Date: Wed, 31 Mar 93 05:04:50 From: Space Digest maintainer Reply-To: Space-request@isu.isunet.edu Subject: Space Digest V16 #393 To: Space Digest Readers Precedence: bulk Space Digest Wed, 31 Mar 93 Volume 16 : Issue 393 Today's Topics: 25 kg. to Venus, how much would it cost? >19 km tether Artificial Gravity Coral and Dyson Sphere.. First Mission of the Small Expendable Deployer System SUCCESS! (2 msgs) Flame Derby Flight time comparison: Voyager vs. Gallileo GIF's of DC-X JPL Mission Updates - 03/30/93 Jules Verne Gun Metric conversion sheet request!! Mexican Space Program? More water simulations (2 msgs) NASA Global Television Network? Info request. Pres. Clinton's E-mail Address SUPERNOVA IN M81 (2 msgs) 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: 29 Mar 93 20:47:44 GMT From: Henry A Worth Subject: 25 kg. to Venus, how much would it cost? Newsgroups: sci.space If the experimenter's were willing to take on some risk in exchange for some cost sharing, would ion propulsion be an option? Previous ion propulsion threads have indicated that the technology is ready for a mission trial, but lacked anyone willing to risk their payload. If this 25kg mission is cost constrained, a little cost sharing might make the difference between no mission or the opportunity to fly two. Are there any ion propulsion research groups that have a reasonable chance of finding financial backing to provide a motor and maybe a few million toward the launch cost? -- Henry Worth No, I don't speak for Amdahl... I'm not even sure I speak for myself. ------------------------------ Date: 30 Mar 93 14:24:15 GMT From: CLAUDIO OLIVEIRA EGALON Subject: >19 km tether Newsgroups: sci.space Few minutes ago I was at the canteen here in my building and someone posted a message in there commemorating a new world record on tether deployment (because of this record they would be paying today's coffee). They might be refering to SEDS and the distance claimed was more than 19 km. The date posted was today's 03-30-93. Does anyone in the NET have any further details on that??? C.O.EGALON@LARC.NASA.GOV ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1993 16:23:23 GMT From: Mary Shafer Subject: Artificial Gravity Newsgroups: sci.space On Mon, 29 Mar 93 23:01:05 GMT, nates@ll.mit.edu ( Nate Smith) said: Nate> In article neff@iaiowa.physics.uiowa.edu (John S. Neff) writes: > >A thuster on a Gemini capsule came on, by error, and spun up the >capsule. It was said at the time that if the astronauts has not shut >the thuster off they might have blacked out. This suggest rather high >values of g are possible with relatively small spacecraft. Nate> i heard a good story about this incident from a guy who was Nate> working on some fringe aspect of the Gemini program. he related Nate> that long after the fated mission was abnormally concluded in Nate> the Pacific, one of the post mortem tasks given to the engineers Nate> back in the states. they analyzed all the computer-generated Nate> instructions given to the capsule over that crazy stretch of no Nate> control. they were told to search for clues in the data that Nate> might help them understand what was malfunctioning in the Nate> onboard computer. when they examined the telemetry they were Nate> astonished. after a protracted period of futility, suddenly the Nate> thrust corrections came pouring in right on the money and the Nate> capsule was brought back to a nominal configuration. they were Nate> perplexed because they could not believe the computer could make Nate> those calculations that fast. they went back to the astronaut Nate> pilot and showed him their charts and analysis. the astronaut Nate> smiled and said "I know. I shut it off and switched over to Nate> manual." That was Neil Armstrong. I've always thought that this incident, and his save, was one of the main reasons for picking him to command Apollo 11. Dave Scott, who was there on the Gemini mission, told me the whole story of this incident one day. -- Mary Shafer DoD #0362 KotFR NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, CA shafer@rigel.dfrf.nasa.gov Of course I don't speak for NASA "A MiG at your six is better than no MiG at all." Unknown US fighter pilot ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1993 18:00:42 GMT From: James Davis Nicoll Subject: Coral and Dyson Sphere.. Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1p89m5INNhsr@darkstar.UCSC.EDU> bafta@cats.ucsc.edu (Shari L Brooks) writes: > >A more pressing question is where would your organism get the raw materials >to form such a structure in the firstplace. You need at least the mass of >Jupiter for "ringworld", let alone for a dyson sphere. There is at least one low-mass design for a dyson sphere (hang material on light-pressure from the sun). As long as one doesn't insist that the sphere be a continious solid shell, dyson spheres are probably a more reasonable solution than Niven Ringworlds. James Nicoll ------------------------------ Date: 30 Mar 1993 10:08 CST From: wingo%cspara.decnet@Fedex.Msfc.Nasa.Gov Subject: First Mission of the Small Expendable Deployer System SUCCESS! Newsgroups: sci.space Just a short note to let everyone know that the first deployment of a 20 kilometer tether by the Small Expendable Deployer System (SEDS) was a 100 % success!!!! This mission deployed the tether in a low tension deployment and verified the parameters of this type of deployment that have been speculated on for over 20 years. There will be many other SEDS missions now with this success and we look forward to adding this to the inventory of new technologies that will lower the cost of operating in space. Just on a soapbox note. This mission spent less than 10 million dollars over the ten years of its development. This mission pioneered new technologies in both tether hardware, orbital dynamics and mission operations utilizing spent stages of hardware dedicated to other missions. This is an embodiment of the faster (well Challenger kept it from being faster) cheaper (definitely) better (of course). All of these goals were met using, in the vast majority, NASA employees at the NASA Langely space center and the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. Also this mission was given the money that was requested and was left alone by the micromanagers. As Allen would love to say that this is not typical and I would agree. It is not typical that NASA is left alone to do its job! Give em the money that they ask for and then execute the ones that do not deliver what they promise. Simple plan for saving money in the space program. :-) Dennis, University of Alabama in Huntsville ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1993 18:07:22 GMT From: "Allen W. Sherzer" Subject: First Mission of the Small Expendable Deployer System SUCCESS! Newsgroups: sci.space In article <30MAR199310084522@judy.uh.edu> wingo%cspara.decnet@Fedex.Msfc.Nasa.Gov writes: >Just a short note to let everyone know that the first deployment of a >20 kilometer tether by the Small Expendable Deployer System (SEDS) was a >100 % success!!!! Congrats Dennis! I'm glad to see this work. >As Allen would love to say that this is not typical and I would agree. It >is not typical that NASA is left alone to do its job! Am I being baited here? I guess I better respond. Sorry Dennis. For most projects NASA gets what they want but still generally run over and take longer. Examples: 1. ASRM (also known as the "Jamie Lee Whitten Memorial Pork Delivery System). This project ALWAYS gets as much or more than they ask for. There has never been any micromanagement by Congress yet the cost has more than doubled and schedule slipped by 4 years. 2. Extended duration shuttle toilet. Overran by over 300% yet they got all the funds they asked for. 3. Advanced turbopumps. Overrun by over 500% yet they got not only all the funds but even got the scope of the project reduced. 4. A GAO study found that over half of the NASA contracts overrun by a significant amount. 5. According to the NASA cost model, the Wake Shield Facility should cost $93M to build (before overruns). A private company is building the exact same thing for $11M. 6. The NASA cost model says that SpaceHab should cost $1.13 billion to build. A private company is building it for $153 million. These are all cases where Congress didn't interfere and gave NASA everything it asked for (sometimes even more). That they could not be executed on time or on cost indicate a serious cultural problem within the organization. Now, I'm not saying Congress is blameless. But as long as we continue to use Congress as a skapegoat the real problems will never be fixed. Allen -- +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Allen W. Sherzer | "A great man is one who does nothing but leaves | | aws@iti.org | nothing undone" | +----------------------78 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX-----------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: 