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 ; Sun, 24 Feb 91 01:49:48 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: Precedence: junk Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Sun, 24 Feb 91 01:49:45 -0500 (EST) Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #197 SPACE Digest Volume 13 : Issue 197 Today's Topics: Re: Commercially-funded Space Probes (was Re: Space Profits) Magellan Maps Aphrodite Terra Galileo Update - 02/22/91 Re: Commercially-funded Space Probes (was Re: Space Profits) Pioneer 10 Update - 02/22/91 Re: Pioneer 10 Update - 02/22/91 SPACE Digest V13 #188 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: 23 Feb 91 23:27:20 GMT From: csus.edu!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utzoo!henry@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: Commercially-funded Space Probes (was Re: Space Profits) In article <{6`&T0@rpi.edu> jimcat@itsgw.rpi.edu (Jim Kasprzak) writes: >>[Moon Treaty] It's effectively dead. All glory to the >>late, lamented L5 Society, which singlehandedly killed it, saving space for >>free men and thereby earning the undying hatred of the US State Department. > > What did the State Department have against this? I'd think that the >US government would be glad to see the death of such a treaty... The State Department had been heavily involved in negotiating the treaty and wanted to see it ratified. Their rationale was roughly that the treaty was harmless and the show of cooperation would make the Third World happy. Idiots. -- "Read the OSI protocol specifications? | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology I can't even *lift* them!" | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry ------------------------------ Date: 23 Feb 91 03:48:12 GMT From: europa.asd.contel.com!issm!wlbr!mahendo!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@uunet.uu.net (Ron Baalke) Subject: Magellan Maps Aphrodite Terra MAGELLAN COMPLETES MAPPING OF VENUS HIGHLAND REGION At least four competing theories about the nature of Aphrodite Terra, a continent-sized highland on Venus, are being tested by new Magellan data, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., said Thursday. The Magellan spacecraft, which began imaging the surface of the planet last September 15, has mapped more than 58 percent of Venus. Aphrodite Terra, the largest of the highland regions on Venus, extends nearly two-thirds of the way around the planet. Magellan has completed mapping of the region, but the process of producing image mosaics lags behind actual data acquisition, said Project Scientist Dr. Steve Saunders. Still, scientists have been able to study radar images of the western portion of Aphrodite, called Ovda Regio. Earlier data produced by the Pioneer Venus Radar Mapper indicated that the regional topography may be similar to Earth's continents, Saunders said. The various theories are based on the Pioneer data and other earlier radar imagery, as well as topography and gravity data. "All of the leading proponents of competing ideas for the nature of Venusian continents are part of the Magellan science team and this leads to lively debates during the science analysis meetings," he said. The first hypothesis is the "ancient continent" model which holds that Aphrodite formed from lighter rock that crystallized early and literally floated on the dense mantle of Venus. There are similar formations on Earth and on the moon. A second theory is called the "spreading ridge" model. This compares the topography of Aphrodite to that of mid-ocean ridges on Earth where new crust is being formed as the continents drift apart. Another hypothesis advocates the "hot spot" model which says the equatorial highlands were pushed up by hot spots similar to the ones that lie beneath the island of Hawaii. Hot spots are regions of mantle that tend to rise, producing broad domes frequently resulting in huge volcanoes. The fourth hypothesis is that western Aphrodite is a region of "mantle downwelling." That means a downwelling plume of colder, more dense mantle material causes the surface crust to compress and thicken. The thicker region stands higher than the surroundings. "The study of Aphrodite will be extremely important for understanding the origin of continental regions of Venus," Saunders said, "and may help us better understand our own planet." Referring to the predicted models for the formation of Aphrodite, he added, "Someone should have predicted that none of the early hypotheses would be easily confirmed. Nature, once again, demonstrates that she is far more imaginative than we, and has provided a surface full of surprises." Magellan's primary mission cycle of 243 days, one Venus rotation, ends May 15, at which time more than 80 percent of the surface will have been mapped. JPL manages the Magellan mission for NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications. ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| Ron Baalke | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov | | | | __ \ /| | | | Jet Propulsion Lab | Is it mind over matter, ___| | | | |__) |/ | | |___ M/S 301-355 | or matter over mind? /___| | | | ___/ | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | Never mind. |_____|/ |_|/ |_____|/ | It doesn't matter. ------------------------------ Date: 23 Feb 91 04:09:34 GMT From: europa.asd.contel.com!issm!wlbr!mahendo!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@uunet.uu.net (Ron Baalke) Subject: Galileo Update - 02/22/91 GALILEO STATUS REPORT February 22, 1991 As of noon (PST) Thursday, February 21, 1991, the Galileo spacecraft is 32,250,780 miles from the Earth and was traveling at a heliocentric speed of 76,670 miles per hour; distance to the Sun is 95,124,290 miles (1.04 AU). Round trip light time is 5 minutes, 44 seconds. A NO-OP command was successfully sent on February 18 to reset the Command Loss Timer to 240 hours, its planned value for this mission phase. Commands were sent on February 18 to disable the AACS (Attitude and Articulation Control Subsystem) sun gate function and its associated fault protection now that the spacecraft is beyond a 1 AU solar distance. Disabling the sun gate function allows greater off sun angles thereby reducing the number of sun point corrections required. Three more sun acquisition activities were successfully completed on February 16, 18 and 20. The sun acquisitions on February 18 and 20 were executed from the VE-14 (Venus-Earth 14) stored sequence which began on February 18. Two more sun acquisitions are planned in VE-14 before returning to dual-spin operation on February 25. Another USO (Ultra Stable Oscillator) calibration test was successfully completed on February 18. This test provides trend information to characterize this ultra-stable downlink frequency source. Another RPM (Retro Propulsion Module) 10-Newton thruster "flushing" maintenance activity was successfully completed on February 15. Only 10 of the 12 thrusters were exercised during this activity since the two P-thrusters are periodically used for sun pointing activities; spacecraft operation during this activity was normal. Cruise Science Memory Readouts (MROs) were successfully completed on February 18 for the DDS (Dust Detector) and MAG (Magnetometer) instruments. The AC/DC bus imbalance measurements exhibited some activity. The AC measurement fluctuated about 4DN and now reads 45.6 volts. The DC measurement dropped 6 DN and now reads 8.2 volts. All other power-related telemetry and spacecraft telemetry are normal. Project reviewed and approved the EE-2/3 (Earth-Earth sequence) on February 20, 1991. The EE-2/3 covers the time period from July 22, 1991 to October 31, 1991. The SSI (Solid State Imaging) camera cover deployment review was held on February 19. A comparison of cover deployment ground test and expected flight conditions indicated some differences. However, most notable was the delta temperature between the SSI cover and the baffle. During ground test this temperature difference was near zero but in-flight the delta temperature is not expected to exceed a worst case of 25 degrees C. This difference is not anticipated to pose a problem since analysis indicates a delta temperature even as high as 40 to 50 degrees C will not adversely affect deployment. The review board generated several RFAs (Request for Action) including follow-up actions to define the safest scan platform position for cover deployment and to verify adequate mechanical clearance exist between the SSI cover and the scan platform shade blankets. These actions are expected to be completed in about a week. The SSI cover is scheduled to be deployed on May 9, 1991. ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| Ron Baalke | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov | | | | __ \ /| | | | Jet Propulsion Lab | Is it mind over matter, ___| | | | |__) |/ | | |___ M/S 301-355 | or matter over mind? /___| | | | ___/ | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | Never mind. |_____|/ |_|/ |_____|/ | It doesn't matter. ------------------------------ Date: 23 Feb 91 18:39:40 GMT From: rochester!sol!yamauchi@louie.udel.edu (Brian Yamauchi) Subject: Re: Commercially-funded Space Probes (was Re: Space Profits) In article <21213@crg5.UUCP> szabo@crg5.UUCP (Nick Szabo) writes: A larger amount of effort is needed to develop economical mining technology before any discovered deposits can be worked: * long-RTLT teleoperation Actually, given the long light travel time delays, this would be an ideal application for purely autonomous or semi-autonomous robots. In the latter case, humans would give the robots high-level commands, but the low-level actions would be controlled directly by the robot. This would also allow technology developed for near-Earth asteroids to be applied to main belt asteroids where teleoperation would be completely impractical. -- _______________________________________________________________________________ Brian Yamauchi University of Rochester yamauchi@cs.rochester.edu Department of Computer Science _______________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: 23 Feb 91 04:29:55 GMT From: europa.asd.contel.com!issm!wlbr!mahendo!