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, 3 Jan 1991 19:50:09 -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, 3 Jan 1991 19:49:29 -0500 (EST) Subject: SPACE Digest V12 #722 SPACE Digest Volume 12 : Issue 722 Today's Topics: Re: Interstellar travel NASA Headline News for 12/26/90 (Forwarded) Magellan Update #2 - 12/14/90 NASA selects projects for commercial use of remote sensing (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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 0;andrew.cmu.edu;Network-Mail Date: 27 Dec 90 01:52:37 GMT From: prometheus!pmk@mimsy.umd.edu (Paul M. Koloc) Organization: Prometheus II, Ltd. Subject: Re: Interstellar travel References: <1707@ke4zv.UUCP>, <3039@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>, <18218@thorin.cs.unc.edu> Sender: space-request@andrew.cmu.edu To: space@andrew.cmu.edu In article <18218@thorin.cs.unc.edu> leech@homer.cs.unc.edu (Jonathan Leech) writes: >In article <3039@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>, f3w@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Mark >Gellis) writes: >|>on Earth? By the way, what would be involved in an anti-matter >|>mass production facility, one large enough to provide a large >|>civilization with fuel for all its spacecraft? > "Mirror Matter: Pioneering Antimatter Physics", Robert Forward >and Joel Davis, Wiley, 1988. Several problems come to mind. Since anti-proton production is not efficient, a sizably larger amount of energy will go into the production of anti-protons, then would be in found in the recoverable energy stored in the antiprotons. Anuetronic Fusion would be a good power source to provide that production energy. Space environment is difficult because it is NOT safe; it provides no shielding other then the small inverse square law loss. Star voyages would require mega fuel amounts, so I would suggest the outer Oort, for the fuel factories and the docking for fusion planetary shuttle exchanges with intersteller antimatter driven star ships. Mirrors (the magnetic confinement scheme) are notoriously "leaky", can't be loaded very much, and would require the constant maintanence of super conducting magnets of extraordinary size to hold the inventory. DoE dropped the "mirror" approach to fusion (and fusion confinement requires much less critical technology performance than "anti-proton" confinement). Their mothballed mirror machine, was HUGE, but would hold a anything like a gram of antiprotons. Besides: antimatter ABOVE nucleii charge two (He and up ) is unstable; but, earthlings may not know that yet. :-) Otherwise, we could suspend rings anti-(superconducting)-neobium/tin and have much greater compactness of fuel (mass=energy) storage. So why be fanciful when we can get real with fusion? PLASMAK(tm) Aneutronic fusion that is. Exploring and bio-developing the planetary system should take some time, and during that time we can learn a little hyper-physics and figure something to get us up and beyond the grasp of this confining stellar system. In other words, let's crawl while we still can't walk. Still, day dreams can be valuable. +---------------------------------------------------------+**********+ | +Commercial* | Paul M. Koloc, President (301) 445-1075 ***FUSION*** | Prometheus II, Ltd.; College Park, MD 20740-0222 ***in the*** | mimsy!prometheus!pmk; pmk@prometheus.UUCP **Nineties** +---------------------------------------------------------************ ------------------------------ Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 0;andrew.cmu.edu;Network-Mail Date: 28 Dec 90 01:20:49 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA Subject: NASA Headline News for 12/26/90 (Forwarded) Sender: space-request@andrew.cmu.edu To: space@andrew.cmu.edu Headline News Internal Communications Branch (P-2) NASA Headquarters Wednesday, December 26, 1990 Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788 This is NASA Headline News for Wednesday, December 26, 1990 Activities at the various NASA research and space centers are at a minimum this week as Agency employees continue to observe the holidays. Defense mission aboard Discovery, now scheduled for March, 1991. Atlantis is in the Orbiter Processing Facility still undergoing turnaround servicing and Columbia was towed to the Vehicle Assembly Building late last week. Columbia will remain in the VAB until Discovery is rolled out to the launch pad, at which time Columbia will be moved to the OPF bay vacated by Discovery. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Integrated System Preliminary Design Review for the Freedom space station was completed this week, on schedule. During the past 13 months, over 80 separate design reviews were conducted at NASA centers and contractor facilities. Although the current restructure assessment, begun in November, will impact Freedom's design, space station managers are confident that the Preliminary Design Review has laid a solid foundation from which to begin the reassessment. Freedom's next milestone comes this Spring when a review of the space station configuration at each of its assembly stages will begin. By that time, the restructure assessment is expected to be complete and any resulting design changes can be incorporated into the assembly configuration review. Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select TV. All times are Eastern. **indicates a live program. THERE IS CURRENTLY NO SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING ON SELECT TV. 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. ------------------------------ Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 0;andrew.cmu.edu;Network-Mail Date: 20 Dec 90 17:14:19 GMT From: swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@ucsd.edu (Ron Baalke) Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. Subject: Magellan Update #2 - 12/14/90 Sender: space-request@andrew.cmu.edu To: space@andrew.cmu.edu MAGELLAN STATUS REPORT RESULTS OF JPL-MARTIN-ODETICS TAPE RECORDER MEETING December 14, 1990 The Magellan spacecraft recorder is similiar to over 60 machines flown on weather and other satellites, many of which have as much or larger usage rates. The Magellan problem, which is data pattern dependent, appears to be unique. It is manifested by a slip in clock sync during playback which results in bit slips and flips until sync is reestablished. The sync slip is involved with the code/decode process and is due to either wave form distortion or noise interference in the detection of data transitions. The exact cause is not known at this time. Currently, there is no model which can explain the progressively worsening error rate on first track 2, then track 4, and now, tracks 1 and 3 of tape recorder A. Problems experienced on Hubble and Galileo recorders do not appear to be relevant to the Magellan problems. Areas which do NOT appear to be likely sources of the problem: o Encoding, decoding, bias driver de-jitter buffer, and reproduce equalization circuitry which are common to all tracks. o Tape drive servo mechanism. o Heads being worn. o Damaged or shedding tape. o Loss of the DC erase head coarse winding. o A magnetic record anomaly. The Magellan problem may have been caused by the launch environment, since the problem was observed on the engineering data at low rate, immediately after launch. Also, the VOI (Venus Orbit Insertion) burn may have been the cause of a temporary improvement in the low rate performance observed immediately after VOI. The malfunctioning recorder A was the proto-flight unit and experienced more severe vibration tests than recorder B. The tape on recorder B is from a different tape batch than used on recorder A. However, the tape on recorder A has a very good usage heritage. There is no evidence of a tape problem. Starting with the test plan proposed by Odetics, a joint JPL-MMC-Odetics team will finalize a test plan including tests on the spacecraft and ground tests using the flight spare. Flight tests will be carefully scrutinized as to their value as they will most likely result in some loss of mapping data. There is no concern at this time in continuing to use recorder B for mapping. The single tape recorder strategy remains scheduled to start on December 22. ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| | | | | __ \ /| | | | Ron Baalke | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov ___| | | | |__) |/ | | |___ Jet Propulsion Lab | baalke@jems.jpl.nasa.gov /___| | | | ___/ | |/__ /| M/S 301-355 | |_____|/ |_|/ |_____|/ Pasadena, CA 91109 | ------------------------------ Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 0;andrew.cmu.edu;Network-Mail Date: 21 Dec 90 18:53:22 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA Subject: NASA selects projects for commercial use of remote sensing (Forwarded) Sender: space-request@andrew.cmu.edu To: space@andrew.cmu.edu Barbara Selby Headquarters, Washington, D.C. December 20, 1990 (Phone: 703/557-5609) Myron Webb Stennis Space Center, Miss. (Phone: 601/688-3341) RELEASE: 90-164 NASA SELECTS PROJECTS FOR COMMERCIAL USE OF REMOTE SENSING NASA today announced the selection of 12 research projects to develop new private sector applications of space-based and airborne remote sensing technologies. Funding for the Earth Observations Commercialization Applications Program (EOCAP) projects represents a continuation of a program aimed at increasing broader use of NASA-developed technology for gathering and analyzing valuable information about Earth and ocean resources through remote satellite or aircraft observations. The program, sponsored by NASA's Office of Commercial Programs (OCP), will fund over $2 million of research annually. Investigator teams are required to provide substantial co-funding of proposed research as a contribution to the project. Projects funded under the program will identify and research new commercial products and services that might be developed from use of existing technology and explore ways of improving and expanding the uses of remote sensing by commercial ventures. The