30 Mar 93 18:16:23 GMT From: fred j mccall 575-3539 Subject: Flame Derby Newsgroups: sci.space In 18084TM@msu.edu (Tom) writes: >Bill again; >>What do you think, George, are pat and Steinn promising new contenders >>in the Flame Derby? >Well, Pat, yes, but I'd have to go with Fred McCall over Steinn :-) >Sorry Steinn. But I don't remember you being asked, Tommy (unless you changed your name to George when nobody was looking). Given what I've seen from you over the years, I think you're more a candidate than a voter. Couple that with me declining to worship your private notes and I think you should recuse yourself. -- "Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don't have the balls to live in the real world." -- Mary Shafer, NASA Ames Dryden ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fred.McCall@dseg.ti.com - I don't speak for others and they don't speak for me. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 93 03:07:11 GMT From: "Lowell O Specht Jr." Subject: Flight time comparison: Voyager vs. Gallileo Newsgroups: sci.space henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes: >In article specht@dixie.com (Lowell O Specht Jr.) writes: >>The General Dynamics Centaur use by the Titan IV ELV weighs approximately >>55000 lbs when loaded with fuel. There is NO WAY that a Titan IV could lift >>TWO Centaurs much less a small solid kick motor and a probe on top of that. >Remember, it doesn't have to lift it into orbit, although I'm not sure >how the arithmetic would go on total lift capacity. Bear in mind, also, >that you could use the older Atlas-diameter Centaur, which doesn't weigh >as much. I'm not following you. What do you mean it does not have to lift it into orbit? Regardless, the Titan IV was not structurally designed to carry that much weight anyway. The Titan IV was designed to supplement the space shuttle and carry a shuttle size payload. -- Regards, Lowell ****************************************************************************** * Lowell Specht * * * Marietta, GA USA * * * home: specht@dixie.com * Go Big Orange! * * work: g584741@loads1.lasc.lockheed.com * * ****************************************************************************** * My comments are my own and not my employer's. * ****************************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: 30 Mar 93 18:23:23 GMT From: "Chris W. Johnson" Subject: GIF's of DC-X Newsgroups: sci.space In article , KEVIN@VM.CC.FAMU.EDU writes: > Didn't I see that someone had loaded some GIF's of DC-X somewhere? Yes. There's an archive for Delta Clipper information (including pictures) maintained in the pub/delta-clipper directory of bongo.cc.utexas.edu (128.83.186.13). Anyone who has questions, comments or contributions relating to the archive can send me email at one of the addresses listed below. DISCLAIMER: This is, of course, a personal project and my employer takes no stand regarding the Delta Clipper program. Cheers. ----Chris Chris W. Johnson Internet: chrisj@emx.cc.utexas.edu UUCP: {husc6|uunet}!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!chrisj CompuServe: >INTERNET:chrisj@emx.cc.utexas.edu AppleLink: chrisj@emx.cc.utexas.edu@internet# ------------------------------ Date: 30 Mar 1993 17:38 UT From: Ron Baalke Subject: JPL Mission Updates - 03/30/93 Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary PLANETARY MISSION STATUS March 30, 1993 VOYAGER 1 and 2: The two Voyager spacecraft continue their interstellar mission with fields-and-particles data acquisition. Voyager 1, launched September 5, 1977, is currently 7.74 billion kilometers (4.8 billion miles) from the Sun after flying by Jupiter and Saturn in 1979 and 1980; Voyager 2, launched August 20, 1977, with flybys of Jupiter (1979), Saturn (1981), Uranus (1986), and Neptune (1989), is now 5.94 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles) from the Sun. Contact: Mary Hardin, (818) 354-5011. MAGELLAN: The Magellan spacecraft is continuing its survey of the gravitational field of Venus, utilizing precise navigation of the spacecraft in the near-Venus portion of its elliptical orbit through May 15, 1993. The science team released final global maps of Venus's surface topography and various surface properties at the 24th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, March 15-19. The Project plans to begin maneuvers to circularize the orbit on May 25. Magellan was launched