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@uunet.uu.net (Ron Baalke) Subject: Pioneer 10 Update - 02/22/91 PIONEER 10 STATUS REPORT February 22, 1991 On February 13, predicted RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) at the Madrid 70 meter station caused a 2 hour and 11 minute loss of telemetry data. Losses of 35 minutes and 48 minutes occurred on February 14 and 18, respectively. Command aborts by the CPA (Command Processor Assembly) by three different antennas were experienced on February 15, 19, and 20. JPL is continuing to investigate the apparent failures at the stations. ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| Ron Baalke | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov | | | | __ \ /| | | | Jet Propulsion Lab | Is it mind over matter, ___| | | | |__) |/ | | |___ M/S 301-355 | or matter over mind? /___| | | | ___/ | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | Never mind. |_____|/ |_|/ |_____|/ | It doesn't matter. ------------------------------ Date: 23 Feb 91 20:33:03 GMT From: jfc@athena.mit.edu (John F Carr) Subject: Re: Pioneer 10 Update - 02/22/91 In article <1991Feb23.042955.3544@jato.jpl.nasa.gov> baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov (Ron Baalke) writes: > On February 13, predicted RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) at the >Madrid 70 meter station caused a 2 hour and 11 minute loss of telemetry data. I've seen a few similar reports. What causes the interference? Is it man made? -- John Carr (jfc@athena.mit.edu) ------------------------------ Resent-Date: Sat, 23 Feb 91 20:39:42 EST Date: Fri, 22 Feb 91 02:28:11 EST Resent-From: Tommy Mac <18084TM%MSU.BITNET@BITNET.CC.CMU.EDU> From: space-request+%ANDREW.CMU.EDU@BITNET.CC.CMU.EDU Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #188 Resent-To: space+@ANDREW.CMU.EDU To: david polito <15432DJP@MSU.BITNET>, Tom McWilliams <18084TM@MSU.BITNET> Reply-To: space+@ANDREW.CMU.EDU Resent-Message-Id: Comments: To: space+@ANDREW.CMU.EDU RE: SPACE LAW: Charles Frank Radley Writes: >+ The other part is the question of when space law will catch >+up and establish guidelines for property rights in space. >+There are enough asteroids and enough open territory on >+planets and moons that I can't imagine too many fights over >+the same resource deposit. On the other hand, we need a way >+for a company to obtain rights to minerals on a world without >+being able to claim the entire world (and prevent others from >+mining it). > Unfortunately you are too late. The United Nations Treaty on >the Activities of States on the Moon and all Celestial Bodies, >already prohibits the private property rites which you address. > The resources of the solar system beyond earth are defined as >Res Publica. This somewhat ill-defined term more or less >translates as the common heritage of mankind. I believe this >language is also used in the Law of the Seabed treaty. > It calls for an international regime to regulate and TAX all >revenues or extra-terrestrial mining operations of all member >states. Member states are not permitted to authorize private >mining operations. > Sorry to disappoint you. > I hope you do not plan to defy the United Nations.......these >days that can become very unpleasant. Unfortunately, what you just said means either: "If you keep everyone else off it, you own it." -or- "The U.N. is the worlds judicial system." The first is a result of inadequate laws. the second could be a result of the new political alignments after the war. Hm......... This Just in.... Bush has announced that since Saddam killed all the REAL Kuwati's, in the hopes that the coalition would hold free elections in the formerly Iraqi-occupied territories, He will lobby that Kuwait be turned over to the U.N..... .....The Security council signed the global-federal-coalitionalistic, etc. agreement, securing a proud future for our new world orders... A world order would make musings like "But the Japanese might do it.." sorta quaint. Although, a dictatorship might just be efficient enough to get the space-resource bootstrap rolling.... see you on the ploiti-net. Tommy Mac 18084tm@msu Acknowledge-To: <18084TM@MSU> ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V13 #197 *******************