Date: Tue, 15 Sep 92 05:04:04 From: Space Digest maintainer Reply-To: Space-request@isu.isunet.edu Subject: Space Digest V15 #203 To: Space Digest Readers Precedence: bulk Space Digest Tue, 15 Sep 92 Volume 15 : Issue 203 Today's Topics: Armstrong's boots Bioeffects of magnetic field deprivation Clinton and Space Funding (2 msgs) Is NASA really planning to Terraform Mars? JGR-Planets Magellan Articles Nasa's Apollo rerun NASA Daily News for 09/14/92 (Forwarded) New lunar spacecraft (& old data formats) RL-10 STS-47 element set JSC-008, flight day 3, orbit 34 The BB Gun experiment (was Re: Asteroid explorer) The real issue: massive misallocation of funds Two-Line Orbital Element Set: Space Shuttle Welcome to the Space Digest!! Please send your messages to "space@isu.isunet.edu", and (un)subscription requests of the form "Subscribe Space " to one of these addresses: listserv@uga (BITNET), rice::boyle (SPAN/NSInet), utadnx::utspan::rice::boyle (THENET), or space-REQUEST@isu.isunet.edu (Internet). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 20:30:50 GMT From: Michael Corvin Subject: Armstrong's boots Newsgroups: sci.space Sort of related to this topic... I heard a piece this weekend on NPR about the problem that the Smithsonian is having with its collection of spacesuits, including the Apollo gear. It seems that the polymers in many of the materials are degrading and the suits are, albeit gradually, falling apart. (Imagine, in the year 3000, a display case at NASM containing a small pile of dust "This was worn by Neil Armstrong"... :-( ). I imagine that the suits currently in use aboard the shuttle have a limited life due to such problems - can space.sources tell us what the servide life of a Shuttle suit is? What is the current status of the new suit design. The last I heard they were having a 'shoot-out' between a hard shell design and a soft design - or have they nixed it because of $$ and are going with improved Shuttle suits? (Inquiring minds want to know the latest in exoatmospheric haut couture and sartorial splendor...) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Corvin PP-ASEL, PP-G zwork@starfighter.den.mmc.com just another spaced rocket scientist at Martin Marietta Astronautics Group ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- =============== My views, not Martin Marietta's ======================== ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 20:39:20 GMT From: Henry Spencer Subject: Bioeffects of magnetic field deprivation Newsgroups: sci.space In article rabjab@golem.ucsd.edu (Jeff Bytof) writes: >... I've been looking into some rather astounding >results offered by experimenters working in the area of the bioeffects >of magnetic field deprivation. In view of the relevance to >manned lunar and interplanetary exploration and biological research... I'm not terribly impressed. For one thing, it's really easy to figure out ways to run much better experiments, avoiding problems like possible chemical toxicity (e.g., house all animals in aluminum cylinders, and put mu-metal casings around the *outside* of some of them). For another, if it does turn out to be an issue, simulating Earth's field should not be a big problem -- it's pretty feeble. -- There is nothing wrong with making | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology mistakes, but... make *new* ones. -D.Sim| henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 20:45:21 GMT From: Andy Freeman Subject: Clinton and Space Funding Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,talk.politics.space,alt.politics.bush,alt.politics.clinton In article <1992Sep14.163026.20300@umbc3.umbc.edu> alex@engr3.umbc.edu (alex) writes: >In any case, his whole economic plan is based on investment in hte >infrastructure, which includes space and computer technology. Note that most of the proposed infrastructure spending is on projects that localities don't find profitable. I hear about bad bridges in Boston, but the good Bostonians don't feel that it is profitable to fix those bridges. Since they get most of the benefits from those bridges, it sure doesn't make any sense for ME to pay to fix them. The "infrastructure spending" is going to communities that can't pay their own way; big cities just don't work in the US. We didn't subsidize the buggy whip industry; why should we subsidize the big cities? -andy -- UUCP: {arpa gateways, sun, decwrl, uunet, rutgers}!cs.stanford.edu!andy ARPA: andy@cs.stanford.edu ------------------------------ Date: 14 Sep 92 22:31:10 GMT From: "Richard M. Warner" Subject: Clinton and Space Funding Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro In article <1992Sep12.194702.23291@usl.edu> pssres12@ucs.usl.edu (Vignes Gerard M) writes: >From: pssres12@ucs.usl.edu (Vignes Gerard M) >Subject: Clinton and Space Funding >Date: 12 Sep 92 19:47:02 GMT Please move your idealogical diatribes to an appropriate forum (alt.