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 ; Tue, 23 Apr 91 02:14:04 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: Precedence: junk Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Tue, 23 Apr 91 02:13:58 -0400 (EDT) Subject: SPACE Digest V13 #445 SPACE Digest Volume 13 : Issue 445 Today's Topics: NASA to launch NOAA-D meteorological satellite (Forwarded) Launch Advisory for 04/22/91 (Forwarded) Mir & Progress near accident Re: Airships R-100/101 Re: Uploading to alpha Centauri PBS Monday Night *Astronomers* Re: Transportation Tethers R100/101 (was Re: comsat cancellations and lawsuits) RUSSIAN SCIENCE: PLEASE HELP !!! 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: 22 Apr 91 23:51:29 GMT From: usenet@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: NASA to launch NOAA-D meteorological satellite (Forwarded) Brian Dunbar NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. April 22, 1991 (Phone: 202/453-1749) Frank Lepore NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data & Information Service, Suitland, Md. (Phone: 301/763-4690) Bud Littin NOAA National Weather Service, Silver Spring, Md. (Phone: 301/427-7622) Jim Elliott NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (Phone: 301/286-6256) RELEASE: 91-60 NASA TO LAUNCH NOAA-D METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITE NASA has scheduled the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's NOAA-D meteorological satellite for launch no earlier than May 14, officials from NOAA and NASA announced today. Like other NOAA satellites, NOAA-D will collect meteorological data and transmit the information free of charge directly to users around the world to enhance local weather analysis and forecasting. The users include more than 100 national governments. In addition to assisting local weather forecasting, the satellite data are used for agriculture, fishing, forest management, flood control, fire detection, volcano emission detection, vegetation mapping, oceanography and global climate change research. Launch time for the 3,127-pound spacecraft is planned for 11:52 a.m. EDT. The satellite will be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. To be known as NOAA-12 once it is in orbit, the satellite will be launched on a U.S. Air Force Atlas-E launch vehicle into a 450-nautical-mile circular, near polar, sun-synchronous orbit with an inclination angle of 98.70 degrees to the Equator. Orbital period will be 101 minutes, with the spacecraft crossing the Equator at 7:30 p.m. northbound and 7:30 a.m. southbound, local solar time. NOAA-D will carry five primary instruments: the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer, a radiation detection instrument to determine cloud cover and surface temperature; the High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder and the Microwave Sounding Unit, which combine to detect and measure energy from the troposphere to construct a temperature profile from the surface to an altitude of about 6 miles. Also onboard the spacecraft is the Space Environment Monitor to measure the population of the Earth's radiation belts and the particle precipitation phenomena resulting from solar activity, and the ARGOS/Data Collection System which receives signals from approximately 2,000 platforms (buoys, balloons and remote weather stations) and transmits the data to a central processing facility on the ground. Operational ground facilities include Command and Data Acquisition stations in Fairbanks, Alaska, and Wallops Island, Va.; the Satellite Operations Control Center and Data Processing Services Subsystem facilities in Suitland, Md.; and a data receiving station in Lannion, France. The NOAA-D is a TIROS-N (Television Infrared Observation Satellite) class spacecraft, built by the General Electric Astro Space Division. The world's first weather satellite was a TIROS, launched April 1, 1960. The TIROS program is a cooperative effort of NOAA, NASA, the United Kingdom, Canada and France for providing day and night environmental and associated data on a daily basis. NOAA is responsible for establishing the observational requirements and for operating the system, and NASA, through its Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., is responsible for procuring and developing the spacecraft and for conducting on-orbit checkout of the satellite before turning the system over to NOAA for operational control. The U.S. Air Force provides launch support with its Atlas-E launch vehicle, built by General Dynamics Space Systems Division. ------------------------------ Date: 22 Apr 91 23:50:41 GMT From: usenet@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: Launch Advisory for 04/22/91 (Forwarded) Barbara Selby Headquarters, Washington, D.C. April 22, 1991 (Phone: 703/557-5609) Rick Mould University of Alabama-Huntsville (Phone: 205/895-6414) George Purvis Orbital Science Corp., Space Data Div., Chandler, Ariz. (Phone: 602/899-6000) JOUST 1 LAUNCH LAUNCH ADVISORY The launch of Joust 1, a commercial suborbital rocket carrying 10 materials and biotechnology experiments, has been reset for 8:30 