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 ; Wed, 27 Mar 91 02:15:10 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <8bw4Nt600WBwI1v04i@andrew.cmu.edu> Precedence: junk Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Wed, 27 Mar 91 02:15:05 -0500 (EST) Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #305 SPACE Digest Volume 13 : Issue 305 Today's Topics: STS-1 10th Anniversary Press Briefing (Forwarded) space news from Feb 11 AW&ST Space Science Sampler Images with a grid? Re: MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ALERT (weather reactions?) Inter-probe communication Re: "Follies" Shuttle Status for 03/20/91 (Forwarded) Re: First Liquid-Fueled Rocket Launching by Goddard - 65th Anniversary 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: 21 Mar 91 17:02:00 GMT From: agate!bionet!uwm.edu!wuarchive!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Ron Baalke) Subject: STS-1 10th Anniversary Press Briefing (Forwarded) Ed Campion Headquarters, Washington, D.C. March 21, 1991 (Phone: 202/453-8536) N91-22 STS-1 10TH ANNIVERSARY PRESS BRIEFING SET In connection with the upcoming 10th anniversary of the first Space Shuttle launch, a press briefing with Shuttle Director Robert Crippen, who served as pilot for the flight, will be held on Monday, March 25. The briefing will be held at NASA Headquarters, 400 Maryland Ave., S.W., Wash., D.C., in the 6th floor auditorium. The briefing will begin at 11 a.m. EST and will be carried on NASA Select TV. Videotape highlights of the STS-1 mission, which was flown April 12-14, 1981, will be shown as part of the briefing. NASA Select TV is available on Satcom F-2R, Transponder 13, located at 72 degrees west longitude; frequency 3960.0 MHz, audio 6.8 MHz. ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| Ron Baalke | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov | | | | __ \ /| | | | Jet Propulsion Lab | ___| | | | |__) |/ | | |___ M/S 301-355 | Change is constant. /___| | | | ___/ | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | |_____|/ |_|/ |_____|/ | ------------------------------ Date: 20 Mar 91 07:56:53 GMT From: magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utzoo!henry@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Henry Spencer) Subject: space news from Feb 11 AW&ST USAF contracts for two more DSP missile-warning satellites, plus an option on a third. Inmarsat expects to pick a launcher for the Inmarsat 3 series around the end of this year. Of note is that Proton is considered a serious bidder. The Salyut-7-Cosmos-1686 complex reentered over Argentina mid-morning Feb 7. Numerous reports from witnesses, no injuries or serious damage known. Lt.Gen. Horner, air commander in the Gulf, says lessons learned so far include the need for much better tactical intelligence and a wide-area tactical-ballistic-missile defense system. He says there is a "big BDA [bomb damage assessment] flap" on in the Pentagon, which "would indicate we may have been overly entranced with some forms of intelligence collection". [Translation: a handful of strategic spy satellites is not a very good intelligence system for tactical forces that need lots of selective coverage quickly.] He says that while Scud is pretty useless militarily, everyone underestimated its political impact, and only the success of Patriot controlled the political damage. What's more, even so the allied forces were lucky: Patriot was adequate as an anti-Scud weapon only because the significant Scud targets were so concentrated. An anti-TBM system capable of covering large areas is conspicuously lacking. OSC/Hercules prepares for a major Pegasus sales pitch in Japan and other Pacific-rim nations, including forming a marketing alliance with Okura & Co. Ltd in Tokyo. The two major manufacturers of hand-held civilian Navstar receivers are running flat out, working two and three shifts and selling everything they can build. The military is ordering huge numbers, and the companies have also had many orders from individual units, soldiers, and soldiers' relatives ("...soldiers' mothers have bought units and shipped them to their sons in the gulf"). The combination of nearly-featureless desert, often-inaccurate maps, and frequent night operations has produced a horrendous navigation problem; Navstar receivers are the only available solution. The Navstar controllers have turned off "selective availability" [translation: deliberately degrading the civilian Navstar signals] to make the civilian receivers as accurate as possible. DoD FY92-93 budget kills SDI's Boost Surveillance and Tracking Satellite system in favor of upgrading the existing DSP warning satellites, and "restructures" the Milstar strategic comsat to "emphasize tactical requirements". A major increase in SDI funding is sought, but nobody believes it will happen. What probably will happen, though, is approval for requests for considerably more money for tactical missile defence. Antisatellite funding is cut heavily, indicating it has low priority. NASA FY92 budget calls for 13.6% increase, a start on a new heavylift booster, a start on a Delta-sized "Lifesat" recoverable life-sciences research satellite for first launch in 1996, only slight growth in space station funding, a substantial effort in Moon/Mars technology development, stable funding for NASP, and doubling of the Mission To Planet Earth budget [if you thought the shuttle ate everyone's lunch, wait until *this* puppy sinks its fangs into the planetary-exploration budget]. -- "[Some people] positively *wish* to | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology believe ill of the modern world."