*, talk.*, or /dev/null) > Bill Clinton claims he will cut taxes, > balance the budget, and increase social spending. > > We all know those are empty campaign promises, > but we also know that Clinton and Gore are > hostile to technology and research spending > and especially to projects involving > space exploration and astronomy. > > If you've not yet done so, > please register to vote. > There's still time. > > When election day comes, > please get out and vote. > It's your right AND your duty. > > A non-vote is not a form of protest; > it's a clear signal that you're happy with things > just the way they are and you really don't care anyway. > > Don't stay home that day just because you're disgusted, > and let a pitifully small percentage of people > determine our nation's future. > >-- > >pssres12@ucs.usl.edu Gerard Vignes, USL PO Box 42709, Lafayette LA 70504 USA ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Sep 92 21:17:06 GMT From: "Thomas H. Kunich" Subject: Is NASA really planning to Terraform Mars? Newsgroups: sci.space In article <9209140841.AA24495@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> nicho@vnet.ibm.com writes: > Au contraire .. It very much _does_ matter what the reasons are. It >is not possible to devise a long term solution to a problem, if you >don't understand what the problem is, or are attempting to solve the >wrong problem. It is equally inadviseable to try and solve known problems incorrectly. Most of subsaharan Africa is starving and only a small percentage of the need is caused by war and political upheaval. In fact, much of the politically motivated unrest is caused by the initial shortages of food. Yes, Ethiopia has traditionally produced all of their food but not for the sort of population densities that started driving the initial war and the Marxist takeover. The same with Somolia. The people that say that it is the war causing the food shortage are missing the point that before the war the very best the population did was reach subsistance. It is the lack of food and the drive for survival that is amplifying the political strife in these regions. How are we to produce surpluses after the cost of oil multiplies? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 05:10:24 GMT From: Ron Baalke Subject: JGR-Planets Magellan Articles Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary,sci.geo.geology JGR-Planets Special Magellan Issues August 25 and October 25, 1992 This is a list of the Magellan articles published in the two special issues of "JGR-Planets" this fall and shows the mailing address of the senior authors, as well as the issue in which each paper will be printed. "JGR-Planets" is available to members of AGU for $42 for the entire year or $20 for single issues. Reprints of single papers for research or teaching purposes are $3.50 for the first, and $1 for additional copies. AGU can be contacted at: American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue, N. W. Washington, DC 20009 (202) 462-6900 Facsimile: (202) 328-0566 ***** Mg01: August, 1992 "Joints in Venusian Lava Flows" C. Johnson, D. Sandwell David Sandwell or Catherine Johnson Geological Research Division Scripps Inst. of Oceanography La Jolla, CA 92093-0220 ***** Mg02: August, 1992 "Aeolian Features on Venus: Preliminary Magellan Results" R. Greeley, Arvidson, Elachi, Geringer, Plaut, Saunders, Schubert, Stofan, Thouvenot, Wall, Weitz Ronald Greeley Arizona State Univ. Dept. of Geology Tempe, AZ 85287-1404 ***** Mg03: August, 1992 "Reflection and Emission Properties in Alpha Regio" K. Tryka, D. Muhleman Duane Muhleman M/S 17025 California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 91125 ***** Mg04: August, 