanceof about 3.6 million kilometers (about 2.2 million miles),some 50 times the radius of Jupiter itself. Cassini's flightpath will take it for 130 days down through a region that nozt9aft has explored more than briefly -- the giantplanet's magnetotail, a long tube of Jupiter's energy fieldtrailing many millions of miles away from the Sun. Upon reaching Saturn the spacecraft will swingwithin 1.8 Saturn radii of the planet to begin the first ofsome three dozen highly elliptical orbits during theremainder of its mission. Eighty-five days after reachingSaturn -- traveling back in toward the planet as it completesits first orbit -- Cassini will release its instrumentedprobe to begin descent to Titan. Eleven days later the probe will enter Titan'sdense atmosphere, buffered at first by a heat shield.Throwing off that protection, the probe will then deploy itsparachute for final descent to the surface. After relaying to Earth data up linked from theTitan probe, Cassini will continue with orbits of Saturn andflybys of most of the planet's 16 or more other moons. Planscall for 40 targeted flybys including 36 close encounters ofTitan, two of the major moon Iapetus, and one each of Enceladus and Dione. Cassini will make 26 non-targeted flybysof the Saturnian moons. In addition, the spacecraft's orbits will allow it to study Saturn's polar regions after examining the planet's equatorial zone. SATURN AND ITS MOONS: UNRESOLVED QUESTIONS Much has been learned about the ringed planet sinceRenaissance astronomers first turned their telescopes on itin the 17th century. Many questions remain, however, whichcould provide clues to how the solar system evolved and howlife began on Earth. One of the bright planets known to the ancients,Saturn was first studied via telescope by Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) and, in the generation following him, by suchEuropean astronomers as the mission's namesake, Cassini. Glimpsing the planet's famous rings through an earlytelescope, Galileo first thought them to be two smallerplanet-like bodies flanking the main planet Saturn; onlyobservations by others with later, better telescopes revealed their true nature. The greatest wealth of information on the planethas come from unmanned spacecraft. Initially reconnoitered by NASA's Pioneer 11, the planet was encountered by Voyager 1and Voyager 2 during flybys in 1980 and 1981, respectively. Those missions showed Saturn to be a giant gaseous globe of hydrogen and helium 95 times more massive than the Earth, buffeted by winds of up to 500 meters per second(1,100 miles per hour). The ring system proved to be muchmore complex than previously realized, with intricate "braiding" in some parts of the system. Small moons were also discovered by the spacecraft, bringing the total of Saturnian moons to at least 17. Because of the brief nature of those flybys, manyquestions remain for Cassini to explore. In studying Saturn's magnetosphere -- the pocket of energy enveloping the planet,much like Earth's radiation belts -- scientists hope tounderstand the configuration and dynamics of the magnetosphere; the nature, source and fate of its energy particles; how it interacts with the solar wind, satellites and rings; and how Titan interacts with the solar wind and Saturnian magnetosphere. At the planet itself, topics of study includecloud properties and composition of the atmosphere; winds andtemperatures; Saturn's internal structure and rotation; theplanet's ionosphere; and Saturn's origin and evolution.Science objectives in respect to Saturn's rings include studies of their structure and composition, dynamic processes, interrelations of the rings and Saturniansatellites, and the dust/micrometeoroid environment at therings. Because of the dense atmosphere shrouding the moonTitan, little is known of its surface -- whether it is solidor covered with liquid oceans. At Titan, scientists hope togain a better understanding of abundances of elements andcompounds in its atmosphere; distribution of trace gases andaerosols; winds and temperatures; surface state andcomposition; and the satellite's upper atmosphere. Saturn's other major moons are ice-covered bodies. Scientists wish to use Cassini to study their characteristicsand geological histories; how their surfaces are modified over time; composition and distribution of materials on their surfaces; overall composition and internal structure of the satellites; and how they interact with Saturn's magnetosphere. To carry out those studies, the Cassini orbiter will carry 15 science experiments, with nine more on the Titan probe. The orbiter will house several instruments on its directable, high-precision scan platform: a solid-stateimaging system; ultraviolet spectrometer; near-infrared spectrometer; mid-far-infrared spectrometer; a micro wave radiometer/spectrometer; and