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 ; Thu, 13 Dec 1990 01:56:04 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: Precedence: junk Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Thu, 13 Dec 1990 01:55:29 -0500 (EST) Subject: SPACE Digest V12 #646 SPACE Digest Volume 12 : Issue 646 Today's Topics: Re: Two questions: Lunar shuttle missions, pseudo-gravity Re: 10th planet? Astro-1 Status for 12/06/90 [1307 CST] (Forwarded) Re: The Space Plane X-30 Astro-1 Status for 12/06/90 [0140 CST] (Forwarded) Black Holes NASA Prediction Bulletins: Space Shuttle NASA Headline News for 12/06/90 (Forwarded) 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: 6 Dec 90 22:21:37 GMT From: swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!masscomp!ocpt!tsdiag!davet@ucsd.edu (Dave Tiller N2KAU) Subject: Re: Two questions: Lunar shuttle missions, pseudo-gravity In article MJENKIN@OPIE.BGSU.EDU writes: - -2. Pseudogravity: Could someone give me an equation to calculate a -rate of spin for an object, given the dimensions of the object and -the desired "gravity," necessary to simulate that gravity? And how -noticeable would the Coriolis "force" be? For a circular object, the acceleration due to rotation is equal to 2 a = v --- r Example: Dave (while fixing the main antenna) is tethered to the mother ship on a 10m cable. Dave's velocity about the circumference of his leash is 13.86 m/s. His acceleration directed away from the center of the mother ship is 19.21 m/s2. This corresponds to 0.6g. Simalarly, if Dave is inside a cylinder of the same dimensions, and is standing on the inner surface, he feels 0.6g holding him to the cylinder when it is spinning at the same speed. If you'd like to use angular velocity, substitute: v = v * 2 * pi * r linear angular ---------- Where V(angular) is in any of degrees/s, or radians/s. The term refers to 360 degrees/circle or 2pi radians/circle. Note that the radian case reduces to V(angular) * r. Lets try one: Dave (after fixing the antenna) asks HAL to open the pod bay doors. While he waits for HAL to comply, he observes that he subtends 79.45 degrees of arc per second. 79.45 * 2 * 3.14 * 10 / 360 = 13.86 m/s - just like before. Hope this helps, feel free to send me email at davet@tsdiag.ccur.com if you have further questions. -- David E. Tiller davet@tsdiag.ccur.com | Concurrent Computer Corp. FAX: 201-870-5952 Ph: (201) 870-4119 (w) | 2 Crescent Place, M/S 117 UUCP: ucbvax!rutgers!petsd!tsdiag!davet | Oceanport NJ, 07757 ICBM: 40 16' 52" N 73 59' 00" W | N2KAU @ NN2Z ------------------------------ Date: 6 Dec 90 20:45:20 GMT From: usc!wuarchive!rex!rouge!dlbres10@ucsd.edu (Fraering Philip) Subject: Re: 10th planet? In article <1990Dec6.165931.836@zoo.toronto.edu> henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes: hs>The chances of a tenth outer planet are not too bad, although evidence for hs>it is slim to nonexistent. (A very careful reassessment of observations hs>of the orbit of Neptune by some folks at JPL concluded that there are no hs>unexplained perturbations.) Precise ranging of the Pioneers and Voyagers hs>have already put tight bounds on it, however: it has to be small, a long hs>way out, well away from the ecliptic, or some combination. There is more than one model for Planet X's orbit that shows it to be perpendicular to the ecliptic and as eccentric as Pluto's... Which means that sometimes it is interacting with the outer planets, and sometimes not. Phil Fraering dlbres10@pc.usl.edu ------------------------------ Date: 6 Dec 90 23:22:43 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: Astro-1 Status for 12/06/90 [1307 CST] (Forwarded) Astro 1 Mission Report #26 1:07 p.m. CST, December 6, 1990 4/12:17 MET Spacelab Mission Operations Control Marshall Space Flight Center "I'm not sure whether to smile from ear to ear or to cry," admitted William Blair, Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope assistant project scientist, as he related the latest results from the Astro mission during a press briefing this morning. He was referring to the elation experienced by the science teams during the night, when they were able to observe 100% of the celestial objects planned, and the disappointment they felt as failure of a second Data Display Unit (DDU) shut down ultraviolet operations at about 6:15 CST this morning. Mission Scientist Ted Gull reported on plans for recovering from the problem and "doing astronomy in the near term." Observing that each instrument team had practiced controlling their experiment from the ground during simulations, Gull said, "We know that it will be difficult, but we are going to try it so we can continue to do science for the remainder of the mission. Acquisition is going to be the difficulty, but