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, 10 Nov 1990 01:28:35 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: Precedence: junk Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Sat, 10 Nov 1990 01:28:04 -0500 (EST) Subject: SPACE Digest V12 #517 SPACE Digest Volume 12 : Issue 517 Today's Topics: Payload Status for 10/30/90 (Forwarded) Re: A great idea on how to fund NASA! Re: X-15 Re: Mars Rover Update - 10/26/90 Re: LLNL Proposal mars transit system ESA Press Conference on HST Re: Antenna heating Galileo Update - 10/31/90 Magellan Update - 10/30/90 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: 30 Oct 90 23:17:22 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: Payload Status for 10/30/90 (Forwarded) Daily Status/KSC Payload Management and Operations 10-30-90 - STS-35 ASTRO-1/BBXRT (at Pad-B) Contingency support for the LH2 tanking test will be provided today. - STS-39 AFP-675/IBSS/STP-01 (at CCAFS) CITE preps continue. - STS-40 SLS-1 (at O&C) Power on experiment and subsystem checks will be performed today along with MVAK training. - STS-37 GRO (at PHSF) Functional testing continues. - STS-42 IML-1 (at O&C) Module and experiment staging will continue today. - STS-45 Atlas-1 (at O&C) Experiment and pallet staging continue. - STS-46 TSS-1 (at O&C) Power on active thermal control systems checks will begin today. - STS-47 Spacelab-J (at O&C) Rack and floor staging continues. - STS-67 LITE-1 (at O&C) No work is scheduled for today. ------------------------------ Date: 31 Oct 90 05:58:58 GMT From: usc!julius.cs.uiuc.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!milo.mcs.anl.gov!midway!quads.uchicago.edu!chi9@ucsd.edu (Lucius Chiaraviglio) Subject: Re: A great idea on how to fund NASA! In article <17168@thorin.cs.unc.edu> beckerd@grover.cs.unc.edu (David Becker) writes: >dwex@cbnewsj.att.com (david.e.wexelblat) writes: [About objections to vacuum-containing marbles (-: space-balls :-)] >>I didn't see a smiley on that followup, so: Hey -- have you ever heard >>of a light-bulb? > >Your average incandescent bulb holds slighlty pressurized inert gas. Glass >that thin could never keep O2 out of vacuum. The pressure is to keep >the O2 out and the filament burning. That's not what I last heard about the composition of light bulbs. The way I heard it was that they contain nitrogen or inert gas (can't remember which) at approximately 1/2 atmosphere (I assume this figure is for when they are cold). Light bulbs do implode sometimes (I have had this happen two or three times when water condensing on a pipe overhead dripped on them -- badly refitted bathroom in my previous apartment) -- most of the glass bounces out of the bulb, but some of it stays in sometimes. Incidentally, this is not a safe phenomenon to be around -- the fragments of glass are reasonably sharp (they include some rather thin slivers) and fly at a sufficient velocity to travel a couple of meters to get into someone's eye. However, space-balls could be made to have thick walls of some material that would tend to break into chunks -- I think marble would actually work for this, but I don't know if that can be melted and resolidified without decomposition as was suggested for the space-balls. At any rate, glass does not have to be very thick to keep air from rushing into vacuum, although as the imploding light bulbs demonstrated it would be nice for safety insurance if it was thicker. The reason for the gas in light bulbs is not primarily to reduce the load on the glass, but to reduce the rate at which the filament(s) burn out. The original Edison light bulbs did have vacuum inside, but atoms boiled off the filament rapidly, so that bulb life was too short for people's liking. Adding an inert gas slowed the rate of filament thinning by atoms boiling off. Halogen light bulbs do indeed contain high-pressure gas (I assume for the same purpose as in standard incandescent light bulbs, but allowing the filament to run even hotter while retaining an acceptable lifetime). Consumer's Reports warn that these can EXPLODE, so they should be used in fixtures which provide sufficient shielding. Followups redirected to sci.physics (I think that is the most appropriate newsgroup for this, but am not 100% sure). -- | Lucius Chiaraviglio | Internet: chi9@midway.uchicago.edu ------------------------------ Date: 31 Oct 90 06:13:59 GMT From: usc!