Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 7997;andrew.cmu.edu;Ted Anderson Received: from po2.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 ; Fri, 29 Mar 91 06:04:09 -0500 (EST) Received: from po5.andrew.cmu.edu via qmail ID ; Fri, 29 Mar 91 06:03:38 -0500 (EST) Received: from po5.andrew.cmu.edu via qmail ID ; Fri, 29 Mar 91 02:32:20 -0500 (EST) Received: from hogtown.andrew.cmu.edu via qmail ID ; Fri, 29 Mar 91 02:30:28 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <4bwio=O00WBwM1sU5z@andrew.cmu.edu> Precedence: junk Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Fri, 29 Mar 91 02:30:19 -0500 (EST) Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #321 SPACE Digest Volume 13 : Issue 321 Today's Topics: NASA Headline News for 03/25/91 (Forwarded) Toward 2001 - 25 Mar Re: Inter-probe communication Re: Japan Moon Probes article Re: I want to go to orbit... MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ALERT #2 - 25 MARCH - IMPACT EXPECTED 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: 25 Mar 91 20:46:16 GMT From: usenet@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: NASA Headline News for 03/25/91 (Forwarded) Headline News Internal Communications Branch (P-2) NASA Headquarters Monday, March 25, 1991 Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788 This is NASA Headline News for Monday, March 25, 1991 Kennedy Space Center activity in preparation for the launch of STS-37 is gearing up. The hypergolic fuels were loaded aboard Atlantis this weekend, and the first part of the ordnance installation was completed. The Gamma Ray Observatory is ready to undergo its last major test prior to Atlantis' payload bay doors being closed. The GRO end-to-end communications test will get underway at noon and will run through midnight. This is a spacecraft-to-orbiter-to-NASA center command and control system test and involves all the pertinent NASA installations. The flight readiness review for the STS-37 mission starts tomorrow at KSC. Also tomorrow, Atlantis' main engines will undergo their flight readiness test. Preparations are in work to move Discovery from the orbiter processing facility to the vehicle assembly building this evening at 6:00 pm EST. Stacking will commence as soon as the orbiter is inside the VAB. Should everything go smoothly, Discovery will roll out to launch pad 39-A on April 1st. The STS-39 payloads are at Pad A and are awaiting Discovery. Re-stacking of Columbia's STS-40 solid rocket booster segments is underway with the left aft booster now stacked. The Spacelab Life Sciences habitable module was installed into Columbia over the weekend and is being electrically connected to the orbiter today. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NASA Administrator Richard Truly will address NASA employees tomorrow at 11:00 am. The Administrator's comments will be shown live on NASA Select. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Ulysses continues on a smooth course through the ecliptic plane this week with routine spacecraft operations and science observations underway. By April 14, the spacecraft will have completed half of its journey to Jupiter. Ulysses is now 267 million miles away from Jupiter and just over 190 million miles from Earth. Jet Propulsion Laboratory mission controllers Friday performed a routine maneuver to improve pointing of Ulysses' high-gain antenna. The spacecraft remains in good condition, with no recurrence of the wobble previously caused by uneven solar heating of the axial boom. Ulysses is traveling at a heliocentric velocity of 55,800 miles per hour. 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 6:00 pm Taped replay of STS-1 tenth anniversary press briefing 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 11:00 am NASA Administrator Richard Truly addresses employees, live from NASA Headquarters. 12:00 pm NASA Productions will be transmitted. 6:00 pm NASA Productions will be replayed. All events and times may change without notice. This report is filed daily, Monday through Friday, by 12:00 pm, Eastern. It is a service of NASA Headquarters Office of Public Affairs. Contact: CREDMOND on NASAmail or at 202/453-8425. ------------------------------ Date: 24 Mar 91 17:37:23 GMT From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!pitt!nss!freed@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Bev Freed) Subject: Toward 2001 - 25 Mar *********** TOWARD 2001 *********** Week of 25 March 1991 A Weekly Feature of SPACE CALENDAR + = Domestic (USA) Earth event * = Domestic (USA) space event o = International Earth event # = International space event -------------------------------------------------------------------- REPRINT INFORMATION This information is reproduced by permission of the Space Age Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Copyright March 25, 1991. Reproduction in any form without written permission violates federal statute with penalty of up to $50,000. SPACE CALENDAR is edited and published on the Big `Space' Island of Hawaii. ==================================================================== * * * * * * * + STS 37 Atlantis Kennedy Space Center FL Secondary payloads will include the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment, the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet experiment, and a number of protein crystal growth packages to obtain high quality crystals to facilitate structure analysis. * * * * * * * o Brazil Solar