we think we can do it with Johnson controlling the Instrument Pointing System, then in turn our controlling the instruments from the Marshall Space Flight Center. It certainly is going to be a close teamwork effort. Instead of one mission specialist and one payload specialist on the aft flight deck, there are going to be a lot of people in the loop, each having to do something in sequence to get the task accomplished." Gull explained that the process would be to operate each of the three ultraviolet telescopes in sequence, going from the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (with the largest field of view) to the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope. Then, using the Hopkins telescope's TV camera, controllers will attempt to center celestial objects in the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment's viewing slit. The scientist gave credit to the many pre-mission simulations for preparing the ground control team to respond to the challenge. Though the present scenario was not simulated, Gull said the many problems the teams worked through during the sims had "prepared and steeled" them. "There's no panic. People are willing to sit down and work the problem. It's really remarkable how well people are working under duress." Gull predicted that it would be more than 12 hours before the alternate procedure could be put into practice. In the meantime, priority is being given to observations by the Broad Band X-Ray Telescope. Since it is controlled remotely from the Goddard Space Flight Center, the X-ray instrument is not affected by the loss of the Spacelab Data Display Unit. In spite of the problems, Mary Jane Taylor of the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment team was obviously ecstatic as she reported on data received from the instrument overnight. When asked about the mood among the scientists this morning, she replied, "I would be lying if I said I wasn't frustrated, because I am frustrated, but not any of us thought that this was going to be error free. I think you have to keep in mind that we're doing something that has never been done before. We are getting some fantastic results, and we're going to learn a lot from it. And that to me is worth all the long hours we have put into this. We have a fantastic team, and I am sure that we are going to be back on track, and we're going to get a lot of science out of this mission!" ------------------------------ Date: 6 Dec 90 07:43:00 CST From: "86FTSCCQ" <86ftsccq@sacemnet.af.mil> Subject: Re: The Space Plane X-30 To: "space+" Actually the latest "public" X plane is the X-31 that flew last month. Although not as high flying and fast as the proposed NASP this one is real and does fly. Here is a copy of an article I got on the thing... sorry can't remember the source. ---- ---------------- X-31 MAKES FIRST SUCCESSFUL FLIGHT The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)/U. S. Navy X-31A Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability demonstrator aircraft today successfully completed its first flight. The X-31 took off from runway 07 at Rockwell International's Palmdale, Calif., facility at 12:36 p.m. (PDT). During the 38-minute flight, the X-31 accelerated to a speed of approximately 340 mils per hour and reached an altitude of 10,000 feet. The plane returned to Palmdale and will now undergo additional air worthiness tests and then begin to fully expand its operating envelope in subsequent lights, which are expected shortly. During the flight, the plane, flown by Rockwell chief test pilot Ken Dyson, exhibited the expected flying qualities and subsystem performance. The X-31's operating envelope includes controlled flight beyond the aircraft's aerodynamic lift limit ("high angles of attack"). This capability is achieved through a highly sophisticated digital flight control system that includes an integrated vectored thrust system using thrust vectoring paddles. The X-31 is intended to demonstrate whether it is possible to controllably exploit this high angle of attack flight regime and thus allow a fighter aircraft to achieve tighter, faster turns, which would be a definie tactical advantage during close in combat. After watching the first flight Lt. Col. John "Tack" Nix, the X-31 program manager at DARPA, stated that, "We really are anxious to expand the flight envelope and put the X-31 through its paces. This first flight repre- sents a triumph of trust and perseverance of the integrated Rockwell/MBB/U.S. Navy/German/DARPA team. The flight test phase will continue to require the very best efforts of all organizations involved to fully demonstrate the unique maneuvering potential contained in the two X-31 airframes." The X-31 is the first international