a.m. EDT on May 6 from Launch Complex 20 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. "Work on the guidance and control systems is complete, and we are ready to fly," said George Purvis, Prospector Program Manager for Orbital Sciences Corp., Space Data Division, Chandler, Ariz. The Joust 1 mission is sponsored by the University of Alabama in Huntsville's Consortium for Materials Development in Space (UAH CMDS), a NASA Center for Commercial Development of Space. Space Data Division, under a contract with UAH CMDS, is providing the Prospector rocket and launch services. -end- EDITORS NOTE: A preflight press briefing will be conducted at 1 p.m. EDT, on Friday, May 3, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 News Center, followed by a photo opportunity at Launch Complex 20. Both the pre-mission press briefing and the Joust 1 launch will be carried live via NASA Select television, Satcom F2R, transponder 13, located at 72 degrees West longitude; frequency 3960 MHz, audio 6.8 Mhz. News media planning to cover the Joust 1 flight should direct their request for accreditation to: Lisa Fowler, PA-PIB John F. Kennedy Space Center, NASA Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899 Phone (407) 867-2468 FAX (407) 867-2692 Letters of accreditation should be written on the letterhead of the requesting organization, be signed by a management official, and list the name, function and Social Security number of the individual(s) for whom press credentials are requested. ------------------------------ Date: 22 Apr 91 13:13:04 GMT From: world!ksr!clj%ksr.com@decwrl.dec.com (Chris Jones) Subject: Mir & Progress near accident The 15 April AW&ST has a little blurb on the near collision between Progress M7 and the Mir complex, adding a little to what's been posted here. Two points of interest are that the misalignment between Progress and Mir is thought to have been caused by the cosmonauts bumping into a rendezvous antenna during an EVA. This implies that they have been working outside near the aft end of the station. The Soviets have previously announced that they intend to move the solar panels from one of the large modules docked at the other end to Kvant-1 (which is at the aft end). They also want to place some attitude control thrusters at the ends of booms extending from Kvant-1 to effect a larger moment arm. The other interesting point is that they tested the automatic rendezvous system by reboarding Soyuz TM11 and docking it with the aft port (the automatic system failed in the same way so the docking was done manually). Progress was later docked at the front port. I'm pretty sure there is no refuelling capability at that port, so I don't know what is planned to refuel Mir. Probably they'll have to fix the antenna somehow. -- Chris Jones clj@ksr.com {uunet,harvard,world}!ksr!clj ------------------------------ Date: 22 Apr 91 14:32:28 GMT From: swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!rex!rouge!dlbres10@ucsd.edu (Fraering Philip) Subject: Re: Airships R-100/101 In article <1991Apr22.130755.25230@zoo.toronto.edu> kcarroll@zoo.toronto.edu (Kieran A. Carroll) writes: >I suppose there is an interesting historical lesson here. >Perhaps the US Congress should buy a second-source space station >from a private company, with a fixed-price contract. Mif the analogy is too close, the result would be the cancellation of >]all future spaceflight endeavours in the US the first time >there's a fatal accident involving SSF... First of all, to Mr. Carroll: you may want to have someone look at your terminal, there are some ['s and <'s scattered in the text. Or maybe that's some sort of rich text format (I don't know, I'm not making fun or anything, I work from a vt100 or a tvi912+ 99 percent of the time, and a broken vt100 the rest). Anyway, it worries me that with two contractors competing for the same contract, that one company could completely fail at its task, and they not only loose the contract, but the other company loses its contract... Of course, all this happened in 1930's Britian, and therefore isn't likely to happen here... after all, you'd need a nearly totally government-dominated industry where politics was more dominant than technical or economic merit. I like the idea about second-sourcing the SSF. I know it's too late, but could they have 'second-sourced' the contract, with the second consortium going with a totally different design? -- Phil Fraering dlbres10@pc.usl.edu "The Soviet Union has neither soviets nor unions." - Eric Hoffer (in 1974). ------------------------------ Date: 22 Apr 91 14:31:26 GMT From: agate!bionet!uwm.edu!caen!news.cs.indiana.edu!noose.ecn.purdue.edu!en.ecn.purdue.edu!irvine@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (/dev/null) Subject: Re: Uploading to alpha Centauri Hey! Let's make millions of clones that way. It would open the way for a whole new kind of hacking! -- +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ Brent L. Irvine These are MY opinions Malt Beverage Analyst +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: 22 Apr 91 08:37:18 GMT From: agate!bionet!uwm.edu!spool.mu.edu!sdd.hp.com!