a high-speed photometer. Instruments on the orbiter's turntable platformare: a dust analyzer; energetic gas/hot plasma detector; aplasma/radio-wave spectrometer; and a plasma spectrometer. Located on a separate orbiter aeronomy platformwill be a neutral/ion mass spectrometer and an ionanalyzer/Langmuir probe. A magnetometer will be mounted on aseparate boom. The orbiter's high-gain antenna will also beused for radar to map Titan through the satellite'satmospheric veil. The spacecraft's radio system will also beused for radio science experiments. The Titan probe's experiments include an imager/spectrometer to relay photos as the probe descends; a radaraltimeter; doppler tracking; a lightning/radio detector; alaser spectrometer/particle size counter; a gas chromato-graph/mass spectrometer; an aerosol collector/pyrolyzer; anatmospheric structure instrument; and a surface sciencepackage. THE ASTRONOMER IN HISTORY Gian Domenico Cassini -- or, in his adopted country, Jean-Dominique Cassini -- was born in Perinaldo, Italy, in 1625 and later settled in Paris. Before his death in 1712, Cassini became renowned for diverse work inastronomy, including the discovery of four of Saturn's major moons and a dark, narrow gap ("Cassini's Division")splitting the planet's rings. Interested in mathematics and astronomy as a youth,Cassini in his early 20s was invited by a rich marquis andamateur astronomer to work at the nobleman's observatory nearBologna, Italy. At the age of 25 he was named to theprincipal chair of astronomy at the University of Bologna. Alternating astronomy with hydrology studiessolving problems of river flooding for the pope, Cassinibegan developing theories of planetary motion, observing comets and mapping solar eclipses. Through friendships with lensmakers, Cassini was able to obtain very powerful telescopes; by the time he was 40 he began observations of planets which cemented his fame.He studied the rotation rates of Jupiter and Mars, coming upwith periods very close to those currently accepted. When he was 43, Cassini published a table of movements of the moons of Jupiter, which was used by astronomers and navigators for many years on expeditionsaround the world. By observing eclipses of Jupiter's moons from two distant sites, explorers could develop accurate longitudes of various points around the Earth. In 1669 Cassini accepted a generous offer to leave Italy and join the new Academie Royale des Sciences in Paris;four years later he became a French citizen, and when he was 49 he married the daughter of a French lieutenant general. Using new telescopes, Cassini made his most celebrated discoveries related to Saturn from 1671 to 1675. The planet's largest moon, Titan, had been discovered some 20 years previously by the Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens. Cassini discovered Saturn's four other large moons, Iapetus,Rhea, Tethys and Dione. He also noticed changes in the brightness of Iapetus; to explain it, Cassini developed a theory that the satellite always turned the same face toward its parent planet. In 1675 Cassini discovered that Saturn's rings are split into two parts by a narrow division, which becamenamed for him in the language of astronomy used today. Healso put forth the notion, since proven, that the rings arenot solid but rather are made up of huge numbers of small particles. Cassini's heirs were also influential in French astronomy. They included his son, Cassini II (Jacques Cassini, 1677-1756); grandson Cassini III (Cesar-FrancoisCassini de Thury, 1714-1784); and great-grandson Cassini IV(Jean-Dominique Cassini, 1748-1845). ___________ At JPL, Ronald F. Draper is Mariner Mark II projectmanager. Charles Kohlhase is Cassini science and mission design manager. Linda Horn is Cassini deputy study scientist.Cassini is managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Scienceand Applications. ##### 8-4-88 FOD@ /------ ------- -----\ /------ | ====================== | | | | \ | | M. Sean Bennett | \-----\ |---- | | \-----\ | UKSEDS TECH.OFF. | | | | / | | Janet:SEDS@CC.IC.AC.UK | ------/ ------- -----/ ------/ | Bitnet- | | SEDS%CC.IC.AC.UK@ukacrl | | ====================== | ------------------------------ Date: 26 Jun 90 03:19:28 GMT From: cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!srcsip!jhereg!wd0gol!newave!john@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (John A. Weeks III) Subject: Anyone Know What MOL Is/Was? While looking at the space suit exhibits at the Kansas State Cosmoshere recently, I saw a space suit from the "MOL" project. Although I have looked through all of my space books, I have been unable to find out anything about MOL except the following: 1. It stands for Manned Orbiting Labratory 2. It was a super-secret Air Force project 3. It was cancelled in 1968 Can anyone tell me more about MOL, or at