experimental aircraft development program undertaken by the U.S. The U.S. contractor building the two demonstra- tor aircraft is Rockwell International; Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm (MBB) is the German contractor. The Naval Air Systems Command is DARPA's agent for the U.S. portion of theprogram and is providing both technical management and contract- ing support. -----------------end ------------------------------ Date: 6 Dec 90 23:03:53 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: Astro-1 Status for 12/06/90 [0140 CST] (Forwarded) Astro 1 Mission Report #24 01:40 a.m. CST, December 6, 1990 4/00:50 MET Spacelab Mission Operations Control Marshall Space Flight Center "The amount of science recorded on Astro-1 continues to grow, on this the beginning of the fourth day of the mission," said Stu Clifton, assistant mission manager. "Despite the fact that we often don't get as much time as we would like on targets, that time has been sufficient to precipitate a number of new and exciting scientific discoveries by the instruments. Target acquisitions by the Instrument Pointing System continue to improve, and the Astro scientists are very pleased with the data that they're getting." "This is the highlight of my career!" exclaimed Project Scientist Geoff Clayton with the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Telescope team. "We are getting some really great data that I have been waiting for all my life -- data that nobody has ever gotten before." "One of my personal interests is interstellar dust: no one has ever observed the polarization of interstellar dust in the ultraviolet before," said Clayton. "The data we're getting now disagrees with all previous predictions." Scientists don't know what interstellar dust is. Yet, they know it has a big effect on many physical processes in astromony. It is theorized that everything in the universe was inside another star previously and that interstellar dust, composed of rare heavier elements, is the birthplace of stars and the universe itself. Principle Investigator Arthur Code for the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Telescope agreed with Clayton: "The data we have gotten from the observations so far has been great! WUPPE is working with higher sensitivity and better than we expected it to. And I'm sure there are going to be fascinating things in the data. There may be just that one golden nugget there, the unexpected, and that can make it all worthwhile." As of 1:40 CST, all telescopes are working nominally. The Broad Band X-ray Telescope has aligned with the Two Axis Pointing System and the team has been getting good science from several primary targets. ------------------------------ Date: 7 Dec 90 00:56:36 GMT From: usc!samsung!noose.ecn.purdue.edu!mentor.cc.purdue.edu!xxc@ucsd.edu (Raymond Seibert) Subject: Black Holes Ok, the space shuttle is on the search for black holes which brings up one of my oldest questions. According to what I know about the current theory about them, they begin as regular supergiant stars, then collapse in on themselves. Here is what I don't understand, it then procedes to turn inside out, leaving a void in the center. Now let me tell my version of the story. It keeps collapsing until it can collapse no more -- possibly forming a donut(sp?) shape?. It can still behave as the above theory's black hole does, but matter keeps sticking onto the top of the existing matter. Now according to this theory, the black hole should at some point consume enough matter to make it unstable. This in turn would cause all the compressed matter to be spewed out in a tremendous explosion. Of course I have no mathematics to back it up, but I think it is conceptually possible. Believe me; its better than that 4D crap that they try to pull on us. Maybe Henry can help me out on this one. Ray xxc@mentor.cc.purdue.edu ------------------------------ Date: 6 Dec 90 23:11:43 GMT From: ncis.tis.llnl.gov!blackbird!tkelso@lll-winken.llnl.gov (Thomas S. Kelso) Subject: NASA Prediction Bulletins: Space Shuttle The most current orbital elements from the NASA Prediction Bulletins are carried on the Celestial BBS, (513) 427-0674, and are updated several times weekly. Documentation and tracking software are also available on this system. As a service to the satellite user community, the most current elements for the current shuttle mission are provided below. The Celestial BBS may be accessed 24 hours/day at 300, 1200, or 2400 baud using 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity. STS 35 1 20980U 90106 A 90339.82599023 .00040222 00000-0 28567-3 0 113 2 20980 28.4666 339.3089 0010614 329.2583 30.7294 15.72332324 560 -- Dr TS Kelso Assistant Professor of Space Operations tkelso@blackbird.afit.af.mil