-R.Peto| henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry ------------------------------ Date: 21 Mar 91 03:36:38 GMT From: ubc-cs!van-bc!rsoft!mindlink!a186@beaver.cs.washington.edu (Harvey Taylor) Subject: Space Science Sampler Images with a grid? I have been looking at some of the Space Science Sampler CDs and I notice that the images have a regular grid of dots over the images. Does anybody know how these were created? ie are they part of the optical system or do they have a digital signature? I want to add a function to remove this grid, btw. -het "Ah, but you do not understand. To be on the wire is life. And the rest is waiting." Papa Wallenda Harvey Taylor Meta Media Productions uunet!van-bc!rsoft!mindlink!Harvey_Taylor a186@mindlink.UUCP ------------------------------ Date: 23 Mar 91 23:17:58 GMT From: magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utzoo!henry@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ALERT (weather reactions?) In article <1991Mar23.090803.1988@mailer.cc.fsu.edu> cain@geomag.gly.fsu.edu (Joe Cain) writes: >... This is reminiscent of Alfred >Wegner's problem in convincing geologists even up to 1950 that maybe >South America did indeed split from Africa. He was unable to come up >with any proof so a good idea stagnated for several decades while the >geologists kept looking under their dimly lit lamposts. Actually, this approaches the status of scientific urban legend. People overlook a few complications in this simple tale: 1. Although US geologists did ignore Wegener pretty thoroughly, European geologists did not. 2. At least one aspect of Wegener's theory -- his proposed mechanism -- was provably unworkable. (He simply got that part wrong.) 3. Extraordinary theories require extraordinary evidence, and for a long time there was precious little for continental drift. It did explain certain things better than older theories, but it simply did not make much in the way of testable predictions at the time. When it became possible to test it, it was tested, the results came out in favor, and almost all geologists promptly adopted it. > With the increase of data from satellites and the supposed >interest in global climate changes, has there been any recent action >on trying to see what relations might now be found? Not that I'm aware of. Such studies are notoriously difficult to do well. There is a fundamental problem in that, as one wag put it, "if you torture the data long enough, it will confess". You can *always* find some sort of relationship, even in purely random numbers, if you look long enough and hard enough. Making testable predictions, and testing them, is what makes it science; just finding relationships is not enough. Doing iron-clad tests on predictions of weather behavior takes a long time and is hard. -- "[Some people] positively *wish* to | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology believe ill of the modern world."-R.Peto| henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry ------------------------------ Date: 24 Mar 91 23:23:26 GMT From: ogicse!unicorn!n8742883@ucsd.edu (Perry Pederson) Subject: Inter-probe communication I was telling my girlfriend's 11-year old cousin about the probes that exist in outer space; Magellan, the Voyagers, and Gallileo. He asked me a question I couldn't answer: If something 'went wrong' and a probe lost communications from Earth, could one spacecraft be given commands from Earth to redirect its radio dish and relay/forward commands to another probe that couldn't receive commands from Earth? Just curious, Perry Pederson n8742883@uncorn.wwu.edu ------------------------------ Date: 22 Mar 91 16:37:17 GMT From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!news.nd.edu!mentor.cc.purdue.edu!mace.cc.purdue.edu!dil@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Perry G Ramsey) Subject: Re: "Follies" In article <1991Mar21.213140.905@dsd.es.com>, bpendlet@oscar.dsd.es.com (Bob Pendleton) writes: > In article <7044@mace.cc.purdue.edu>, dil@mace.cc.purdue.edu (Perry G Ramsey) writes: > > > Salt Lake City quickly could become self > > supporting; Luna City won't cut its umbilical for years. > > According to my grandfather, whose names is enscribed on the sons of > the pioneers monument, Salt Lake City was never self supporting. If it > hadn't been for the '49ers coming through 2 years after the first > pioneers founded Salt Lake City, the Utah colonists never would have > survived. You guys tell all these sad tales to the Indians who lived in the Salt Lake area or Massachusetts for many years before the Europeans dropped in and showed them how to exist. There's fresh water. There (was) abundant wild game. There are a variety of edible plants, if you know which are which. Even