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, 11 Apr 91 02:23:40 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: Precedence: junk Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Thu, 11 Apr 91 02:23:35 -0400 (EDT) Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #394 SPACE Digest Volume 13 : Issue 394 Today's Topics: [l/m 7/11] Frequently asked SPACE questions Re: Soviet manned lunar program Re: Magellan Aerobraking Re: comsat cancellations and lawsuits Re: RFD: FAQ newsgroup Re: planetary science bibliography Re: Space Stations, Money, Startrek NASA Headline News for 04/10/91 (Forwarded) 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: 10 Apr 91 11:01:13 GMT From: eagle!data.nas.nasa.gov!amelia!eugene@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Eugene N. Miya) Subject: [l/m 7/11] Frequently asked SPACE questions This list does change. Slowly. It only changes when the members of s.s. have something to add, correct, etc. I no longer have time to read s.s., and the SNR is too low. So if this does not change it is more a reflection of the other people you are reading, and not me. Think about that for a moment. You make the difference. "It's not a message. I think it's a warning." -- Ripley This is a list of frequently asked questions on SPACE (which goes back before 1980). It is developing. Good summaries will be accepted in place of the answers given here. The point of this is to circulate existing information, and avoid rehashing old answers. Better to build on top than start again. Nothing more depressing than rehashing old topics for the 100th time. References are provided because they give more complete information than any short generalization. Questions fall into three basic types: 1) Where do I find some information about space? Try you local public library first. You do know how to use a library, don't you? Can't tell these days. The net is not a good place to ask for general information. Ask INDIVIDUALS if you must. There are other sources, use them, too. The net is a place for open ended discussion. 2) I have an idea which would improve space flight? Hope you aren't surprised but 9,999 out of 10,000 have usually been thought of before. Again, contact a direct individual source for evaluation. NASA fields thousands of these each day. 3) Miscellanous queries. Sorry, have to take them case by case. Initially, this message will be automatically posted once per month and hopefully, we can cut it back to quarterly. In time questions and good answers will be added (and maybe removed, nah). 1) What happen to Saturn V plans? What about reviving the Saturn V as a heavy-lift launcher? Possible but very expensive -- tools, subcontractors, plans, facilities are gone or converted for the shuttle, and would need rebuilding, re-testing, or even total redesign. 2) Where can I learn about space computers: shuttle, programming, core memories? %J Communications of the ACM %V 27 %N 9 %D September 1984 %K Special issue on space [shuttle] computers %A Myron Kayton %T Avionics for Manned Spacecraft %J IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems %V 25 %N 6 %D November 1989 %P 786-827 Other various AIAA and IEEE publications. Computers in Spaceflight: The NASA Experience James E. Tomayko 1988? 3) SETI computation articles? %A D. K. Cullers %A Ivan R. Linscott %A Bernard M. Oliver %T Signal Processing in SETI %J Communications of the ACM %V 28 %N 11 %D November 1984 %P 1151-1163 %K CR Categories and Subject Descriptors: D.4.1 [Operating Systems]: Process Management - concurrency; I.5.4 [Pattern Recognition]: Applications - signal processing; J.2 [Phsyical Sciences and Engineering]: astronomy General Terms: Design Additional Key Words and Phrases: digital Fourier transforms, finite impulse-response filters, interstellar communications, Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence, signal detection, spectrum analysis You can make it change. Just discuss the changes on the net, then mail the resolution to me. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Apr 91 11:55:21 GMT From: eru!hagbard!sunic!news.funet.fi!ra!abo.fi!mlindroos@bloom-beacon.mit.edu Subject: Re: Soviet manned lunar program In article <3056@ksr.com>, clj@ksr.com (Chris Jones) writes: <...lots of stuff about the Soviet lunar programme deleted> Sigh...I *wish* the Soviets had gotten there first. Then the US would have been forced to turn their attention towards Mars. I bet the first manned Mars mission would have taken place ten years ago if the Americans had lost the moon race in the 1960s. > -- > Chris Jones clj@ksr.com {uunet,harvard,world}!ksr!clj MARCU$ ------------------------------ Date: 10 Apr 91 17:46:22 GMT From: swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!titan!heskett@ucsd.edu (Donald Heskett) Subject: Re: Magellan Aerobraking Commenting about Magellan's aerobraking experiment, and related issues, Henry Spencer (henry@zoo.toronto.edu) says, in part: >And actually NASA is either behind the times, or ignoring non-US >spaceflight as usual. Japan's Hiten translunar test spacecraft did a >very small Earth aerobraking maneuver just recently. It worked. >Hiten wasn't designed for it either, that I know of. Over the years hundreds, if not thousands, of spacecraft have made un-boosted re-entries. Surely in some of those cases the telemetry system and temperature sensors were still active, making the early, benign, phases of re-entry into ad hoc aerobraking experiments. As far as I can see the Hiten and Magellan aerobraking extend these tests only slightly. At least Magellan will make use of aerobraking to achieve a useful end, that of lowering the orbit to increase the resolution of its radar mapping system. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Apr 91 17:47:17 GMT From: agate!bionet!ucselx!usc!rpi!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utzoo!henry@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: comsat cancellations and lawsuits In article <1991Apr10.095549.12310@pbs.org> pstinson@pbs.org writes: >> ... You renegotiate a *launch* contract to go up >> on something else, of course, like the expendables that NASA still had >> in (admittedly limited) inventory... > >And they DID fly on another launcher named Ariane after Hughes made >arrangements with ArianeSpace. No thanks to NASA, which dumped them flat rather than helping them work out a non-shuttle alternative. It's not entirely an accident, by the way, that a lot of the birds kicked off the shuttle went to Ariane rather than a US launcher. Many of those companies didn't particularly want to have to deal with the US government again. >Why should NASA have to renegotiate a contract to launch something the French >aerospace company had already orbited? Why are you mixing up time scales like this? The renegotiation NASA should have been doing would have been at the time of the shuttle cancellation, and would have precluded any need for Hughes to go to foreign launchers and pay higher prices for them. NASA had agreed to launch those birds at a specific price, and should have done its best to arrange launches (presumably on US launchers) for them at something resembling that price. >By the way, there is a satellite rescue mission coming up next year sometime. >Do you happen to recall, Henry, who owns this satellite? I certainly hope it >isn't a Hughes bird. I forget who built it, but it is owned by either Intelsat or its insurers. Probably Intelsat, since the rescue mission makes it still potentially capable of doing more or less its original mission. -- And the bean-counter replied, | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology "beans are more important". | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry ------------------------------ Date: 10 Apr 91 07:09:13 GMT From: bfmny0!tneff@uunet.uu.net (Tom Neff) Subject: Re: RFD: FAQ newsgroup In article <0rcg6j-@rpi.edu> glenns@eas.gatech.edu (Glenn R. Stone) writes: >This is a formal RFD for a group in which to crosspost FAQ lists. Since I have *JUST* posted a long attack on this idea, I won't repost, but only point to it here: | From: tneff@bfmny0.BFM.COM (Tom Neff) | Newsgroups: news.admin,news.groups | Subject: Re: CFD for"comp.faq" | Message-ID: <48512763@bfmny0.BFM.COM> | Date: 9 Apr 91 10:37:18 GMT | Lines: 39 ------------------------------ Date: 9 Apr 91 05:07:41 GMT From: unisoft!fai!sequent!crg5!szabo@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Nick Szabo) Subject: Re: planetary science bibliography In article <1991Mar30.004245.9313@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu> is written: [An excellent planetary science bibliography, thanks!] >17) Exploring the Planets by > Murrow (?) a 1991 book > on the history of > planetary exploration > and politics. I haven't > read it but judging by > his book "Deep Black" > on the politics of satellites > I look forward to it. I believe you refer to _Exploring Space: Voyages in the Solar System and Beyond_ by William E. Burrows (Random House 1990). The book goes into detail about the personalities, politics, machines, and discoveries of planetary exploration. The best space exploration history book yet written. Highly recommended. >18) Bruce Murray's memoirs on > planetary history, science > and politics is a must for > the politically inclined > "Exploring Space" ? > 1988. _Journey Into Space: The First Thirty Years of Space Exploration_ (Norton 1988) by the former JPL director who also co-wrote the Mariner paper on the Martian polar dry ice. Technical excellence, idealism, and political naivete from one of the explorers. Also recommended. -- Nick Szabo szabo@sequent.com "If you want oil, drill lots of wells" -- J. Paul Getty The above opinions are my own and not related to those of any organization I may be affiliated with. ------------------------------ Date: 10 Apr 91 23:07:56 GMT From: usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!mips!spool.mu.edu!uwm.edu!rpi!mvk@ucsd.edu (Michael V. Kent) Subject: Re: Space Stations, Money, Startrek In article <1991Apr10.201212.922@herbert.uucp> doug@jimi.cs.unlv.edu (Doug Phillipson ) writes: > I can't believe that after Skylab and Mir we need MORE data! We built >a space shuttle, for heavens sake, from previous data and extrapolation of >learned data. The magnificent thing flew the first time with no unmanned >trials. Data isn't the problem. Vision, imagination and motivation are >the problem. We don't have a clear national goal. I wonder where we would >be now if Kennedy hadn't been killed. We