Air Force Institute of Technology ------------------------------ Date: 6 Dec 90 22:56:39 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: NASA Headline News for 12/06/90 (Forwarded) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 6 Dec 90 10:53:55 PST From: ames!daemon Headline News Internal Communications Branch (P-2) NASA Headquarters Thursday, December 6, 1990 Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788 This is NASA Headline News for Thursday, December 6, 1990 At 7:15 am Eastern time, following a period of excellent science gathering, in which nearly 100 percent of target acquisitions resulted in science data, the Columbia crew reported that the second of two Dedicated Display System computer terminal units, used in operating the Astro-1 ultraviolet telescopes, had turned itself off. The depowering was accompanied by an overheated smell, but no smoke was evident. The No. 1 DDS underwent a similar power-down, nine hours into the Astro-1 mission. Ground controllers will attempt to restart the No. 1 DDS, though Flight Director Bob Castle reported he was not optimistic about the chances. Later crew inspection of DDS unit No. 1 indicated that its cooling ducts had a considerable amount of dust or lint blockage, but no visible evidence was found of overheating. Controllers are also preparing to operate the Astro-1 science gathering activities from the Payload Operations Control Center at Marshall Space Flight Center and Johnson Space Center, should it become necessary. Under this plan, the ultraviolet telescope activities would be controlled from Marshall, while the Instrument Pointing System would be operated from Johnson, with the flight crew manually fine-pointing the telescopes with the on-board joystick. The Broad Band X- ray Telescope operates independently of the DDS units, and remains basically unaffected by their malfunctions. In light of the DDS shutdown, Columbia's flight crew and NASA medical officers at the Johnson Space Center have been monitoring the carbon monoxide levels aboard Columbia and have found them to be within safe levels. As a precautionary measure, Shuttle Commander Vance Brand installed a special CO cleansing cannister in the Shuttle's air system. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Plans are underway to conduct a "Space Classroom" from Columbia, tomorrow morning. The effort is a new educational program designed to involve students and teachers in Space Shuttle Science missions and encourage their interest in math, science and technology. The lesson, "Assignment: The Stars," will be taught by Astro-1 astronaut astronomers aboard Columbia, and will focus on the electromagnetic spectrum and its relation to the Astro-1 mission. Students in classrooms at Marshall and Goddard Space Flight Centers will pose questions to the astronaut scientists, and will participate in additional discussion, workshops and laboratory sessions. The 15-to-20 minute presentation from Columbia is scheduled to be broadcast on NASA Select television at 9:49 Eastern time, Friday morning. Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select TV. All times are Eastern. **indicates a live program. Thursday, 12/6/90 Mission coverage of the STS-35/Astro-1 flight will continue live throughtout the week ... 12:24 pm Flight deck activities from Columbia 1:47 pm Science TV from Astro-1 3:30 pm "Today in Space", Dr. Frank Six from MSFC 4:35 pm Science TV from Astro-1 5:00 pm Change of shift Flight Director Briefing from JSC 6:00 pm Mission Manager Briefing from MSFC 7:38 pm Science TV from Astro-1 9:04 pm Middeck activities (SAREX) from Columbia 10:36 pm Science TV from Astro-1 Friday, 12/7/90 12:39 am Flight deck activities from Columbia 1:00 am Change of shift Flight Director Briefing from JSC 5:04 am Science TV from Astro-1 8:30 am Science TV from Astro-1 9:22 am Science TV from Astro-1 9:49 am Space Classroom on-orbit lesson from Columbia 10:18 am Space Classroom ground-based Lesson from MSFC 10:49 am Space Classroom Q&A with MSFC/GSFC classrooms 11:43 am Science TV from Astro-1 12 noon Mission Science Briefing form MSFC 3:30 pm "Today in Space'' with Dr. Frank Six from MSFC 5:00 pm Change of shift Flight Director Briefing from JSC 5:07 pm Science TV from Astro-1 5:57 pm Science TV from Astro-1 6:00 pm Mission Manager Breifing from MSFC All events and times may change without notice. This report is filed daily, Monday through Friday, at 12:00 pm, EST. It is a service of Internal Communications Branch at NASA Headquarters. Contact: CREDMOND on NASAmail or at 202/453-8425. NASA Select TV: Satcom F2R, Transponder 13, C-Band, 72 degrees West Longitude, Audio 6.8, Frequency 3960 MHz. ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V12 #646 *******************