Panels Porto Alegre The Brazilian company Digicon will deliver 8 1-foot-square solar panels to INPE by the end of 1991, making that country one of only 6 nations with solar cell capacity. * * * * * * * + Spaceport Florida Authority Tallahassee FL The Florida legislature is considering taking the Authority out from under the Dept of Commerce and establishing it as a separate entity; state officials believe there is now "integrated political pull" on behalf of the project. * * * * * * * # MOP-2 (Meteosat-5) GeoStationary Orbit On station at 0 degrees, the satellite will take images in three spectral bands of visible and infrared light every 30 minutes. An international team led by Aerospatiale is currently studying improvements for the second generation Meteosat. * * * * * * * + Space Suits Huntsville AL A single space suit for use on the Shuttle costs $10 million, according to the Hamilton Standards division of United Technologies. The suit weighs an average of 270 lb and comes in a number of "modules" for ease of fitting. * * * * * * * o Weaver Girl Flights Fuke Hainan Three flights in late 1988 and two in early 1991 (another is scheduled for May) suggest a growing infrastructure and increased activity for China in low-latitude launches, possibly including Cislunar space destinations. * * * * * * * + Geostar Corp Washington DC Three to five high-tech firms will finance the company while negotiating permanent ownership, a company spokesman said. Geostar filed for bankruptcy protection on 27 February. * * * * * * * + Spouses in Space Johnson Space Center TX NASA is making an exception to its rule excluding married couples from flying on the same mission. Continuity of orbiter Endeavour's first mission would suffer if either Mark Lee or Jan Davis were replaced, NASA said. * * * * * * * o British / Soviet Space Plane Research Moscow USSR British and Soviet scientists are testing a model of an AN-225 cargo plane with Hotol spaceplane attached in windtunnels at the Aerohydrodymanics Institute of the Ministry for Aviation Industry. * * * * * * * o Arianespace SA Evry, France Next scheduled flight will be V 43 -- Canada's Anik-E1 scheduled for April 1991. The company now holds orders to launch 34 satellites, worth about FF15.3 billion (US$3 billion) and representing 4 years of work. * * * * * * * + Lunar Footnote (Statistic) 6,675 Days Since Moon last visited by humans. * * * * * * * o International Space Year 1992 (Quote) The most important policy objective of the ISY . . . is to instill a new Space Age frame of reference in the thoughts and actions of governments and individuals." -- The late U S Senator Spark M Matsunaga, Hawaii -------------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT SPACE CALENDAR Space Calendar provides a weekly preview of upcoming events in the space industry. It is published weekly by the SPACE AGE PUBLISHING COMPANY from offices in Kailua-Kona Hawaii. For a free sample of the printed publication, use the address, telephone, or fax numbers for the Hawaii office listed below. SPACE AGE PUBLISHING COMPANY also publishes SPACE FAX DAILY from its offices in Cupertino California. For information about SPACE FAX DAILY use the address, telephone, or fax numbers for the California office listed below. HAWAII OFFICE: 75-5751 Kuakini Highway, Suite 209, Kailua-Kona HI 96740; 808-326-2014, fax 808-326-1825. CALIFORNIA OFFICE: 20431 Steven Creek Blvd, Cupertino CA 95054; 408-996-9210, fax 408-996-2125. ==================================================================== --- Opus-CBCS 1.14 * Origin: NSS BBS - Ad Astra! (412)366-5208 *HST* (1:129/104.0) -- Bev Freed - via FidoNet node 1:129/104 UUCP: ...!pitt!nss!freed INTERNET: freed@nss.FIDONET.ORG ------------------------------ Date: 26 Mar 91 10:01:23 GMT From: theory.tn.cornell.edu!moersch@THEORY.TN.CORNELL.EDU (Jeff Moersch) Subject: Re: Inter-probe communication In article <1991Mar25.163032.9725@zoo.toronto.edu> henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes: >at (astronomically speaking) extremely short range. This tactic would >be practical only if the two were already operating together, e.g. a Mars >orbiter relaying communications to a Mars lander, and it probably would Actually, this exact scenario is currently being planned for. The Soviet Mars '94 mission will be using the American Mars Observer orbiter to relay information from the surface back to Earth. The plan is to use the Mars Observer Camera's large memory to store the data. Jeff Moersch moersch@theory.tn.cornell.edu ------------------------------ Date: 25 Mar 91 11:36:00 GMT From: mcsun!unido!mpirbn!p515dfi@uunet.uu.net (Daniel Fischer) Subject: Re: Japan Moon Probes article In article <7435@idunno.Princeton.EDU> elturner@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Edwin L Turner) writes: >>The Times says the $100 million mission would make the >>Japanese the third group to land a probe on the moon, after the >>U.S. and the Soviet Union. The story says the probes will be >>ready in Spring, 1996. >And you can safely bet that they will be, too. There's little doubt indeed that the spacecraft itself will be ready in time, as ISAS has demonstrated often before. However, launching this mission (what's its current name, is it still the Lunar Penetrator Mission?) requires having a new rocket, the M five - and Japan's successes in launcher development are less impressive (see the trouble with the H-II). Perhaps NASDA and ISAS can finally work out