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 ; Sat, 13 Apr 91 01:40:23 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: Precedence: junk Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Sat, 13 Apr 91 01:40:18 -0400 (EDT) Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #400 SPACE Digest Volume 13 : Issue 400 Today's Topics: Toward 2001 - 08 Apr Re: Launch Technology anniversary Teflon spinoff Re: ADMIN: Reliability question Mars? Re: spacesuits (Was: Re: HST in-orbit Maintenance) Re: comsat cancellations and lawsuits Re: MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ALERT MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ALERT 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: 12 Apr 91 06:07:59 GMT From: cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!pitt!nss!freed@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Bev Freed) Subject: Toward 2001 - 08 Apr *********** TOWARD 2001 *********** Week of 08 April 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 April 8 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. ==================================================================== * * * * * * * o Long March 2E Upper Stage Beijing, China China Great Wall Industry Corp is working on a solid rocket perigee kick motor that will lift 3,330 kg to GEO; to reach the market in late 1992. * * * * * * * + Space Industries International Houston TX Dr Joseph Allen will act as President and Chief Executive Officer of SII following Dr Maxime A Faget's assumption of duties as Chairman of the Board. Allen is also a member of the Board. * * * * * * * o Space Station Freedom / Paris Air Show Le Bourget, France NASA will make the International Space Station the centerpiece of its display at the 39th Paris Air Show 13-23 June. A full-scale mock-up will denote both habitat and laboratory facilities in one unit. * * * * * * * o Korea Telecom Seoul The state-owned telecommunications company will accept proposals next week on a two-satellite system to begin operating by 1995. Foreign firms will team with Korean industry. * * * * * * * + Consortium of Small Satellite Constructors and Service Providers Warwick NY The group of entrepreneurs intends to sell data relay services using spacecraft based on Soviet military comsats. In all, a constellation of 24 550-lb satellites is envisioned, with the first 6 slated for a 1993 Soviet launch. * * * * * * * o Mir 1 Mock-Up for Sale Moscow USSR Space Commerce Corp president Bill Wirin told Space Calendar the USSR wants to sell its full-sized, equipped replica of the Mir 1 space station at the end of the Paris Air Show in June for US$10 million. * * * * * * * + Lunar Astronomy / NRC Washington DC John Bahcall, chairman of the NRC's Astronomy and Astrophysics Survey Committee, acknowledged on 19 March that the Moon "is a wonderful place for astronomy." His committee found, however, that "there were no projects of fundamental importance that needed to be done from the Moon" before 2010. * * * * * * * # Canada's Anik-E2 GeoTransfer Orbit Is moving toward its geostationary position at 107.3 degrees W if 4 April launch aboard an Ariane 44P rocket was on time and successful. The launch was the first flight of the AR 44P, which uses four strap-on solid rocket boosters. * * * * * * * + General Dynamics Cape Canaveral AFS FL Engineers and technicians are preparing an Atlas 1 rocket for the company's first commercial flight of 1991 -- launching Japan's BS- 3H, a 2,940 lb direct broadcast satellite. The company recently reiterated its intention to stay "in the business for the long run. We are in it for keeps." * * * * * * * + Lunar Footnote (Statistic) 6,689 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: 12 Apr 91 11:34:47 GMT From: world!ksr!clj%ksr.com@decwrl.dec.com (Chris Jones) Subject: Re: Launch Technology In article <5446@mindlink.UUCP>, Bruce_Dunn@mindlink (Bruce Dunn) writes: [...] >In considering first stage launchers, the choice generally seems to have >settled down to three systems: solid fuel, RP-1 and O2, and some form of >hydrazine burned with N2O4. This is generally true, though, depending on what you call the first stage, both the shuttle and Energia have H2 and O2 first stages. (Actually, since in both cases the strap-ons (solid for shuttle, kerosene and O2 for Energia) drop off first, it could be argued that it's the *second* stage that's H2 and O2.) The Soviets say that the Sputnik launcher (still in use today as the first two stages of the Soyuz and Molniya boosters) is powered by kerosene and O2. I don't know whether this is really plain old kerosene or their RP-1 equivalent, but the difference probably isn't that great. -- Chris Jones clj@ksr.com {uunet,harvard,world}!ksr!clj ------------------------------ Date: 12 Apr 91 19:51:35 GMT From: agate!bionet!uwm.