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!suned1!efb@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Everett F Batey) Subject: PBS Monday Night *Astronomers* Hope that by now all space junkies have caught on that PBS is airing a several week series on Astronomy ( multi spectrum ). In the Pacific zone PBS satellite area it is Monday evening. -- + efb@suned1.nswses.Navy.MIL efb@gcpacix.uucp efb@gcpacix.cotdazr.org + + efb@nosc.mil WA6CRE Gold Coast Sun Users Vta-SB-SLO DECUS gnu + + Opinions, MINE, NOT Uncle Sam_s | b-news postmaster xntp dns WAFFLE + ------------------------------ Date: 22 Apr 91 23:47:45 GMT From: agate!stew.ssl.berkeley.edu!korpela@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Eric J. Korpela) Subject: Re: Transportation Tethers In article gaserre@isis.isis.cs.du.edu (Glenn A. Serre) writes: > >Another use for tethers: If you are orbiting in a planet's magnetic field, >you can transform your orbital velocity into electric power. Using this >technique, you can get >100% chemical efficiency from the propellents you >bring up for station-keeping (some of the kinetic energy of the propellent >gets converted to electricty). Also, you can reverse the effect and use >electric power for propulsion. Let's violate the laws of physics while we're at it. The using the tether to generate electricity doesn't get you something for nothing. The energy has to come from somewhere. That somewhere is the kinetic energy of the space station. Using a tether to generate electricity causes an additional drag on the space station and thereby increases the station's use of propellant. This, of course, means that using this electrical energy to propel the space station doesn't work either, as efficiency for conversion of kinetic energy to potential energy is not 100% efficient. /\ korpela@ssl.berkeley.edu Internet /__\ rioch BKYAST::KORPELA 42215::KORPELA DecNet / \ of Chaos korpela%bkyast@ucbjade Bitnet (_____________________ ------------------------------ Date: 22 Apr 91 20:27:15 GMT From: dog.ee.lbl.gov!hellgate.utah.edu!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!cunews!mitel!testeng1!stanfiel@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Chris Stanfield) Subject: R100/101 (was Re: comsat cancellations and lawsuits) In article dlbres10@pc.usl.edu (Fraering Philip) writes: >I suggest everyone here read something on the R100 and the R101. I am >continually struck by the resemblance to a _lot_ of things going on in >the space program today. A good book to start with would be "Slide Rule" by Neville Shute. Shute, whose real name was Neville Norway, was an aeronautical engineer before he became a novelist. He was Chief Engineer on the R100, and flew on most of the test flights, including the transatlantic proving flight. "Slide Rule is his autobiography, and includes extensive information on the R100 and the R101. While he may not be entirely unbiased, he was there, and much of what he states is verifiable from other sources. It is also a very interesting book to read in any case. Chris Stanfield, Mitel Corporation: E-mail to:- uunet!mitel!testeng1!stanfiel (613) 592 2122 Ext.4960 We do not inherit the world from our parents - we borrow it from our children. ------------------------------ Date: 21 Apr 91 23:40:44 GMT From: eru!hagbard!sunic!mcsun!ukc!uos-ee!moria.ee.surrey.ac.uk!ees1ae@bloom-beacon.mit.edu (Ata Etemadi) Subject: RUSSIAN SCIENCE: PLEASE HELP !!! Dear Colleagues In this message I will try to be brief and to the point. If interested, please contact me for further information. Would you be willing to help Russian space scientists ? The problem is one of shortage of computing facilities. There is very little capital available. Mostly what is needed is hardware for analysing the years of wonderful spacecraft data just gathering dust. I am asking for contributions of hardware and/or software of any type, age or description. Your old terminals, your PC's gathering dust in the basement, any old tape drives, any micros or minis of whatever make, in short anything that works but you no longer need, or use. On the S/W front the same things apply. All contributions are welcome. We have managed to overcome the problem of delivering the items to the scientists. When I know what maybe on offer I can check further about export licences etc.. Also its possible there may be funds for obtaining any cheap second-hand equipment on offer. Arrangements maybe made for sharing the spacecraft data in return. PLEASE HELP!! Just imagine the data from the fleet which met Halley. regards Dr A. Etemadi =============================================================================== Dr. A. Etemadi, | Phone: (0483) 571-281 Ext. 2311 V.S.S.P. Group, | Fax : (0483) 300-803 Dept. of Electronic and Electrical Eng., | Email: University of Surrey, | Janet: a.etemadi@ee.surrey.ac.uk Guildford, | ata@c.mssl.ucl.ac.uk Surrey GU2 5XH | SPAN : ata@mssl United Kingdom | ata@msslc =============================================================================== ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V13 #445 *******************