a deal to concentrate on *one* good rocket instead of picking at each other... ------------------------------ Date: 25 Mar 91 18:31:32 GMT From: news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utzoo!henry@uunet.uu.net (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: I want to go to orbit... In article <1991Mar25.174621.3905@cs.mcgill.ca> msdos@cs.mcgill.ca (Mark SOKOLOWSKI) writes: > What are the steps in order to build a reliable space-shuttle like >spaceship in order to send myself to orbit for the summer holidays? First you need to locate a source of dilithium crystals. You're not going to get off the ground without them. -- "[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: Mon, 25 Mar 91 17:03:33 MST From: oler%HG.ULeth.CA@BITNET.CC.CMU.EDU (CARY OLER) Subject: MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ALERT #2 - 25 MARCH - IMPACT EXPECTED X-St-Vmsmail-To: st%"space+@andrew.cmu.edu" -- MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ALERT -- MARCH 25, 1991 Alert #2 Flare Event Summary ** MODERATE TO HIGH IMPACTS POSSIBLE ** -------- MAJOR ENERGETIC EVENT SUMMARY Region 6555 is remaining very energetic. It spawned a powerful class X5.3/3B flare today, the second X-class flare in 24 hours. This event began at 08:02 UT, peaked at 08:12 UT and ended at 08:31 UT. The integrated X-ray flux from this flare was moderately high (0.292). The event was possibly associated with a Type II sweep. This is fairly difficult to determine right now, since a continuum emission has been observed for the last several days and is interfering with attempts to monitor sweep frequency events. The flare was certainly powerful enough to be associated with both Type II and IV sweeps, but no confirmation has been received on the possibility of sweeps from this flare. Protons may just now be beginning to arrive from this flare. Protons should have been observed several hours ago. If this current slight enhancement becomes more pronounced over the next few hours, they will most likely be attributed to the class X5.3/3B flare. PCA absorption also seems to be experiencing a very slight increase. If protons were ejected from this flare, terrestrial impacts will be higher. It is still a bit premature to say whether or not the proton levels are increasing due to this last flare. Region 6555 still retains its complexity and size. Major flaring is expected to continue from this region over the next 24 to 48 hours. There is a high risk for renewed proton and PCA activity if flaring continues. POTENTIAL TERRESTRIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT There is a high probability that some sort of impact will be observed from this last flare. Currently, it appears as though the flare may generate a minor to major geomagnetic storm. If an impact does materialize, the associated interplanetary shock should arrive around 12:00 UT on 26 March. It may arrive a few hours earlier or a few hours later, but the predicted time is presently near about 12:00 UT on 26 March. If protons become enhanced from this latest event, the probability for terrestrial impacts will be higher. We won't really know whether or not the current proton increase is a legitimate enhancement until about 00:00 UT on 26 March. In any event, any protons that arrive now are well overdue. Geomagnetic activity could reach an A-index of 50 on 26/27 March if the flare impact materializes. Most likely, the impact will be less intense than the one we have just witnessed (from the X9.4 major flare of 22 March). We are predicting middle latitude magnetic K-indices of 5 and 6 for late on 26 March and 27 March, if this disturbance materializes. This translates to a moderate to high intensity minor geomagnetic storm with periods of major storming (probably only brief isolated periods). Auroral activity is expected to be high to very high over high latitudes on 26 and 27 March. Middle latitudes will probably witness moderate to high auroral activity if this disturbance materializes. There is a small possibility for renewed low-latitude auroral activity. However, this probability is lower than it was for the last storm. Most likely, low latitudes will not be able to witness any auroral activity with this expected impact. But keep in mind that predicting this sort of activity is very difficult to do with high accuracy, so there is a remote possibility that storming could produce some low latitude auroral activity. But at the present time, this doesn't appear to be an optimistic expectation. HF propagation conditions won't fully recover from the present magnetic storm activity when the predicted shock arrives on 26 March. However, most likely, propagation won't be as badly disrupted as with the last major storm. Region 6555 is expected to continue to spawn major flares. These flares could be proton flares. Hence, polar latitudes and high latitudes should be aware of the increased risk for PCA activity. Satellite proton levels at geosynchronous altitudes was holding at around 240 pfu at greater than 10 MeV at 20:00 UT on 25 March. This may not last long if an enhancement arrives from the X5.3 flare. Currently, the PCA event is expected to last another 24 to 48 hours, depending on whether protons become enhanced or not. The proton event itself will likely last several more days at least, barring any further increases in proton levels. ** End of Alert ** ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V13 #321 *******************