1992 "An Unusual Volcano on Venus" H.J. Moore, Plaut, Schenk, Head Henry Moore 354 Middlefield Road, M/S 975 U. S. Geological Survey Menlo Park, CA 94025 ***** Mg05: October, 1992 "Pancakelike Domes on Venus" D. McKenzie, Ford, Liu, Pettengill Dan McKenzie Institute of Theoretical Geophysics Bullard Laboratories Madingley Road Cambridge CB3 0EZ, U.K. ***** Mg06: August, 1992 "Features on Venus Generated by Plate Boundary Processes" D. McKenzie, Ford, Johnson, Parsons, Sandwell, Saunders, Solomon Dan McKenzie Institute of Theoretical Geophysics Bullard Laboratories Madingley Road Cambridge CB3 0EZ, U.K. ***** Mg07: August, 1992 "The Morphology and Evolution of Coronae on Venus" Squyres, Janes, Baer, Bindschadler, Schubert, Sharpton, Stofan Steven Squyres 326 Space Sciences Bldg. Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853-6801 ***** Mg08: August, 1992 "Plains Tectonism on Venus: The Deformation Belts of Lavinia Planitia" Squyres, Jankowski, Simons, Solomon, Hager, McGill Steven Squyres 326 Space Sciences Bldg. Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853-6801 ***** Mg09: August, 1992 "Fluid Outflows from Venus Impact Craters: Analysis from Magellan Data" Asimow, Wood John Wood 60 Garden Street Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Cambridge, MA 02139 ***** Mg10: August, 1992 "Critical Taper Wedge Mechanics of Fold and Thrust Belts on Venus: Initial Results from Magellan" Suppe, Connors John Suppe Department of Geological and Geophysical Science Princeton University Princeton, NJ 085441003 ***** Mg11: August, 1992 "The Geology and Distribution of Impact Craters on Venus: What Are They Telling Us?" Schaber, Strom, Moore, Soderblom, Kirk, Chadwick, Dawson, Gaddis, Boyce, Russell Gerald Schaber US Geological Survey Geologic Division 2255 North Gemini Drive Flagstaff, AZ 86001 ***** Mg12: August, 1992 "Images and Topographic Relief at the North Pole of Venus" Leberl, Maurice, Thomas, Leff, Wall Franz W. Leberl Vexcel Corp. 2477 55th St. Boulder, CO 80301 ***** Mg13: August, 1992 "Magellan Observations of Alpha Regio: Implications for Formation of Complex Ridged Terrains on Venus" Bindschadler, deCharon, Head, Beratan, Smrekar Duane Bindschadler Dept. Earth and Space Sciences University of California Los Angeles, CA 90024-1567 ***** Mg14: October, 1992 "Small Volcanic Edifices and Volcanism in the Plains of Venus" Guest, Bulmer, Aubele, Beratan, Greeley, Head, Michaels, Weitz, Wiles John Guest Mill Hill Park University of London Observatory University College London London, England NW72QS U.K. ***** Mg15: October, 1992 "Mineral Equilibria and The High Radar Reflectivity of Venus Mountaintops" Klose, Wood, Hashimoto John Wood 60 Garden Street Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Cambridge, MA 02139 ***** Mg16: October, 1992 "Analysis of Volcanic Surface Morphology on Venus from Comparison of Arecibo, Magellan, and Terrestrial Airborne Radar Data" B. Campbell & D. Campbell Donald Campbell Space Sciences Building Department of Astronomy Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 ***** Mg17: August, 1992 "The Rotation Period, Direction of the North Pole, and Geodetic Control Network of Venus" Davies, Colvin, Rogers, Chodas, Sjogren, Akim, Stepanyantz, Vlasova, and Zakharov Merton Davies 1700 Main Street The RAND Corporation Santa Monica, CA 90406 ***** Mg18: October, 1992 "Styles of Deformation in Ishtar Terra and Their Implications" Kaula, Bindschadler, Grimm, Hansen, Roberts, Smrekar William M. Kaula Dept. Earth and Space Sciences University of California Los Angeles, CA 90024-1567 ***** Mg19: October, 1992 "Flexural Ridges, Trenches and Outer Rises Around Venus Coronae" Sandwell, Schubert David Sandwell Geological Research Division A020 Scripps Inst. of Oceanography La Jolla, CA 92093 ***** Mg20: October, 1992 "Mylitta Fluctus, Venus: Rift Related, Centralized Volcanism and the Emplacement of Large Volume Flow Units" Magee Roberts, Guest, Head, Lancaster Kari Magee Roberts Dept. Geological Sciences Box 1846 Brown University Providence, RI 02912 ***** Mg21: August, 1992 "Channels and Valleys on Venus: Preliminary Analysis of Magellan Data" Baker, Komatsu, Parker, Gulick, Kargel, Lewis Vic Baker Dept. Of Geosciences Building #77 University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 ***** Mg22: October, 1992 "Magellan Observations of Extended Impact Crater Related Features on the Surface of Venus" Campbell, Stacy, Newman, Arvidson, Jones, Musser, Roper, Schaller Donald Campbell Space Sciences Building Department of Astronomy Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 ***** Mg23: August, 1992 "Global Distribution and Characteristics of Coronae and Related Features on Venus: Implications for Origin and Relation to Mantle Processes" Stofan, Sharpton, Schubert, Baer, Bindschadler, Janes, Squyres Ellen Stofan JPL, MS 230-225 4800 Oak Grove Dr. Pasadena, CA 91109 ***** Mg24: August, 1992 "Scattering Properties of Venus' Surface: Preliminary Results from Magellan" Tyler, Simpson, Maurer, Holmann G. Leonard Tyler Center for Radar Astronomy Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305-4055 ***** Mg25: August, 1992 "Fractal Analysis of Venus Topography in Tinatin Planitia and Ovda Regio" Kucinskas, Turcotte, Huang, Ford Algis B. Kucinskas or Donald Turcotte 2122 Snee Hall Department of Geological Sciences Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 ***** MG26: August, 1992 "Coldspots and Hotspots: Global Tectonics and Mantle Dynamics of Venus" Bindschadler, Schubert, Kaula Duane Bindschadler Dept. Earth and Space Sciences University of California Los Angeles, CA 90024-1567 ***** Mg27: October, 1992 "Dyke Emplacement on Venus and on the Earth" McKenzie, McKenzie, Saunders Dan McKenzie Institute of Theoretical Geophysics Bullard Laboratories Madingley Road Cambridge CB3 0EZ, U.K. ***** Mg28: October, 1992 "Comparison of Goldstone and Magellan Radar Data in the Equatorial Plains of Venus" Plaut, Arvidson Jeff Plaut JPL, MS 230-225 4800 Oak Grove Dr. Pasadena, CA 91109 ***** Mg29: October, 1992 "Gravitational Spreading of High Terrain in Ishtar Terra, Venus" Smrekar, Solomon Sue Smrekar MIT Dept. Earth Atmospheric and Planetary Sci. Building 54, Room 522 Cambridge, MA 02139 ***** Mg30: August, 1992 "Surface Modification of Venus As Inferred From Magellan Observations of Plains and Tesserae" Arvidson, Greeley, Malin, Saunders, Izenberg, Plaut, Stofan Ray Arvidson Dept. Earth and Planetary Sciences Campus Box 1169 Washington University St. Louis, MO 63130-4899 ***** Mg31: (Later issue) "Cleopatra Crater on Venus: A Happy End to the Impact-Volcanic Controversy" Kirk, Schaber, Ivanov, Potapov, Basilevsky Alexandr Basilevsky Kosygin Street 19 Academy of Sciences Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry Moscow, 11975 USSR or Gerald Schaber US Geological Survey Geologic Division 2255 North Gemini Drive Flagstaff, AZ 86001 ***** Mg32: October, 1992 "Mass Movements on Venus: Preliminary Results from Magellan Cycle I Observations" Malin Michael Malin Malin Space Science Systems 3535 General Atomics Court Suite 250 San Diego, CA 92121 ***** Mg33: August, 1992 "Venus: Topography and Kilometer Scale Slopes" Ford, Pettengill Peter Ford Building 37, Room 601 Dept. of Space Sciences MIT Cambridge, MA 02139 ***** Mg34: August, 1992 "Steepsided Domes on Venus: Characteristics, Geologic Setting, and Eruption Conditions from Magellan Data" Pavri, Head, Klose, Wilson Betina Pavri Dept. Geological Sciences Box 1846 Brown University Providence, RI 02912 ***** Mg35: August, 1992 "Regional Topographic Rises on Venus: Geology of Western Eistla Regio and Comparison to Beta Regio and Atla Regio" Senske, Schaber, Stofan Dave Senske Dept. Geological Sciences Box 1846 Brown University Providence, RI 02912 ***** Mg36: (Probably a later issue) "Atmospheric Effects on Cratering on Venus" Takata, Ahrens, Hornung, Phillips Toshiko Takata M/S 25221 California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 91125 ***** Mg37: October, 1992 "Geological Correlations with the Interior Density Structure of Venus" Herrick, Phillips Robert Herrick Department of Geological Sciences Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX 75275 or Roger Phillips Dept. Earth and Planetary Sciences Campus Box 1169 Washington University St. Louis, MO 63130-4899 ***** Mg38: October, 1992 "Impact Crater Distribution on Venus: Implications for Planetary Resurfacing History" Phillips, Raubertas, Arvidson, Sarkar, Herrick, Izenberg, Grimm, Roger Phillips Dept. Earth and Planetary Sciences Campus Box 1169 Washington University St. Louis, MO 63130-4899 ***** Mg39: October, 1992 "Anatomy of a Venusian Hotspot: Geology, Gravity, and Mantle Dynamics of Eistla Regio" Grimm, Phillips Robert Grimm Dept. Geology ASU Tempe, AZ 85287-1404 ***** Mg40: October, 1992 "Impact Cratering on Venus: Physical and Mechanical Models" Ivanov, Nemchinov, Svetsov, Provalov, Khazins, Phillips B. A. Ivanov Kosygin street, 19 Schmidt Institute of Earth Physics Moscow, 123810 USSR ***** Mg41: October, 1992 "Atmospheric Effects on Ejecta Emplacement and Crater Formation on Venus from Magellan" Schultz Peter Schultz Dept. Geological Sciences Box 1846 Brown University Providence, RI 02912 ***** Mg42: August, 1992 "Venus Tectonics: An Overview of Magellan Observations" Solomon, Smrekar, Bindschandler, Saunders, Schubert, Squyres, Stofan Sean Solomon MIT Dept. Earth Atmospheric and Planetary Sci. Building 54, Room 522 Cambridge, MA 02139 Mg43:L August, 1992 "Magellan: Mission Summary" Saunders, et al. R. Stephen Saunders JPL, MS 230-225 4800 Oak Grove Dr. Pasadena, CA 91109 ***** Mg44: October, 1992 "Geophysical Models for the Formation and Evolution of Corona on Venus" Janes, Bindschadler, Baer, Schubert, Sharpton, Squyres, Stofan Daniel Janes 420 Space Sciences Bldg. Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853-6801 ***** Mg45: October, 1992 "Small Scale Fracture Patterns on the Volcanic Plains of Venus" Banerdt & Sammis Bruce Banerdt 4800 Oak Grove Drive Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mail Stop 183-501 Pasadena, CA 91108 ***** Mg46: August, 1992 "Initial Results from the Magellan Stereo Experiment" Leberl, Thomas, Maurice Franz W. Leberl Vexcel Corp. 2477 55th St. Boulder, CO 80301 ***** Mg47: October, 1992 "Geology of the Venera 8 Landing Site Region from Magellan Data: Morphological and Geochemical Considerations" Basilevsky, Nikolayeva, Weitz Alexandr Basilevsky Kosygin Street, 19 Academy of Sciences Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry Moscow, 11975 USSR ***** Mg48: August, 1992 "Venus Volcanism: Classification of Volcanic Features and Structures, Associations, and Global Distribution from Magellan Data" Head, Crumpler, Aubele, Guest, Saunders James W. Head Dept. Geological Sciences Box 1846 Brown University Providence, RI 02912 ***** Mg49: August, 1992 "Venus Surface Radiothermal Emission" Pettengill, Ford, Wilt Gordon Pettengill Center for Space Research Building 37, Room 641 MIT Cambridge, MA 02139 ***** October, 1992 "Enhanced Visualization for Interpretation of Magellan Radar Data: Supplement to Magellan Special Issue" Randy Kirk US Geological Survey Geologic Division 2255 North Gemini Drive Flagstaff, AZ 86001 ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| Ron Baalke | baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov | | | | __ \ /| | | | Jet Propulsion Lab | ___| | | | |__) |/ | | |__ M/S 525-3684 Telos | Anything is impossible if /___| | | | ___/ | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | you don't attempt it. |_____|/ |_|/ |_____|/ | ------------------------------ Date: 14 Sep 92 21:05:05 GMT From: Craig Keithley Subject: Nasa's Apollo rerun Newsgroups: sci.space This talk about revisiting the Apollo style of moon missions reminds me of some old papers I read about the Apollo program. Since I don't recall when (or where) I read them, you'll have to treat this as unsubstantiated. The gist of the report was that we goofed in our choice of going to the moon. During the late 50s and early 60s, we were faced with the choice of developing things like DynaSoar and MOL (these were Air Force) or going for the moon shot. The benefit of the space station route was that we would have developed the infrastructure for a manned presence in near Earth (and moon) space. In retrospect, the problem with the moon shot was that when all was said and done, we would be left with a few pounds of moon rock, a fair bit of good science, and little or no infrastructure to support a manned presence in space. This isn't to say that I wouldn't support a manned return to the moon using a non-reusable vehicle, but I'd sure be skeptical about its overall benefit to the space program. Perhaps someone could do some back of envelope calculations and determine how much payload could be delivered to the moon using a translunar vehicle delivered to LEO via a shuttle mission or two. Then again, assuming Allen's statements (about using DC-Y as a translunar vehicle) are correct, I'd strongly consider developing a reusuable DC-Y rather than a non-reusuable Apollo follow-on. Allen, whats the max payload DC-Y can put in LEO? I need dimensions and weight. Craig Keithley Apple Computer, Inc. keithley@apple.com "Progess requires setbacks." - Henry Spencer ------------------------------ Date: 14 Sep 92 20:32:39 GMT From: Matthew DeLuca Subject: NASA Daily News for 09/14/92 (Forwarded) Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1992Sep14.182918.26888@news.arc.nasa.gov> yee@trident.