Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 7997;andrew.cmu.edu;Ted Anderson Received: from hogtown.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, 21 Feb 91 02:27:44 -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, 21 Feb 91 02:27:38 -0500 (EST) Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #183 SPACE Digest Volume 13 : Issue 183 Today's Topics: NASA Inventor of the Year announced (Forwarded) Goddard announces contract termination (Forwarded) Space Profits ESA announces publication of Hipparcos Input Catalogue Mars Mystery? -clarification & dilemma Administrivia: Submissions to the SPACE Digest/sci.space should be mailed to space+@andrew.cmu.edu. Other mail, esp. [un]subscription requests, should be sent to space-request+@andrew.cmu.edu, or, if urgent, to tm2b+@andrew.cmu.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 19 Feb 91 04:25:42 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: NASA Inventor of the Year announced (Forwarded) Kelly O. Humphries Jonhson Space Center, Houston February 14, 1991 (Phone: 703/483-5111) RELEASE: 91-26 NASA INVENTOR OF THE YEAR ANNOUNCED Johnson Space CenterUs Leo Monford, NASA's Inventor of the Year, is determined to make the Space Shuttle's robot arm even more useful than it is, and his inventions could revolutionize orbital docking and robotics use. The invention that earned him the award is a "Docking Alignment System, Monford calls it the Targeting and Reflective Alignment Concept, or TRAC. By itself, the new precision alignment system is a significant improvement. But used in concert with another of Monford's inventions, a Magnetic End Effector, it could change the shape of future robot arms, satellites and space stations. Monford, who works in the New Initiatives Office's Space Servicing Systems Project Office, is the first JSC employee to receive the Inventor of the Year award since its inception in 1980. The award will be presented March 28 at a NASA Headquarters ceremony, according to NASA General Counsel Edward Frankle, who announced Monford's selection Feb. 5. "My job is to come up with innovative thoughts and technologies and stimulate others into producing those products," Monford said. "I honestly can't think of an award I would desire more than this one." TRAC utilizes a television camera mounted inside the arm's end effector and a monitor on the Shuttle's aft flight deck, both with alignment marks and a flat, mirrored target marked with cross hairs on the target object. It has been tested extensively at the manipulator development facility and is able to routinely insert square pegs into square holes with only 0.03 of an inch clearance. Here's how it works. An astronaut operating the remote manipulator system from the aft flight deck moves the arm to within range of the fixed-focus television camera inside the arm. The operator makes translational corrections with the arm until the cross hairs on the target and the monitor line up. Then, the operator uses rotational controls until the camera is able to see its own image. Since the camera can see only directly in front of itself, it will not see its own image until the end effector and the target are perpendicular to each other. When the camera can see itself and the cross hairs are lined up, alignment is complete. "It's like looking through a rifle scope," Monford said. "Once you understand the idea of aligning the cross hairs, it just comes naturally to you." The existing alignment system uses a target with a protruding post. The main advantage of Monford's system is that the target is flat. Many proposed space operations for the Shuttle's arm or a space station arm involve stacking and unstacking objects for construction purposes. "When you try to make things stack up, a protruding target gets in the way," Monford said. The beautiful thing about the TRAC system, he added, is that it works perfectly with the operator's hand controllers, which maneuver the arm through separate rotational and translational controls. The first practical application of TRAC will be on STS-37, as a part of Development Test Objective 1205, "TRAC Application for RMS Alignment/Deflection Measurements." TRAC will be used to provide precise data on the amount of "play" in the remote manipulator system when a space walking astronaut applies force to the oustretched arm. The targeting system will gather data that would be difficult or impossible to gather otherwise. Monford said researchers at Texas A&M, his alma mater, are working on automating TRAC. Instead of cross hairs, the automat system uses corner cubes on the target that reflect light back only in the direction of its origin, similar to bicycle reflectors and a light-emitting diode on the camera lens. A computer lines up the flood-lit corner cubes to determine when the arm is perpendicular to its target. When the camera can see the reflection of the LED on its lens, the computer will know the alignment is exact. "It's really a generic concept. It has very broad application," he said, explaining that it can provide a precise reference point for intelligent robots that need to perform exacting tasks on three-dimensional surfaces. Put the TRAC system together with Monford's Magnetic End Effector, patent pending, and the possibilities grow. The MEE is a potential replacement for the Standard End Effector, which grapples payloads through electro-mechanical means, using cables to snare a protruding grapple fixture. The MEE, with no moving parts, uses electro-magnetic force to "clomp onto" a plate made of ferrous metal attached to the payload. The metal plate shares the advantage of flatness with the alignment target, and the MEE's centerline camera would allow the docking plate to double as the target plate for the TRAC system. Monford's smaller, lighter MEE is two-fault tolerant both in grappling and releasing payloads and requires no regularly scheduled maintenance or pyrotechnic safety release devices. Proposed MEEs would give different sized arms the capability to grapple common target plates, add the