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utzoo!henry@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Henry Spencer) Subject: anniversary Lest we forget, today is the 20th anniversary of the first man in space. -- And the bean-counter replied, | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology "beans are more important". | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Apr 91 17:39:37 PDT From: fermat!r@la.tis.com (Richard Schroeppel) Subject: Teflon spinoff okunewck@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu (Phil OKunewick) writes > Teflon probably wouldn't even have been invented if NASA hadn't needed a slippery, heat-resistant, abrasion-resistant, non-conductive material. Matter of fact, the government spending millions of dollars to develop a non-stick frying pan would most likely have been labeled a huge waste of taxpayers money; thus the program would have probably been killed after a few million had been spent, but before there were any usable results. But once the material was developed, it became clear that the uses for this stuff were endless. Teflon was discovered in the late 1940s; I remember reading about it in a 1950 vintage Astounding (in the hard science section). I don't remember reading about non-stick frying pans, but the advantages of low-friction corrosion&chemical-resistant coatings were obvious to anyone who worked with machinery. (This was back when it was still legal to tune your own car engine, and lots of people knew about gears and pumps and moving parts and friction.) Rich Schroeppel rcs@la.tis.com ------------------------------ X-Delivery-Notice: SMTP MAIL FROM does not correspond to sender. Date: Fri, 12 Apr 91 01:47 CDT From: A02RRP1%MVS.CSO.NIU.EDU@vma.cc.cmu.edu Subject: Re: ADMIN: Reliability question Todd How does subscribers of Space Digest sign-off temporarily during a long vacation?? Thanx, Rudi Padilla ------------------------------ Date: 11 Apr 91 13:48:16 GMT From: eru!hagbard!sunic!news.funet.fi!fuug!casino!p0.f310.n222.z2.FIDONET.ORG!Charles.Meyer@bloom-beacon.mit.edu (Charles Meyer) Subject: Mars? Just wondering when the human race gonna stop this self-killing and reach the planet Mars? -"Where no man has gone before..." -- Charles Meyer - via FidoNet node 2:220/801 UUCP: ...!fuug!casino!222!310.0!Charles.Meyer INTERNET: Charles.Meyer@p0.f310.n222.z2.FIDONET.ORG ------------------------------ Date: 12 Apr 91 20:53:17 GMT From: agate!bionet!uwm.edu!spool.mu.edu!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utzoo!henry@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: spacesuits (Was: Re: HST in-orbit Maintenance) In article <1991Apr10.023810.9331@agate.berkeley.edu> gwh@headcrash.Berkeley.EDU (George William Herbert) writes: >>At least one SF writer (Jerry Pournelle) has postulated spacesuits >>made from thin, flexible, elastic material, rather like the neoprene >>used in wetsuits. Cooling would be by sweating through the suit >>itself ... >Such suits are being developed. Major known problems include: > Wierd joint bending characteristics in skin-tight membranes > Problems with solar heating >Gore-Tex won't work, it doesn't retain pressure... The sort of suit Pournelle was alluding to -- the "Space Activity Suit" -- doesn't retain pressure at all. The suit provides mechanical support only; the skin is in vacuum, and is itself the pressure membrane. Before jumping up with theoretical explanations of why this cannot work satisfactorily, note that vacuum-chamber tests have proven that it can and does. See NASA CR-1892, "Development of a Space Activity Suit", by James Annis and Paul Webb. The SAS concept *does* have some unsolved engineering problems, but the basic notion is workable. Alas, such suits are *not* being developed; as far as I know, nobody has pursued the idea since the original Annis/Webb study, which was 15+ years ago. > You're memory/information is