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) writes: >A minor water cooling system leak on one of the Spacelab equipment >racks was identified and fixed before it impacted any of the experiment >protocols. The leak was in one of the cooling system fittings on the >rack with the four experiment furnaces. The flight crew, working with >mission controllers in Houston and Spacelab engineers in Huntsville, >resolved the location of the leak and repaired it by tightening the >fitting. I think one of the greatest advances in manned spaceflight will come when astronauts are allowed to tighten nuts and bolts all by themselves without the advice and consent of engineers on the ground. Haven't any of these people worked on cars or toilets before? If it leaks, crank it down another turn! -- Matthew DeLuca "I'd hire the Dorsai, if I knew their Georgia Institute of Technology P.O. box." Office of Information Technology - Zebediah Carter, Internet: ccoprmd@prism.gatech.edu _The Number of the Beast_ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Sep 92 22:00:31 GMT From: John Stevenson Subject: New lunar spacecraft (& old data formats) Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1992Sep13.231311.13575@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov> baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov (Ron Baalke) writes: > The results of the Lunar Orbiter gravity data was published in 1968 and 1969, > and there's a nice map of the gravity field on page 605 in the Lunar > Sourcebook. Note that there has been *no* gravity mapping of the Moon's > farside. This is because lunar spacecraft were either too far from the > surface when on the farside, or the Moon itself blocked any radio transmissions > to Earth. > ___ _____ ___ > /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| Ron Baalke | baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov > | | | | __ \ /| | | | Jet Propulsion Lab | > ___| | | | |__) |/ | | |__ M/S 525-3684 Telos | Anything is impossible if > /___| | | | ___/ | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | you don't attempt it. > |_____|/ |_|/ |_____|/ | Dennis - Thanks, it was Lunar Orbiter 4 and 5. Ron - From "Lunar Observer: A Comprehensive Orbital Survey of the Moon", JPL D-8607, April 15, 1991: pg. A-2: "The availability of potentially useful newer techniques, plus much more powerful computers, makes it a very attractive option now to try reprocessing the old lunar data, and especially the Lunar Orbiter 4 and 5 high inclination data." pg A-4: ".. a major conclusion, both from the minsymposium on gravity fields and from our own analysis, is that reprocessing some of the old data promises to yield an improvement in the lunar gravity field estimate." Fred - from the same reference: pg A-6: ".. however an excellent source turned out to be the National Space Science Data Center. Their purpose is to collect and archive existing space science data, and the data are kept there with some care." The reference goes on to note that the radionavigation data was acquired from the NSDC on 7 track tapes, which no one any longer had the software ( or even tape drives?) to read. The reference then goes on to discuss the various boxes of punched cards which may or may not contain the required data. So it appears that the information is not yet lost, but the will ( or dollars) to recover it may be. This information on the lunar gravity field is crucial for orbit design and propellant sizing for upcoming lunar missions. Henry - Love your sigs, but how 'bout a new one? John Stevenson hangfore@spf.trw.