ability to transfer both power and data to payloads and provide a method of attaching a variety of power tools that could help alleviate the need for some extravehicular activity space walks by astronauts. "I think in the space station era, this type of an end effector will be baselined," Monford said. The TRAC, MEE, a JPL Force Torque Sensor that provides a representation of forces and moment on the arm, and a Carrier Latch Assembly that uses electromagnetic force to help hold satellites in the payload bay, are scheduled to fly as part of the Dexterous End Effector Flight Demonstration on STS-58. "I'm looking forward to some other exciting flight experiments that would leapfrog from this one." ------------------------------ Date: 19 Feb 91 04:31:35 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: Goddard announces contract termination (Forwarded) Mark Hess HQ, Washington, D.C. February 15, 1991 (Phone: 202/453-4164) John J. Loughlin II Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (Phone: 301/286-5565) Release No. 91-27 GODDARD ANNOUNCES CONTRACT TERMINATION Officials at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., have announced the termination of the contract held by the General Electric Company, Astro-Space Division, Princeton, N. J., for the design, development and test of the Attached Payload Accommodation Equipment (APAE) element of Space Station Freedom. The contract, valued at approximately $555 million, was signed in 1987. The APAE was deferred indefinitely from the space station during the early phases of a Congressionally-mandated 90-day restructuring review of the Freedom program. Goddard officials termed the termination for the convenience of the government. ------------------------------ ReSent-Message-ID: Resent-Date: Wed, 20 Feb 91 15:26:49 EST Resent-From: Harold Pritchett Resent-To: Space discussion group Date: Wed, 20 Feb 91 00:50 CDT From: Subject: Space Profits Original_To: BITNET%"space@finhutc" There seems to to be a lot of discussion on the list about the profitability of space. Most of this discussion revolves around current payloads (e.g. satelites, experiments, military etc.). It seems to me that the ultimate profitability of space will be determined by what space allows us to produce and carry back to earth. I am not knowledgeable in these areas and would like to encourage an open discussion about just what we might produce in space and how we will be able to transport it back to earth in quantities sufficient to support profit and investment. In particular, I am interested in material manufacturing in space, and what might be mined on the moon or Mars. What types of useful/rare materials mightbe/have been found on these worlds, how do we retreive them, should we retrieve them, and is it practical to bring them back to earth. Of course there is a whole list of side issues that go along with each one of these questions and I think that these are all fodder for the discussion. For the time being, however, I would like to start by getting some basic questions answered. First, what manufacturing processes will gain an advantage by being performed in space as oppossed to earth-based production? Second, what resources are known to exist on the moon, or Mars, that would have a viable market back on Earth? I am looking forward to reading your ideas and opinions. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tim McCollum (TPM4017@PANAM) | Technology coupled with skill | Cognitive Scientist | may someday make us all wizards...| University of Texas - Pan American | - or extortionists. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: 19 Feb 91 09:25:59 GMT From: mcsun!hp4nl!phigate!philtis!munk@uunet.uu.net (Harm Munk) Subject: ESA announces publication of Hipparcos Input Catalogue In the last issue of the ESA-Journal, a leaflet was inserted with the following text. Please forward all further inquiries to Dr. C. Turon, MESIOA::TURON (SPAN), or TURON@FRMEU51 (EARN) (see also end of article), NOT to the poster of this article. ================================================================= Pre-Publication Announcement THE HIPPARCOS INPUT CATALOGUE a catalogue of 118 000 star positions and associated astronomical data will be published by ESA on behalf of the INCA Consortium in Spring 1991 This notice gives details of this important star catalogue, and an opportunity to order printed copies, for individual or institutional use, at a pre-publication price ------------------------------------------------------------- The Hipparcos Input Catalogue has been compiled, over the period 1982-1990, as the definitive observational catalogue for the European Space Agency's Hipparcos astrometry satellite, which was launched on 8 August 1989.. The Catalogue's compilation has been carried out by an international astronomical team, the INCA Consortium, endorsed by ESA, and led by dr. Catherine Turon of the Observatoire de Paris, France. The Input Catalogue contains the most up-to-date information on all stars to be observed by Hipparcos. As a source of stellar astronomical data, its completeness and accuracy are of unprecedented quality. It will be a valuable reference for research activities to be undertaken with the final Hipparcos astrometric data. The Input Catalogue will be available in printed form, on magnetic tape through the Strasbourg Stellar Data Centre, and probably also on CD-ROM. The printed version will comprise approximately 2500 tabulated pages, and is being published by ESA on behalf of the INCA Consortium. Stellar Content: the Catalogue contains data on each star included for observation by the Hipparcos satellite. The star list comprises about 55 000 stars brighter than, and essentially complete to, between V=7.3 and 9 mag (dependent on galactic latitude and colour index), with a roughly uniform sky distribution. A further 60 000 stars, selected on the basis of their astrometric and astrophysical interest, lie between this completeness limit and the satellite observability limit of about V=12.4 mag. The stars selected