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Date: Fri, 29 Mar 91 01:25:33 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #315

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 13 : Issue 315

Today's Topics:
		    Commercial Space News (4 of 4)
			    Re: "Follies"
	      NASA Headline News - 03/22/91 (Forwarded)
			    Re: "Follies"

Administrivia:

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Date: 9 Mar 91 05:56:47 GMT
From: snorkelwacker.mit.edu!spool.mu.edu!sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!peregrine!ccicpg!felix!dhw68k!ofa123!Wales.Larrison@apple.com  (Wales Larrison)
Subject: Commercial Space News (4 of 4)

AMROC LOOKING FOR COMMERCIAL PARTNER FOR BOOSTER DEVELOPMENT
   American Rocket Company (Amroc) is out looking for a commercial 
partner with deeper pockets to finance the development of a complete 
suborbital booster in order to complete the testing of their hybrid 
propulsion engine.   Amroc bid the "Aquila " vehicle using three 
200,000 pound thrust hybrid rocket engines for the first stage for 
their entry for the COMET launch service contract.  However, they 
lost that competition.  They have also entered the Aquila as an 
entry into the competition to launch replacements for the 77-
satellite "Iridium" global cellular communications constellation 
proposed by Motorola. 
   Fortunately, the design for the hybrid was very amenable to 
demonstrating their concepts in a suborbital test, since on the 
Aquila the engines would be sequentially lit and staged.  And it 
would be very usable as a solid strap-on for other launch vehicles.  
   After losing the COMET launch system contract to EER/SSI, Amroc 
has had a continuing dialogue with the Center for Advanced Space 
Propulsion (CASP) in Tullahoma, Tennessee (CASP is one of the NASA-
sponsored CCDS - Center for the Commercial Development of Space), 
regarding how to develop and test a hybrid engine as a proof test of 
the concept.  It has been suggested that CASP might fund a 
suborbital flight test of the Amroc hybrid rocket motor development 
program to prove out the hybrid motor characteristics. 
   [Commentary:  Amroc has been looking for another partner to 
complete their engine development work.  When their financial 
backing pretty much dried up after their October 1989 pad failure, 
they have not been able to complete their development test program, 
needing the funding to fly a suborbital proof test of their hybrid 
motor.  According to industry rumor, they have approached several of 
the major ELV manufacturers to fund their motor as a strap-on 
booster, and have been participating in a hybrid motors study group 
at MSFC. 
  I think having the CASP fund their development test would be, in 
general, good for commercial space but we have to ask how this test 
would really promote the commercial development of space.  Hybrid 
rocket motor technology will probably be useful to commercial launch 
firms but I don't see how this test would promote the utilization of 
this technology, in general.  Amroc needs the test to show that they 
have something real to sell to industry, but if the government 
finances the test, will they preserve their rights to it?  If the 
data is preserved to Amroc, then why are the U.S. taxpayers funding 
the development of proprietary data to one firm in preference over 
the rest of the industry?  What data will CASP gather that will 
support commercial space propulsion, in general?  
   One way of getting around this would be for CASP to put out a 
contract to Amroc to develop and fly a new type of sounding rocket, 
which would use the hybrid engine.  However, the hybrid engine was 
probably optimized for providing first stage thrust, so it will not   
follow a standard thrust/velocity/altitude profile for sounding 
rocket stages, which may make it not a good option for flying 
materials processing payloads. 
------------------------------------------------------------------
Wales Larrison                  Space Technology Investor


--  
Wales Larrison
Internet: Wales.Larrison@ofa123.fidonet.org
Compuserve: >internet:Wales.Larrison@ofa123.fidonet.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Date: 21 Mar 91 21:31:40 GMT
From: orca!oscar!bpendlet@uunet.uu.net  (Bob Pendleton)
Subject: Re: "Follies"

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.

If you factor in the difference in technology the Salt Lake Valley in
1847 was not a lot harder to live in than the moon is now. My
grandmother told me stories about having to flood the land to make it
soft enough so that men with picks could turn it over and prepare it
for planting. A plow couldn't do more than scratch the soil. They had
to build dams and canals to collect the water and then bring it to the
land to flood it.

The Mormons survived by a combination of luck, damn hardwork, and
innovative use of available resources and technology. No the mention
the ability to eat lumpy dick and like it.

And as far as "getting away from the government" goes; have YOU ever
heard of the Great State of Deseret? It wasn't long after the city was
founded that federal troops occupied the high ground east of the city
and set up cannons aimed at the city. 

-- 
              Bob Pendleton, speaking only for myself.
   bpendlet@dsd.es.com or decwrl!esunix!bpendlet or utah-cs!esunix!bpendlet

                         Tools, not rules.

Lumpy dick: a boiled mixture of flour and milk. According to my
grandmother lumpy dick is what you ate if you were lucky enough to
eat.

If you weren't raised in Utah you might not understand the need for
the following disclaimer: No, I do not believe in the teachings of the
LDS Church, but I'm pround of my Morman ancestors.