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 20:22:44 GMT From: "Allen W. Sherzer" Subject: RL-10 Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1992Sep14.133554.28448@ke4zv.uucp> gary@ke4zv.UUCP (Gary Coffman) writes: >As I noted in the part you deleted, after 30 years they are still going >boom. After 30 years, the Wright Flyer was replaced by the DC-3. There's One of the accidents you described in the past 20 years would have posed a danger to ship or crew. That's a record Douglas would have been proud to claim for the DC-3. But your main error is in measuring experience by calendar time. The best way to measure experience is the time the hardware flies. By that measure, we are barely in the 20s. >a limit to how many times you stretch old designs before you get out a >clean sheet of paper and start over. Sure. But that is for the market to decide. Look at it this way, if your right then when the market opens up for launches the primitive Delta and Titan launchers will fail to the better cheaper faster launchers you say will be built. It will also happen faster since builders won't be hampered by Congress to do it. So why does this bother you so much? >Atlas, Delta, and Titan are well past that point. Since conservative designs exist to use them for cheap HLV's reducing costs by a factor of four this statement is hard to accept. >Instead of stretching them again, it seems better to >me to start with a new design for a HLV, one that employs lessons learned >about rocket propulsion over the last 40 years. If your right, they don't worry; it will happen if we adopt commercial procurement. The current way just isn't doing it. Every launcher built the way you would have it for the past 20 years has actually INCREASED the cost of access to space. NLS alone (if built) will actually cost 33% more to put a pound into LEO than a Commercial Titan. Allen -- +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Allen W. Sherzer | "If they can put a man on the Moon, why can't they | | aws@iti.org | put a man on the Moon?" | +----------------------222 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX----------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: 14 Sep 1992 20:58:31 GMT From: Jay Maynard Subject: STS-47 element set JSC-008, flight day 3, orbit 34 Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc,sci.space,sci.space.shuttle STS-47 1 22120U 92 61 A 92258.67230773 .00130000 00000-0 17400-3 0 86 2 22120 56.9974 98.0218 0008453 286.4077 73.6043 15.89326760 348 Satellite: STS-47 Catalog number: 22120 Epoch time: 92258.67230773 =====> (14 SEP 92 16:08:07.38 UTC) Element set: JSC-008 Inclination: 56.9974 deg RA of node: 98.0218 deg Space Shuttle Flight STS-47 Eccentricity: .0008453 SGP4 Keplerian Elements Arg of perigee: 286.4077 deg from NASA flight Day 3 vector Mean anomaly: 73.6043 deg Mean motion: 15.89326760 rev/day W5RRR - G. L. Carman Decay rate: 1.30000e-03 rev/day^2 NASA Johnson Space Center Epoch rev: 34 G.L.CARMAN -- Jay Maynard, EMT-P, K5ZC, PP-ASEL | Never ascribe to malice that which can jmaynard@oac.hsc.uth.tmc.edu | adequately be explained by stupidity. "Keep in mind that Amateur Radio As We Know It Today will cease to exist at midnight tonight." -- Dave Newkirk, WJ1Z ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 21:44:04 GMT From: Jordin Kare Subject: The BB Gun experiment (was Re: Asteroid explorer) Newsgroups: sci.space In article pgf@srl02.cacs.usl.edu (Phil G. Fraering) writes: >steinly@topaz.ucsc.edu (Steinn Sigurdsson) writes: > >>As per the AO you get $17million (1992) for hardware, R&D, >>staff etc, same again for launch; mission ops and data analysis >>are extra. So, put together a CCD camera, a (IR?) spectrometer, >>a low(medium?) gain antenna, redundant tape recorders, the best CPU >>and memory that's flight qualified (is the intel chip qualified yet?) Clementine (SDIO sensor test mission which will do a 2-month lunar mapping mission followed by an asteroid flyby) will fly a MIPS R-3000-type processor and 1.6 gigabit solid state memory. >I've been thinking, though... what we really want from these >asteroids is structural data. How could we get that? > >[Following idea Patent Pending Phil's Crazy Ideas Inc. ...] ;-) > >As Marvin Minsky pointed out a short while ago, small fuel tanks >and large fuel tanks have the same mass to fuel mass ratio. So >for an ion-drive powered probe you