Date: Fri, 15 Jan 93 05:10:36 From: Space Digest maintainer Reply-To: Space-request@isu.isunet.edu Subject: Space Digest V16 #051 To: Space Digest Readers Precedence: bulk Space Digest Fri, 15 Jan 93 Volume 16 : Issue 051 Today's Topics: ** BUSSARD RAMSCOOP ** best food for space? Galileo Stuck Ribs / Remote Manipulator? Goldin's future 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: 14 Jan 93 17:13:39 GMT From: Lynne K Wahl Subject: ** BUSSARD RAMSCOOP ** Newsgroups: sci.space lord@tradent.wimsey.bc.ca (Jason Cooper) writes: >Just been talking to Lynn Wahl over in my mailbox, and came up with an >idea for using a light sail to bring the thing into orbit. The plan is >this: >1. Laser-assist out of earth orbit >2. Close approach to sun with sail edge-on to sun (for minimum drag) >3. Sail up to orbit sequence out of the solar system >It was broken into a lot more categories in my mail, but I _believe_ that [some stuff deleted] [CAUTION: Wild-Eyed Kansas Ranting Follows PG-13] :) Actually, I proposed about an X step interplanetary probe. 1. Laser/maser boost out of Earth orbit (Come on, Solar Power Sats :) Probe is now traveling *faster* than Earth orbit and is in a highly eccentric elipse, with perihelion being just out/inside Mercury orbit, and apogee being around Mars somewhere. (had to look them up) 2. Coast until perihelion, edge on to the sun. 3. Use solar sail for boost, and H collection out to apogee (around planetoid belt ?) 4. Possible use of Earth orbit Laser/Maser boost. 5. Use whatever fuel/power supply you want to get up to .? C. We discussed an antimatter triggered fusion ramscoop with the solar sail acting as H collector. You may substitute your own here. Please keep the light- sail, it gets used later. 6. Use solar sail to brake into new solar system. Possible use of ramscoop as brake. It seems to make a *much* better brake. 7. Put-put around the new solar system and explore. Needless to say, this is a LONG way in the future. The closest interplanetary probe I see will probably be a bunch of super-light maser boosted one-shot probes talked about in the (L5 news?) called StarWisps or something like that. If Henry Spencer, John Roberts or the equivalent would like to comment, please feel free. I don't really have enough facts to do more than dream on phospor dots. :-) -- --Lynn Wahl lwahl@matt.ksu.ksu.edu | The meek will inherit the Kansas State University Student | earth, the rest of us are Soil Conservation Service Computer Specialist | going to the stars. ----* ------------------------------ Date: 14 Jan 93 20:26:25 GMT From: Curtis Roelle Subject: best food for space? Newsgroups: sci.space rabjab@golem.ucsd.edu (rabjab) writes: >I watched Robinson Crusoe on Mars the other day and got the idea to >put my food in toothpaste tubes. I squezed out all the paste into >jars and used the blender to turn various foods into paste. I'm >having some problems getting the paste in the tubes, however. Does >anyone have suggestions? For freshness' sake I usually prefer to store my squoozen(?) toothpaste in small Tupperware (TM) containers. Just open the lid and take a swipe with your toothbrush. BTW, anybody know where you can buy toothpaste in containers that don't have to be squeezed? Cut the end off the tube, rinse it out, and fill it up with your favorite dish. Then simply fold the end of the tube and staple it shut. >When that problem is solved, I am going to need to get more tubes. Go to one of the bulk food stores that sells you toothpaste by the carton. To solve the storage problem, Tupperware's toll free number is 1-800-437-7001. >-rabjab CWR ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1993 23:00:43 GMT From: Subject: Galileo Stuck Ribs / Remote Manipulator? Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary In article , ahabig@bigbang.astro.indiana.edu (Alec Habig) writes: > .. > >would it be to incorporate a robotic arm manipulator into these designs, > >articulated so that it could reach everything on the probe/satellite? > > I think the big problem would be that this arm would be just as likely to get > broken as any part that it might be able to fix. > If anything did break that the arm *could* fix, then it would be more than sensible to bring it along, wouldn't it? ------------------------------ Date: 14 Jan 1993 22:25:47 -0800 From: Greg Earle Subject: Goldin's future Newsgroups: sci.space,talk.politics.space In article <1993Jan12.160138.3873@iti.org> aws@iti.org (Allen W. Sherzer) writes: >A source of mine was at a breakfast meeting with a number of people this >morning. Among the people present was Goldin who made the following comment >(roughly): > >"Yes, there are a lot of decisions which need to be made soon but >I won't be here to make them". > >Now this was not an anouncement as none has been made yet but the source >did feel