least point me to some references? Specifically, I am curious as to what the mission was, what if any hardware was built, and why it was cancelled. -john- -- =============================================================================== John A. Weeks III (612) 942-6969 john@newave.mn.org NeWave Communications ...uunet!rosevax!bungia!wd0gol!newave!john =============================================================================== ------------------------------ Date: 26 Jun 90 18:26:45 GMT From: mephisto!prism!ccoprmd@rutgers.edu (Matthew Thomas DeLuca) Subject: Re: Anyone Know What MOL Is/Was? In article <10785@hydra.gatech.EDU> dsm@prism.gatech.EDU (Daniel McGurl) writes: >In article <10780@hydra.gatech.EDU> ccoprmd@prism.gatech.EDU (Matthew DeLuca) writes: >>As to the mission, a hint can be gotten from the fact that the 'missing' >>KH-10 designation in the series of U.S. recon platforms was taken by the >>MOL. William Burrow's book _Deep Black_ mentions the MOL a little, but >>does not go into great detail. I highly recommend the book, though, if you >>are interested in U.S. aerial and space reconaissance...it's the best >>book on the topic I've seen. > >Well, that's not quite correct. First of all, the KH-10 project was scrapped >mainly because it became obsolete before actually getting of the drawing >board. The KH-10 had been given the designation but no hardware was ever >built for it (Well, that we know about anyway :-)... I have since run home (living a block from campus has its benefits. :) to retrieve _Deep Black_. On page 235, the author states 'There was a satellite assigned the Keyhole number 10, though it was never built because the KH-11 made it obsolete. The MOL was the KH-10.' So yes, the KH-10 was rendered obsolete, but it was indeed the MOL. Now that I have the book in front of me, I find that it covers the MOL in a little more depth than I recalled. Quoting without permission: '[The KH-9] was a partial substiute for another of the extremely ambitious programs conceptualized by the Air Force in the 1960's. This one was called the Manned Orbiting Laboratory, or MOL, and it was supposed to be able to accomplish a formidable variety of tasks, including inspecting satellites in space, testing the accuracy of an orbital bombardment system, commanding and controlling military operations during all-out war, testing the effects of month-long missions on astronauts, and performing both imaging and ELINT [ELectronic INTelligence -mtd] reconaissance. The MOL, a cylinder having about thirty-four cubic yards of work space, was to be lifted into orbit by a thrust-augmented Titan 3C. Once in low orbit, it was to be joined by two astronauts in a Gemini capsule who would dock, climb inside, and perform the various experiments in addition to operating the reconaissance apparatus. They were then to return to earth in their capsule, leaving the laboratory to await a replacement crew.' >Actually, I seem to recall that the plans for the MOL have been changed to >become an unmanned recon platform. I think in the long run that there was >no real benedit from having people on board. True, they could fix point >failures, but if the platforms work well, then a service mission every once >in a while would fix it. I beleive there were also some concerns that people >in a recon platform might be considered spies in times of conflict. This is correct. In addition to the cost overruns (the project had consumed $1.6 billion by the time it was cancelled, in 1969), the CIA was concerned that the Soviets would use asat weaponry to attack the MOL, on the same premise as using SAM's to shoot down Gary Power's U-2 in 1960. At any rate, the other, unmanned, satellites in the Keyhole series were performing the recon job admirably...it was decided that the benefit of having men on board was not worth the extra cost involved. -- 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: 26 Jun 90 20:50:19 GMT From: orc!inews!td2cad!yoyodyne!jreece@decwrl.dec.com (john reece) Subject: Re: Pegasus In article <1990Jun26.032257.10674@utzoo.uucp>, henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: > In article <751C7FA3D3BF201604@vaxsar.bitnet> THBLERSCH%VASSAR.BITNET@vma.cc.cmu.edu writes: > >...launching Pegasus from an XB-70 instead of a B-52. > > My question is: why not launch from an old B-58? ... > > Because the extra speed and altitude are not that much help, and flying > and maintaining a (now) one-of-a-kind high-performance aircraft would be > very expensive. How about using a C-5, or C-17, and building a bigger rocket with a larger payload? Either one can carry twice the payload of a B-52, though I'm not sure about their speeds or ceilings under load. John Reece Not an Intel spokesman jreece@yoyodyne.intel.com ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V11 #578 *******************