would probably at least have a manned >Martian base by now. We have some very smart professionals out there and Gigabytes >of data they could be drawing on for a real station. I heard that we can't even Yeah, we have loads of data. We've had THREE men in space for 84 days ONCE. We've never BUILT anything in space before. Skylab was an interim station and was always meant to be. Freedom is a 30 year program capable of nearly unlimited growth. If Kennedy hadn't been killed we would be in the same position we are now. Kennedy was no more interested in exploring space than the four Presidents who followed him. He was interested only in beating the Russians. That's why the moonshot was accepted over a space shuttle and space station, and that's why the X-15 was cancelled in favor of the capsule approach. > Doug Phillipson -- Michael Kent mvk@itsgw.rpi.edu McDonnell Douglas Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute St. Louis, Missouri Troy, New York Apple II Forever! ------------------------------ Date: 10 Apr 91 23:14:32 GMT From: usenet@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: NASA Headline News for 04/10/91 (Forwarded) Headline News Internal Communications Branch (P-2) NASA Headquarters Wednesday, April 10, 1991 Audio Service: 202 / 755-1788 This is NASA Headline News for Wednesday, April 10, 1991 . . . The landing of Atlantis and its five-member crew was waived off this morning at about 10:00 am EDT due to unacceptable weather at both Edwards Air Force Base and the Kennedy Space Center. The STS-37 crew were ready for Atlantis' nominal 9:26 am deorbit maneuver when they were waived off for one orbit. Shortly thereafter, Johnson Space Center flight controllers determined that Edwards and Kennedy weather would not support a landing today. Edwards weather had sustained high winds, 20 miles per hour with gusts to over 30, and unacceptable crosswind conditions for all available runways. Kennedy weather was even worse, with severe thunderstorm warnings posted for late morning and early this afternoon. Weather predictions for Edwards and Kennedy are "iffy" for tomorrow, as well. Winds remain a concern for a nominal West Coast landing; cloud cover and the possibility of showers are the chief factors affecting Kennedy as a backup landing site. Atlantis has been reconfigured for orbital operations with the payload bay doors and radiators again open. The crew has a nominal two-day orbital contingency supply of consumables onboard. Crew activity today could include more amateur radio experiment operations and crew hand-held Earth observations. Overall, the STS-37 mission has been extremely smooth with no major anomalies being tracked by flight controllers. Crew members reported limited success in contacting the Soviet Mir space station. Atlantis astronauts reported they could hear the Mir cosmonauts but could not confirm that Mir received their transmissions. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Marshall Space Flight Center this evening begins a series of sub-scale test firings to evaluate materials intended for use in the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor. The first test will be of a 20-foot- long, 48-inch-diameter, solid rocket motor for approximately 30 seconds. The test will be conducted at Marshall's East Test Area by Aerojet Corp., ASRM Division, Iuka, Miss., under contract to Lockheed Missiles and Space Co., Sunnyvale, Calif. Royce Mitchell, the ASRM project manager, said five nozzle material tests and five insulation tests will be performed at Marshall this year. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Discovery's three main engines undergo their flight readiness test today. During this test, the engine valves are cycled and main engine sensors are calibrated. Discovery is in good shape for its currently targeted late April flight for the Department of Defense STS-39 mission. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The House subcommittee on VA-HUD and Independent Agencies, Robert Traxler (D-Mich.) chairman, today and tomorrow continues hearings on the FY 1992 NASA budget request. NASA Administrator Richard Truly and the program associate administrators are witnesses. The hearings begin at 10:00 am and continue through 4:00 pm each day. The hearings will be in the Capitol, Room H-143. Also tomorrow, the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, George Brown, Jr. (D-Calif.) chairman, will hold hearings, beginning at 9:00 am in Rayburn Room 2318, on NASA's Space Station Freedom. The Brown hearing will be taped and replayed on NASA Select TV at a later date. 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. Wednesday, 4/10/91 All-day Continuous live coverage of STS-37 mission originating from Johnson Space Center. 1:15 pm Magellan-at-Venus report live from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. All-day Resumption of continuous live coverage of the STS-37 Atlantis mission. Thursday, 4/11/91 All-day Continuous live coverage of STS-37 mission. Coverage of landing preparations from Dryden Flight Research Facility dependent on Atlantis landing opportunities. 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. ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V13 #394 *******************