that a message was being sent. Things are looking worse and worse >for the prospects of reform at NASA (especially since Nelson is the front >runner for the job). If you are putting off writing to help Goldin, please >do it today. Hate to say this, but you won't see me rushing to join the "Save Goldin" gang. Background: I attended Caltech; I am now back at JPL for a 3rd tour of duty; I've been at JPL for 5 of the last 7 1/2 years; I recently recieved a NASA "Group Achievement Award" for the Magellan Mission Group for my support of the people using Sun workstations on that project - ironically, stamped with Goldin's signature; and almost universal praise from the 1300+ people here that I supported for 3 1/2 years. In other words, I'd like to think that I have the intelligence and credentials for Goldin to take me seriously, or at least listen to what I have to say ... I went to see the talk/exchange/debate between Goldin and Carl Sagan at Caltech last month. Afterwards, I tried to talk to Goldin about change at NASA. More specifically, I wondered if he knew about, and was thinking of changing, two things that I've noticed at NASA in general, and JPL in particular: (1) The heirarchical structure is vertical; group -> section -> division -> ALD (Assistant Lab Directors) -> Director. There's basically no infrastructure in place for handling things that apply to people all ACROSS a facility (like JPL; but I got confirmation from other folks at other NASA sites at the November LISA conference that things were similar where they were), like for example preventing 1500+ workstation users from suffering from a lack of information, duplicity of efforts, lack of coordination, etc. etc. I thought that maybe Goldin might be interested in knowing that this kind of problem existed, and maybe he'd think about changing things so that there were cross-organizational responsibilities which could help to identify and eliminate these kinds of problems. (2) No one will admit it publically, but NASA works on a Degree Quota System. It doesn't matter that I have 11 years of UNIX experience and almost 9 years of Sun workstation experience. When I came back to JPL to hire on (for a Section MTS position that was created especially for someone with that kind of experience), the Personnel people said that they could care less what my experience and salary history were; they only cared that I don't have oodles of degrees next to my name on the curriculum vitae. So they proceeded to ignore my experience/salary and pronounced that the job I was hiring for could not be considered an "Engineer" position; it had to be an "Associate" position - and, to boot, they made an offer to me which was *$26,000/year* lower than my last non-JPL salary. When I tried to understand this (illogical) train of events, I was told that there was a Degree Quota System in place, and that it mattered more than what you made or how long you've worked. I felt that if there's anything that Goldin could/should change, it's this kind of policy that keeps good people from working for NASA directly because their lack of degrees makes it so that they aren't even offered enough money to live on (would YOU take a 35% pay cut?!?). Anyway, to make a long story short, I started to mention these things to him. I got about 3 sentences out before he looked at me with one of those kinds of looks you get from someone who thinks people that don't wear suits are some kind of mutant from outer space, and therefore are immediately to be avoided. He cut me off with a "Uh, sorry, I'm tired and I want to go home, and I have all these other people to talk to" and he then turned to some other group for a "photo opportunity". In other words, I got the complete brush-off. This after he'd encouraged a female college student to push hard, as it was the women and minorities who were going to take over the space program in the future. I felt like a minority myself at that point; someone who won't be listened to/taken seriously by someone in authority. I was very disappointed as I'd been quite encouraged by some of Goldin's comments that he made during the discussion with Dr. Sagan (it was a great lecture, btw). So, count me out of the "Save Goldin" bandwagon, thanks. (Disclaimer: the above incident occurred while I was a private citizen and not employed at JPL; these are my personal opinions and should not be construed in any way as being related to JPL or anyone at JPL in any manner, shape or form. I consider this a private posting and am just using JPL's facilities to post.) -- - Greg Earle Image Processing Applications and Development, Jet Propulsion Lab earle@elroy.JPL.NASA.GOV (Work/Office) (818) 354-6007 earle@isolar.Tujunga.CA.US (Play/Home) (818) 353-8695 ------------------------------ End of Space Digest Volume 16 : Issue 051 ------------------------------