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo!henry@ucsd.edu (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: X-15 In article <876@ksr.com> clj@ksr.com (Chris Jones) writes: >>If you're thinking of the Dyna-Soar, which I believe was the X-25 (I can't >>remember what the X-20 was offhand)... > >The Dyna-Soar was not called X-25. It was the X-20 (or X-20A)... Correct; my mistake. -- "I don't *want* to be normal!" | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology "Not to worry." | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry ------------------------------ Date: 31 Oct 90 11:56:44 GMT From: m2c!wpi.WPI.EDU!melkor@husc6.harvard.edu (A Soldier Of God) Subject: Re: Mars Rover Update - 10/26/90 What are the dimensions, costs and other vital stats of JPL's mars rover. Is there any help being given to people workingt on Microsat technology rovers like the ones that appeared in a recent issue of aerospace america. Is the strategy to use one BIG and vulnerable rover or literally hundreds of semi-redundant micro rovers? I am doing a policy paper as a school project and am very interested in the role microsat technology will play in future policy. _______________________________________________________________________________ |L.T.N.A.T. (Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself) S..G.L.Y.&S.D.I. (Smile.....) | | "He died for me. I'll live for him" (D&K)| |SSSS CCCC H H L EEEE TTT ZZZZ melkor@wpi.wpi.edu | |S C H H L E T Z The Domino's Dude | |SSSS C HHHH L EEE T Z "I won't go underground/I won't turn and | | S C H H L E T Z flee/I won't bow the knee" PETRA | |SSSS CCCC H H LLLL EEEE T ZZZZ (508) 792-3745 Dominos: 791-7760 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Oct 90 13:31:27 -0500 From: "Allen W. Sherzer" Subject: Re: LLNL Proposal Newsgroups: sci.space Cc: In article <9010310037.AA04263@cmr.ncsl.nist.gov>: >>that the shuttle, which is so expensive in the first place, is so >>unsafe. >Perhaps in relation to commercial airliners, for instance, but what about >in relation to other launchers? I would welcome reliable statistics on >Soviet launchers, but in the continuing absence of such, I can say I have >seen no solid indication that the Shuttle is not the safest orbital launcher >in existence. Let's look at the reliability of the Shuttle. The postpriori figures indicate the loss of a Shuttle every thirty missions or so. GAO says there is about a 2% chance of loss every launch. I believe NASA claims about a 1.2% chance per flight. This averages out to about 2% per flight. If you look at the reliability of either Titan or Delta over the same period, you find they also loose a launcher about 2% of the time. So in this sense reliability seems to be about the same. Of course, the Shuttle is 'man rated' but experience seems to show that man rating only quadruples the cost and doesn't affect safety. Allen -- +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Allen W. Sherzer | What should man do but dare? | | aws@iti.org | - Sir Gawain | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: 31 Oct 90 19:24:35 GMT From: brody@eos.arc.nasa.gov (Adam R. Brody) Subject: mars transit system There is a good article in the Oct/Nov 1990 issue of Air & space Smithsonian about Buzz Aldrin's concept for a Mars Transit System. It would consist of "taxis" and cyclers for transportation between earth orbit and mars orbit and Mars orbit to Mars. I have seen similar designs elsewhere but this is a very accessible for those who haven't. It is worth the read. ------------------------------ Date: 31 Oct 90 23:43:13 GMT From: usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@ucsd.edu (Ron Baalke) Subject: ESA Press Conference on HST ESA Press Conference --------------------- The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has now been operational for approximately six months; the Faint Object Camera (FOC), together with the telescope's solar panels represents the European Space Agency's (ESA) contribution to an international cooperative project between NASA and ESA. The FOC was designed to detect extremely faint or distant objects, allowing astronomers to see if quasars are embedded in distant galaxies and to search for planets orbiting stars. Astronomers are now working with the first scientific data beamed back by the HST, revealing fascinating images of planet Pluto, an exploding star, supernova 1987A and a double star called R-aquarii. ESA will present the latest results of its Faint Object Camera at a press conference to be held on Tuesday, November 6, 1990 at 1500 (UTC), at the ESA Headquarters in Paris, France. Following opening remarks by Professor Roger Bonnet, Director of the ESA Science Programme, a panel of specialists will give short explanations of the current status and then take part in a discussion. The panel includes: o Dr. Peter Jakobsen, HST Project Scientist o Dr. Robin Laurance, HST Project Manager o Dr. Duccio Macchetto, Head of Science Programme Division, Space Telescope Science Institute o Dr. Piero Benvenuti, Head, Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility o Dr. Brian Taylor, Head of Astrophysics, Space Science Dept. ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| | | | | __ \ /| | | | Ron Baalke | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov ___| | | | |__) |/ | | |___ Jet Propulsion Lab | baalke@jems.jpl.nasa.gov /___| | | | ___/ | |/__ /| M/S 301-355 | |_____|/ |_|/ |_____|/ Pasadena, CA 91109 | ------------------------------ Date: 31 Oct 90 16:06:04 GMT From: mcsun!unido!mpirbn!p257shu@uunet.uu.net (Susanne Huettemeister) Subject: Re: Antenna heating Reply-To: p257shu@mpirbn.UUCP (Susanne Huettemeister) Organization: Max-Planck-Institut fuer Radioastronomie, Bonn In article <1990Oct30.001933.2203@nmt.edu> dbriggs@nrao.edu (Daniel Briggs) writes: > ... [ Details about antenna incident deleted ] I >have heard a few similar horror stories from other antennas, but I >would be hard pressed to back them up with references. I can help you with at least one reference. At the European Southern Observatory at La Silla (Chile) there's a single radiotelescope among some 15 optical instruments. It's called SEST (Swedish European Submillimeter Telescope), has a diameter of 15m (as I'm German I refuse to translate to ft!) and works currently at 3mm and 1.3mm wavelength. Its design is virtually identical to the 3 IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer Telescopes and includes a highly reflective surface. During the installation and testing phase (2-3 years ago) someone pointed the telescope close to the sun ... Guess what happened? They got a nice little fire up in the receiver cabin (the receivers where damaged somewhat, though not fatally) and the La Silla fire brigade got its first alarm in some 20 years of existence of the observatory. People working up there with SEST now insist that the incident never was *that* critical, but during a stay there as a visiting astronomer a few weeks ago I got the firm impression that they are a lot more nervous about the sun damaging the telescope than about any other possible source of trouble. The software now prevents you from pointing anywhere closer than 50 degrees to the sun (thus excluding a pretty large fraction of the sky). If the software fails (or the instrument just keeps moving once you've told it to track a source in the sky) there are two more safeguards involving the mechanical drive - PLUS an alarm that ( I was told) "is loud enough to raise the dead" (fortunately, during my stay I didn't hear it). There's even some talk about changing the surface properties, which in a way would be a shame: by night you can see the moon or even the Milky Way reflected in the mirror, which looks just great. Well, you never get a thing for free ... :-) Susanne p257shu@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de ------------------------------ Date: 31 Oct 90 18:56:00 GMT From: usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@ucsd.edu (Ron Baalke) Subject: Galileo Update - 10/31/90 Galileo Status Report October 31, 1990 Galileo spacecraft health continues to be excellent. Two more delta DOR (Differential One-way Ranging) navigation activities were performed on October 29 using Goldstone 34 meter/Spain 70 meter and Goldstone 34 meter/ Australia 70 meter antenna pairs. A NO-OP command was also sent to reset the Command Loss Timer to 216 hours. In addition to those engineering activities, a Magnetometer science memory readout was successfully performed. The Plasma Science instrument's protective sun shade will be retracted tomorrow. ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| | | | | __ \ /| | | | Ron Baalke | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov ___| | | | |__) |/ | | |___ Jet Propulsion Lab | baalke@jems.jpl.nasa.gov /___| | | | ___/ | |/__ /| M/S 301-355 | |_____|/ |_|/ |_____|/ Pasadena, CA 91109 | ------------------------------ Date: 31 Oct 90 18:53:55 GMT From: usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@ucsd.edu (Ron Baalke) Subject: Magellan Update - 10/30/90 MAGELLAN STATUS REPORT October 30, 1990 The Magellan spacecraft is performing nominally in its Superior Conjunction mode, with one STARCAL (star calibration) and two DESATS (desaturations of the reaction wheels) each day. No spacecraft command activity is planned for today. Engineering telemetry margins are 3.3 db below predict at S-band and 2.5 db below predict at X-band. The Sun-Earth-Magellan angle is now 1.1 degrees. The radar sensor is in standby mode. The earliest date that mapping will resume is November 7. Although mapping has been suspended, the processing of image strips continues, with 10 standard image swaths produced in the past 24 hours. A special mosaicked image containing part of Maxwell Montes and Cleopatra Crater, an area rising about 11 kilometers or 36,000 ft. above the mean radius of Venus, was produced by the SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) Data Processing Team and displayed for the flight team yesterday. ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| | | | | __ \ /| | | | Ron Baalke | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov ___| | | | |__) |/ | | |___ Jet Propulsion Lab | baalke@jems.jpl.nasa.gov /___| | | | ___/ | |/__ /| M/S 301-355 | |_____|/ |_|/ |_____|/ Pasadena, CA 91109 | ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V12 #517 *******************