first solicitation for EOCAP was issued in late l987. Of the more that 120 proposals received and evaluated, 20 projects were selected and funded over a 3-year period with $12 million from OCP and the Office of Space Science and Applications. The second solicitation for proposals was issued in June l990. A total of 50 proposals were received and reviewed prior to today's selection announcement. Projects will be managed by OCP through the Science and Technology Laboratory at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The 12 projects selected for negotiation leading to 1-year funding contracts, with options to extend funding for an additional 2 years, will be procured in two phases expected to begin in March l99l, with the second phase as early as July l99l. Phase I projects are: o Hazardous Waste Detection: A Pilot Remote Sensing Assisted Environmental Audit, proposed by investigators affiliated with Earthscan, Inc., Austin, Texas. o Improved Urban Infrastructure Mapping for Market Forecasting using Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems Technology, proposed by investigators affiliated with BellSouth Services, Inc., Birmingham, Ala.; University of South Carolina, Columbia; and NASA John C. Stennis Space Center, Miss. o Development and Marketing of Land Use and Cover Change Analysis System (LUCAS), proposed by investigators affiliated with Pacific Meridan Resources, Emeryville, Calif.; USDA Forest Service, Portland, Ore.; and Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, Salem. o Integrated Software System for Analyzing Remote Sensed Data, proposed by investigators affiliated with Statistical Sciences, Inc., Seattle; University of Washington, Seattle; and Hewlett-Packard, Denver. o Application of Remote Sensing Technology for Real Time Disaster Assessment, proposed by investigators affiliated with Terra-Mar Resource Information Services, Mountain View, Calif.; Teale Data Center, Sacramento, Calif.; NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif.; Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forest Fire Laboratory, Riverside, Calif.; Hewlett Packard Co., Fort Collins, Colo.; Visual Information Technologies, Inc., Plano, Texas; and ESL, Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif. o Use of Satellite Derived Estimates of Precipitation and Evapotransporation to Enhance Hydrologic Forecasting, proposed by investigators affiliated with The Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, Calif.; C.F. Haines, Hydrologistics, Inc., Northport, Ala.; NASA Stennis Space Center; Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, Camp Springs, Md.; and Alabama Power Co., Birmingham. o Demonstrate and Market Oil Seep Surveys, proposed by investigators affiliated with Earth Satellite Corp., Rockville, Md.; Chevron Overseas Petroleum, Inc., San Ramon, Calif.; Marathon Oil Co., Houston; Arco Oil and Gas Co., Plano, Texas; Geosat Committee, Norman, Okla.; and Central Trading System, West Islip, N.Y. Phase II Projects are: o GeoStack Database for Geographic Information Systems, proposed by investigators affiliated with ST Systems Corp., Lanham, Md.; University of Florida, Gainesville; Stennis Space Center, Science and Technology Laboratory; Chevron Overseas Petroleum, Inc., San Ramon, Calif.; and Weyerhaeuser Co., Tacoma, Wash. o Pipeline Infrastructure Monitoring and Management, proposed by investigators affiliated with James W. Sewall Company, Old Town, Maine; Algonquin Gas Transmission Co., Boston, Mass.; NASA Stennis Space Center, Science and Technology Laboratory; Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co. Houston; Texas; Eastern Gas Pipeline Co. and Trunkline Gas Co., Houston. o Marketing Remote Sensing Data for North Pacific Fisheries Development and Management, proposed by investigators affiliated with Natural Resources Consultants, Inc., Seattle; Western Resources Analysis, Wenatchee, Wash.; Pacific Remote Sensing Alliance, Bothell, Wash.; NASA Ames Research Center; Department of the Navy, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif.; University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska; Alaska Factory Trawler Associations, Seattle; North Pacific Fishing Vessel Owners' Association, Seattle; University of Washington, Seattle; U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Law Enforcement Division, Seattle; Washington Sea Grant Program, Seattle; University of New Mexico, Technology Application Center, Albuquerque; and RSMAS/University of Miami, Fla. o Satellite Remote Sensing for Agricultural Production Management, proposed by investigators affiliated with Cropix, Inc., Hermiston, Ore.; NASA Ames Research Center; Oregon State University, Corvallis; IRZ Consulting, Hermiston, Ore.; Eagle Ranch, Echo, Ore.; L & L Farms, Echo, Ore. o Wetlands Information Services, proposed by investigators affiliated with Applied Analysis Incorporated, Billerica, Mass.; and Clemson University, Clemson, S.C. ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V12 #722 *******************