pretty close, most of the bulk in the >suit proper is insulation (which doubles as armour for impacts/abraisons). However, this bulk would be a whole lot more manageable if it didn't also have to support a pressure membrane. For example, the joints could use overlapping segments, sliding over each other, rather than having to be one stiff piece. The SAS would need insulation and armor just as much as the current suits do, but this could be a non-pressurized non-airtight overgarment. (In fact, it is important that it not be airtight, since SAS cooling is by sweating into vacuum.) -- And the bean-counter replied, | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology "beans are more important". | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry ------------------------------ Date: 11 Apr 91 00:10:19 GMT From: hub.ucsb.edu!ucsbuxa!3001crad@ucsd.edu (Charles Frank Radley) Subject: Re: comsat cancellations and lawsuits Intelsat is suing Martin Marrietta for the launch vehicle failure which suggest the bird was not insured (?) which suggests it is still owned by Intelsat. The Palapa and Westar birds recovered were owned by their insurers, even though they were still useable, and at least one is now in orbit being used... ------------------------------ Date: 12 Apr 91 18:09:12 GMT From: lc2b+@andrew.cmu.edu (Lawrence Curcio) Subject: Re: MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ALERT I'm sending this from my bomb shelter through TEMPEST-hardened feed lines. PLEASE let me know when it's safe to come out! I have only so much tuna fish down here! ;-) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Apr 91 01:50:42 MDT From: oler <@BITNET.CC.CMU.EDU:oler@HG.ULeth.CA> (CARY OLER) Subject: MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ALERT X-St-Vmsmail-To: st%"space+@andrew.cmu.edu" -- MAJOR SOLAR FLARE ALERT -- APRIL 11, 1991 Flare Event Summary Potential Impact Assessment -------- MAJOR ENERGETIC EVENT SUMMARY A major high-level M-class flare occurred today. The event began at 11:03 UT, peaked at an x-ray intensity of M9.5 at 11:17 UT and ended at 12:01 UT on 11 April. The event was accompanied by a 990 sfu tenflare and moderately strong radio bursts at other frequencies. No sweeps were observed from this event. An optical confirmation of this flare was not possible due to poor seeing conditions at all active optical observatories. However, one report was received from an observatory which was able to spot a bright surge from Region 6583 (now at N09E60) sometime after the event. This leads us to believe that the flare probably originated from this region. The fact that Region 6583 produced a class M4.9/1B long-duration event earlier in the day (peaking at 06:18 UT) would support this assumption. Surging on the northeast limb is being observed now. Additional activity appears to be ready to rotate into view. Region 6555 (which will return to view in the southeastern quadrant) is also due within the next 48 hours. The background x-ray flux has increased to a class C2.0 level as of 11 April, and is expected to remain near or above the C2.0 level throughout the next week. The solar flux is also climbing, as is the sunspot number. POTENTIAL TERRESTRIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT Todays major flare will not have a terrestrial impact. Region 6583 is continuing to grow and develope, and may become capable of producing more frequent major flares. At the present time, it is difficult to determine whether this region will continue to produce major flaring. It is still too close to the eastern limb to obtain reliable magnetic imaging information. This region could produce another major flare, although we believe major flaring likely will not occur for another 24 to 48 hours. A POTENTIAL MAJOR FLARE WARNING has been issued. Although major flaring is not expected to occur for at least another 24 to 48 hours, major flares could be observed periodically over the next week or two. This contradicts the most recent STFR forecast, which was released prior to the recent developments. The following Warning has been issued as of 11 April: - POTENTIAL MAJOR SOLAR FLARE WARNING Aside from this most recent major flare alert, there are no other alerts in progress at the present time. ** End of Alert ** ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V13 #400 *******************