the deepest desert of southern California supported human existence before the Europeans dammed the creeks and destroyed the wildlife. Even the most hostile desert on earth is infinitely more hospitable than the moon. That doesn't say that lunar colonization is impossible. It does say that you aren't going to do it on the cheap, as the original post claimed. An very well developed transportation infrastructure is essential if you are going to keep the colonists supplied with the basic necessities of life. You can't eat moon rocks, no matter how many important minerals they might contain. -- Perry G. Ramsey Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences dil@mace.cc.purdue.edu Purdue University, W. Lafayette, IN USA perryr@vm.cc.purdue.edu *** IMAGINE YOUR LOGO HERE ****** Ten thousand low-lifes a day read this space. ------------------------------ Date: 20 Mar 91 17:12:16 GMT From: pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Ron Baalke) Subject: Shuttle Status for 03/20/91 (Forwarded) KSC SHUTTLE STATUS REPORT - WEDNESDAY, MAR. 20, 1991 - 10 a.m. STS-37/GAMMA RAY OBSERVATORY - ATLANTIS (OV 104) - PAD 39-B LAUNCH - APRIL WORK IN PROGRESS: - Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test with T-0 at 11 a.m. - Preparations for the interface verification tests between the orbiter and the Gamma Ray Observatory payload. - Inspections of orbiter components in the aft compartment due to the water intrusion. - Preparations for loading hypergolic propellants into the or- biter. WORK COMPLETED: - Mating the Orbiter Midbody Umbilical Unit. - Start of the countdown test. - Flight crew sharp edge inspection of the Gamma Ray Observatory. WORK SCHEDULED: - Gamma Ray interface test tomorrow. - Loading hypergolic propellants into the orbiter this weekend. - Launch Readiness Review March 21. - Flight Readiness Review March 26-27. STS-39/DoD - DISCOVERY (OV 103) - OPF BAY 2 LAUNCH - LATE APRIL, EARLY MAY WORK IN PROGRESS: - Rigging of the right hand external tank door hinge housings and cycling of the doors to retest. - Thermal protection system operations. WORK SCHEDULED: - Roll to the Vehicle Assembly Building early next week. STS-40/SPACELAB LIFE SCIENCES 1 - COLUMBIA (OV 102) - OPF BAY 1 LAUNCH - MAY WORK IN PROGRESS: - Testing connections for the payload. - Installation of space shuttle main engine no. 2. - Preparations to service the ammonia boilers. - Orbital maneuvering system pod functional tests. - Thermal protection system operations. - Preparations to replace the S-band antenna. WORK SCHEDULED: - Installation of the Spacelab Life Sciences payload into the or- biter this weekend. WORK COMPLETED: - Removal of about 10 tiles around the S-band antenna for access. - Installation of main engines no. 1 and 3. STS-40 SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS - VAB The left and right aft skirts have been removed from the mobile launcher platform. Earlier this week, gauges attached to the aft skirts and hold down posts gave readings about the loads that are not understood. The concern is that the posts are not aligned properly. Yesterday, officials decided to destack the boosters, take optical measurements and realign the posts. Once the optical work is complete, the boosters are scheduled to be restacked on Saturday. Schedule impacts are currently being assessed. ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| Ron Baalke | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov | | | | __ \ /| | | | Jet Propulsion Lab | ___| | | | |__) |/ | | |___ M/S 301-355 | Change is constant. /___| | | | ___/ | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | |_____|/ |_|/ |_____|/ | ------------------------------ Date: 18 Mar 91 13:27:08 GMT From: dg!emav49!hopkins@uunet.uu.net (Charlie Hopkins) Subject: Re: First Liquid-Fueled Rocket Launching by Goddard - 65th Anniversary In article <21141@shlump.nac.dec.com>, klaes@advax.enet.dec.com (Larry Klaes) writes: |> |> Saturday, March 16, marks the sixty-fifth anniversary of Robert |> Goddard's launching of the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, the |> ancestor of all modern liquid-fueled booster. The flight took place |> in Auburn, Massachusetts (near Worcester) in 1926 and lasted only 2.5 |> seconds, reaching an altitude of 12.3 meters (41 feet) and landing |> (crashing, actually) 55.2 meters (184 feet) from the launch site in |> his Aunt Effie's cabbage patch. Today the launch area is commemorated |> with a small monument surrounded by a busy street and numerous stores, |> including the Auburn Mall. |> |> Larry Klaes klaes@advax.enet.dec.com |> or ...!decwrl!advax.enet.dec.com!klaes |> or klaes%advax.dec@decwrl.enet.dec.com |> or klaes%advax.enet.dec.com@uunet.uu.net |> |> "All the Universe, or nothing!" - H. G. Wells |> |> EJASA Editor, Astronomical Society of the Atlantic The actual site is between the first and ninth fairways of a golf course on a hilltop near the Auburn Mall. It is marked by a small granite obelisk about 1 meter tall. I've played past it many times. There is a "Rocket Park" commemorating Goddard beside the mall. Charlie (I have no opinions) ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V13 #305 *******************