for inclusion in the Hipparcos observing programme, and therefore contained in the Hipparcos Input Catalogue, were selected on the basis of more than 200 scientific proposals submitted to ESA in 1982, ranked and supplemented by a peer scientific selection committee, takin into account the observing capabilities of the satellite. Data content: the Input Catalogue does _NOT_ contain data derived from the Hipparcos satellite observations (these data will only be available at the end of the data analysis phase, probably around 1995). It comprises the best-available ground based astronomical data for each programme star, verified and reduced to homogeneous systems, as measured or compiled by the INCA Consortium.It includes the following information, when available (including, where appropriate, formal errors and sources of the data), and ordered by right ascension: Hipparcos Input Catalogue (HIC) running number Cross-identification to HD, DM, FK5, AGK3, and SAO catalogues* Position for equinoxes J2000 & B1950* Proper motion* Parallax Radial velocity Magnitudes (B, V and 'Hipparcos')* Spectral type and luminosity class Variability information* Multiplicity information* (including an Annex containing more detailed information Proper motion and cluster identifiers* A supplementary "Atlas" of finding charts for approximately 10 000 fainter stars* * indicates that the entries include newly-observed, measured, or compiled data. The Input Catalogue amounts to five printed volumes. A sixth volume contains finding charts for approximately 10 000 fainter stars. Orders for the Printed Version of the Hipparcos Input Catalogue The Catalogue will be published as ESA SP-1136 in april 1991. Orders received before 31 March will be accepted at a special pre-publication price. Orders for the printed version of the Hipparcos Input Catalogue should be made on a special order form (or photocopies of the form). The form must be accompanied by a cheque, or an international banker's draft, or proof of a bank transfer, for the appropriate amount in Dutch guilders, made payable to"ESA Publications Division", as follows: - Individuals certifying that the Catalogue is for private use: for orders received before 31 March 1991: 120 Dfl, for orders received after 1 April 1991: 180 Dfl - Libraries, observatories and other institutes: for orders received before 31 March 1991: 360 Dfl, for orders received after 1 April 1991: 540 Dfl (The prices include postage: outside Europe, delivery will be made by surface mail) Further information (and further copies of the order form) can be obtained from: Dr. C. Turon, Tel: (33) 1 4507 7837 INCA Consortium Leader MESIOA::TURON (SPAN) Observatoire de Paris, TURON@FRMEU51 (EARN) Section d'Astrophysique, F-92195 Meudon Cedex, France. ============================================================== ------------------------------ ReSent-Message-ID: Resent-Date: Wed, 20 Feb 91 16:08:09 EST Resent-From: Harold Pritchett Resent-To: Space discussion group Date: Wed, 20 Feb 91 14:46 CDT From: Subject: Mars Mystery? -clarification & dilemma Original_To: BITNET%"space@finhutc" I apologize for not making my self clearer in my first message. I do not think a photo from Mars or any other place is strong evidence for extra-terrestrial intelligence! The thing that caught my ear about this particular structure were the claims made by the author that this structure maintained its integrity no matter which angle it was photographed from (same with the martian pyramid). Based upon several replies to the first question, this claim seems unfounded, because as far as I know only two photos have ever been taken of it, and the author only had one photo to support his claims. I had simply never heard of this structure before and was curious if it even existed. For, those of you who offered to post the image to the net, I would like to have a copy of the image if you wish to take the time & trouble to post it or send it to me. As a space activist, however, I think these types of hype jobs raise an interesting dilemma. With funding for space development so tight, and given the power of such psuedo-issues to capture the public imagination, is it really in our best interest to off-handedly discard such claims? Personally, I do not want to spend millions or billions of dollars to chase what any knowledgeable person knows is a red herring. However, is this structure in proximity to areas that are potential areas of development? Are the processes that created this structure unique enough that closer study may provide significant insight to the geophysical evolution of Mars, Earth, or the Solar system? The fact is that such things capture the publics attention and if we can answer meaningful questions by visiting such areas then why not use it to build public interest. Don't get me wrong here, I am not advocating lying in order to get funding. In fact, I think we should let people know that the best guesses are that the face is just a creation of lighting and natural processes, but, at the same time, we should also foster the idea that we don't have all the answers yet, and that the only way to get them is by further exploration of the planet. If we want space to become self-supporting in a free market economy then we have to promote the field. One source, and hopefully the primary source, of promotion should be the industrial, scientific, and technological contributions that space development will ultimately make to our lives. However, humans do not live by rationality & logic alone. They need to have some light fun which such anomalies can provide. Further, the power of such fun to motivate spending should not be underestimated. Also the educational benefits of discussing how such odditites are interpreted certainly have a place in the classrooms, and TVs, of a society that is getting more and more technically illiterate. What do you folks think? Tim McCollum (tpm4017@panam) Cognitive Scientist University of Texas - Pan American ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V13 #183 *******************