could with little mass overhead >have lots of small tanks instead of one large tank for your >fuel. Suppose for example you use six tanks. Plumbing tends to make multiple small tanks less desirable, but the differences are small. > >Every once in a while in the mission you need to "stage" and >drop an empty fuel tank. Well, instead you use it: you keep >it around until you're about to do a flyby of an asteroid. >A small dogleg/jettision manuever, and you've slammed a fuel tank >into the asteroid, giving your seismometer network lots of data. > >Oh, you don't have a seismometer network on the asteroid? >Hmmm... what about using a laser rangefinder of some sort, >to observe the "ringing" in the rock? Would this only be >feasible for low probe flyby speeds? Clementine is flying a state-of-the-art laser rangefinder, with 200 mJ laser pulses at up to 8 Hz for a limited number of pulses, or 1 Hz indefinitely. It has a 500 km range and 10 m resolution, (limited by electronics; could do 3-5 m with some engineering changes). Not useful for observing seismic vibrations. Unfortunately, interior composition will probably require rendezvous for the foreseeable future. What you _can_ do is use impacts to measure the composition of the top few cm of surface, reaching below surface dust layers. I proposed an experiment for Clementine, the Impact Plume SPectroscopy experiment, which would have done this. It was also called the BB gun experiment, because it involved launching few-gram, BB sized projectiles from a spring-powered launcher. The BB impacts would occur just before Clementine passed the asteroid, and the impact flares would be observed spectroscopically. It's not flying for several reasons, but it would have been a fun experiment to do. Jordin Kare [Disclaimer: any statements made here are my personal opinions and do not represent the positions of LLNL, the University of California, or the U.S. Department of Energy] > >(which would cause problems: you would like the fuel tank to >slam in at high speed...) > >Well? > >-- >Phil Fraering pgf@srl0x.cacs.usl.edu where the x is a number from 1-5. >Phone: 318/365-5418 SnailMail: 2408 Blue Haven Dr., New Iberia, La. 70560 > > --> Support UN military force against Doug Mohney <-- -- Jordin Kare jtk@s1.gov 510-426-0363 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 20:21:54 GMT From: Nick Szabo Subject: The real issue: massive misallocation of funds Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1992Sep3.065318.10988@mullet.gu.uwa.edu.au> phew@mullet.gu.uwa.edu.au (Phew) writes: > >I fully agree that telepresence has validity in a large number of >applications. What I would object to is development of telepresence >as the *sole* means of presence in space. This isn't the important issue. The issue is a NASA budget that puts nearly 2/3 of its space funds towards astronaut projects, and less than 1% towards telepresence. Does that reflect the potential contributions of each? I think not. -- szabo@techbook.COM Tuesday, November third ## Libertarian $$ vote Tuesday ^^ Libertarian -- change ** choice && November 3rd @@Libertarian ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 22:09:54 GMT From: TS Kelso Subject: Two-Line Orbital Element Set: Space Shuttle Newsgroups: sci.space The most current orbital elements from the NORAD two-line element sets are carried on the Celestial BBS, (513) 427-0674, and are updated daily (when possible). Documentation and tracking software are also available on this system. As a service to the satellite user community, the most current elements for the current shuttle mission are provided below. The Celestial BBS may be accessed 24 hours/day at 300, 1200, 2400, 4800, or 9600 bps using 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity. Element sets (also updated daily), shuttle elements, and some documentation and software are also available via anonymous ftp from archive.afit.af.mil (129.92.1.66) in the directory pub/space. STS 47 1 22120U 92 61 A 92258.25000000 .00075928 00000-0 25599-3 0 72 2 22120 56.9999 99.9735 0008844 286.2039 176.6558 15.89394833 261 -- Dr TS Kelso Assistant Professor of Space Operations tkelso@afit.af.mil Air Force Institute of Technology ------------------------------ End of Space Digest Volume 15 : Issue 203 ------------------------------