------------------------------

Date: 22 Mar 91 17:35:06 GMT
From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars.jpl.nasa.gov!baalke@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu  (Ron Baalke)
Subject: NASA Headline News - 03/22/91 (Forwarded)


             Headline News
Internal Communications Branch (P-2) NASA Headquarters
 
  Friday, March 22, 1991        Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788
 
This is NASA Headline News for Friday, March 22, 1991
 
Kennedy Space Center vehicle and payload technicians continue with 
preparations for the launch of Atlantis for the STS-37 Gamma Ray 
Observatory deploy mission.  KSC management has concluded the 
launch readiness review for the mission.  Launch Director Bob Sieck 
says there are no outstanding items and Kennedy is ready to 
launch, pending closeout of current work in progress.  That work 
includes loading of hypergolic fuels into Atlantis beginning tomorrow, 
and an end-to-end test of the Gamma Ray spacecraft, starting on 
Monday.  The flight readiness review for this mission will begin 
Tuesday, March 26, and conclude on Wednesday, March 27.
 
Operations and Checkout Building payload technicians yesterday 
inadvertently tilted the Spacelab Life Sciences habitable 
module forward about 18 inches causing a corner of the module to be 
struck.  Investigation of the module showed that no structural
damage had occurred.  The thermal blanket covering that corner was 
slightly damaged and already has been replaced.  The SLS-1 module 
will be inserted into the payload cannister tomorrow for delivery to the 
orbiter processing facility.  On Sunday, OPF technicians will install 
the module into Columbia's payload bay.  Also this weekend, 
vehicle assembly building technicians will begin to rebuild the solid 
rocket booster elements for Columbia's STS-40 stack.
 
Discovery will be rolled from the OPF to the VAB on Monday, in 
preparation for its STS-39 Department of Defense mission, now 
rescheduled for May.
 
                   * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
 
NASA yesterday announced changes to the Mixed Fleet Manifest 
which adjust the schedule for shuttle flights in response to the 
previous postponement of STS-39.  The revised manifest moves the 
International Microgravity Laboratory mission, STS-42, from late 
1991 into early 1992.  The new manifest preserves the capability 
to launch the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite during its 
required window this October.
 
                   * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
 
The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel presents its annual report 
to NASA Administrator Richard Truly today at 1:30 pm in Room 
7002, Building 6.  Copies of the report will be distributed at the 
meeting and also will be available at the Headquarters Newsroom, 
Room 6043, Building 6.
 
 
                   * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
 
The Marshall Space Flight Center has selected the Smithsonian 
Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, Mass., for negotiations 
leading to the award of a contract to design, develop and operate 
a science support center for the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics 
Facility.  The primary role of the science center will be to develop and 
oversee the science observation program for the X-ray telescope.  The 
science center will serve as the primary focal point for users and 
potential users of the orbiting facility, another in NASA's Great 
Observatories program.
 
        
Here's the broadcast schedule for Public Affairs events on NASA Select 
TV.  All times are Eastern.  NASA Select TV is carried on GE Satcom 
F2R, transponder 13, C-Band, 72 degrees W Long., Audio 6.8, 
Frequency 3960 MHz.
 
Monday, 3/25/91
        11:00 am        STS-1 tenth anniversary press briefing, live from 
          NASA Headquarters, with Shuttle Director Robert Crippen.  
          Following the briefing, taped highlights of the first shuttle 
          mission will be transmitted.
 
Tuesday, 3/26/91
        12:00 pm        NASA Productions will be transmitted.
 
        6:00 pm        NASA Productions will be replayed.
 
      ___    _____     ___
     /_ /|  /____/ \  /_ /|      Ron Baalke         | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov
     | | | |  __ \ /| | | |      Jet Propulsion Lab | 
  ___| | | | |__) |/  | | |___   M/S 301-355        | Change is constant. 
 /___| | | |  ___/    | |/__ /|  Pasadena, CA 91109 | 
 |_____|/  |_|/       |_____|/                      |

------------------------------

Date: 20 Mar 91 18:42:31 GMT
From: swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!news.nd.edu!mentor.cc.purdue.edu!mace.cc.purdue.edu!dil@ucsd.edu  (Perry G Ramsey)
Subject: Re: "Follies"

In article <9103201557.AA18892@iti.org>, aws@ITI.ORG ("Allen W. Sherzer") writes:
> In article <9103191610.AA11742@cmr.ncsl.nist.gov>:
 
> A comparison with past efforts is interesting. According to (I think) G.
> Harry Stein, both the Plymouth Rock and Salt Lake City colonies where started
> with 50 middle to upper middle class famlies selling everything they owned
> to pay for the voyage.

The obvious differences are that both Massachusetts and northern Utah
support human life quite readily.  Food, water, building materials, 
etc. are all readily and cheaply available.  In sharp contrast to the
moon.  The price of bare existence will be extraordinary, and will
not go down in a hurry.  Salt Lake City quickly could become self
supporting; Luna City won't cut its  umbilical for years.
 
> Now this approach does assume that there is an infrastructure there to
> support the colonists in terms of jobs and resources. However, this can
> be provided for in the same way as all other large infrastructure jobs
> are done: the government pays for it in anticipation of enough activity later
> on to pay for it.

Of course, the Salt Lake City and Plymouth colonists sold everything
and endured great hardship to GET AWAY from the government, not to
go live in a government owned hole in the ground.  If you want people
to tolerate such loss of freedom, you're not only going to have to
pay for the infrastructure, you're going to have to give them a 
bunch of incentives to do it.

I like to be hopeful, but hoping that a few hundred families are
going to drop everything to go live alone on the moon and pay for it
themselves is going a bit far.

>     Allen


-- 
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.

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End of SPACE Digest V13 #315
*******************