May 4, 1989, aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis with an IUS injection stage; it radar- mapped more than 98% of Venus's surface from September 1990 to September 1992. Contact: Jim Doyle, (818) 354-5011. GALILEO: The spacecraft is now en route to Jupiter, scheduled to go into orbit there on December 7, 1995. Galileo, Ulysses, and Mars Orbiter are performing a joint radio-science gravity-wave experiment from March 22 through April 12. Galileo spacecraft performance and condition are excellent except that the high-gain antenna is only partly deployed; science and engineering data are being transmitted via the low-gain antenna. A 2.1-meter-per- second trajectory-correction maneuver was performed March 9. The Project is now planning the Jupiter mission and the August 1993 encounter with asteroid Ida assuming dependence on the low-gain antenna. Galileo was launched October 18, 1989, by Space Shuttle Atlantis and an IUS, and flew by Venus in 1990 and Earth in 1990 and 1992 for earlier gravity assists and asteroid Gaspra in October 1991 for scientific observation. Contact: Jim Wilson, (818) 354-5011. ULYSSES: The spacecraft is in a highly inclined solar orbit, now more than 20 degrees south of the ecliptic plane, in transit from its Jupiter gravity assist in February 1992 toward its solar polar passages in 1994 and 1995. Ulysses is participating in the gravity wave experiment with Galileo. Spacecraft condition and performance are excellent, and cruise science data-gathering continues. The Ulysses spacecraft was built by the European Space Agency and launched October 6, 1990 aboard Space Shuttle Discovery, with IUS and PAM-S stages. Contact: Diane Ainsworth, (818) 354-5011. TOPEX/Poseidon: The satellite is healthy, and all scientific instruments are performing normally, typically providing three playbacks per day. The mission to map ocean circulation has produced interesting results related to the Central Pacific "El Nino" phenomenon were presented in late February, and the spacecraft has observed high North Atlantic waves associated with this month's storms. TOPEX/Poseidon was launched August 10, 1992, aboard Ariane 52. Contact: Mary Hardin, (818) 354-5011. MARS OBSERVER: Spacecraft health and performance are normal, and Mars Observer is on its planned trajectory leading to Mars orbit insertion August 24, 1993. It is participating with Galileo and Mars Observer in the joint gravity-wave experiment. A small (0.46 meter-per-second) trajectory correction maneuver was completed March 18. The project has determined that propellant reserves will allow a faster-than-planned transfer to the final Mars orbit, allowing science observations to start November 22, 1993, three weeks earlier than planned. Mars Observer was launched aboard a Titan III/TOS vehicle on September 25, 1992. Contact: Diane Ainsworth, (818) 354-5011. ##### ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| Ron Baalke | baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov | | | | __ \ /| | | | Jet Propulsion Lab | ___| | | | |__) |/ | | |__ M/S 525-3684 Telos | Don't ever take a fence /___| | | | ___/ | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | down until you know the |_____|/ |_|/ |_____|/ | reason it was put up. ------------------------------ Date: 30 Mar 93 14:06:29 GMT From: CLAUDIO OLIVEIRA EGALON Subject: Jules Verne Gun Newsgroups: sci.space My feeling is that you do not have to have a nuclear weapon to put this thin in orbit. There has been some previous work on using guns to launch payloads to reach EXTREME altitudes (but not orbit) using guns and they got to go over 100 km. The work was done by the Canadians and they still have the gun. If you follow up I can get the references for you. C.O.EGALON@LARC.NASA.GOV ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1993 16:16:00 GMT From: gawne@stsci.edu Subject: Metric conversion sheet request!! Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1993Mar29.171438.1@aurora.alaska.edu>, nsmca@aurora.alaska.edu writes: > Can someone post a short sheet on Metric to English and reverse... > Yard to Meter and such.. Just for some of us who are still into feet... You can find these conversions inside the covers of any recent Physics or Chemistry text books. I think your friendly neighborhood US Navy recruiter also gives out charts with all sorts of similar information to students. Anyhow, for length the fundamental relationship is 1 inch = 2.54 cm. You can derive all the other units of length from that one. For mass its a bit trickier, since in the SI mass is expressed explicitly as kilograms while in our English system we speak of pounds which are really a unit of force related to the gravity field. But having said that, at sea level a 1 kg mass weighs about 2.2 pounds. If you want to do the detailed conversions see that Physics book. -Bill Gawne, Space Telescope Science Institute "Forgive him, he is a barbarian, who thinks the customs of his tribe are the laws of the universe." - G. J. Caesar ------------------------------ Date: 30 Mar 93 14:18:22 GMT From: CLAUDIO OLIVEIRA EGALON Subject: Mexican Space Program? Newsgroups: sci.space The Mexicans might have a space program but I do not think they have a Space Agency. Do not forget that there was a Mexican who became the first Latin-American to fly the Space Shuttle. He flew as a Payload Specialist the flight before Franklin Chang-Diaz and two flights before Challenger. Chang-Diaz was originally born in Costa Rica and is presently an astronaut. Brazil itself, which recently launched a satellite using Pegasus, DOES NOT have a Space Agency but DOES have a Space Institute. There is some talk in the Brazilian government in creating a Brazilian Space Agency but looks like things are now stalled. ------------------------------ Date: 30 Mar 93 17:45:09 GMT From: "Allen W. Sherzer" Subject: More water simulations Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1p7qgb$ial@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> as806@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Dave McKissock) writes: >I believe the work package #4 position is that we provided >sufficient evidence at the Critical Design Review that our >design meets all of the program requirements, specifically >including the requirement for on-orbit installation and >on-orbit maintenance using EVA. We verified our EVA procedures >using water tank simulations. I'm sure the Solar Max and other satellite rescue people also provided sufficient evidenct. Yet their efforts didn't go the way the simulations said they would. >As I see it, the EVA community disagrees with you. All I can say is that after Intelsat they sure did schedule a bunch of EVA. SOMEBODY must feel there are unanswerdquestions. >Sorry, I can't defend the astronaut core. Anybody from JSC want >to tackle this? Not that easy. Satellite rescue EVAs didn't go the way the simulations said they should. If you are going to blame the same astronauts who you ask for advice in your simulations, how can we conclude anything? >I wasn't aware that NASA agreed that "more EVA experiments [are >needed] so errors in the simulations can be identified and quantified". "In another development, NASA managers have decided to test tools and procedures needed for the Hubble repair during generic spacewalks already planned for shuttle missions in May and July." "While the objectives of both EVAs remain unchanged - to gain general knowledge about spacewalking to aid in space station construction and other activities - planners where able to add the Hubble tests without any significant additional training." - Space News March 22, 1993 That sure sounds to me like they are attempting to verify their water simulations and find problems. BTW, I am delighted to see this. Also, I'm not slamming your work. On the contrary, I think it's very important. I simply don't feel that we understand EVA as a skill well enough to make reliable predictions for complex tasks. I hope we will someday but we won't without real experiments. >I thought we agreed to perform more EVAs on upcoming Shuttle flights, >because someone looked at a plot of planned EVA hours versus >Shuttle missions, and noted that with SSF many hours of EVA are >needed for maintenance and assembly. So, rather than having a >step change in EVA hours, they would gradually build-up the use of EVA. Why bother? If your simulations are as good as you say there is absolutely no need to put astronauts at this greater risk and expense. Wouldn't it be a lot cheaper and safer to do this ramp up in the water tanks? Allen -- +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Allen W. Sherzer | "A great man is one who does nothing but leaves | | aws@iti.org | nothing undone" | +----------------------78 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX-----------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1993 17:51:41 GMT From: "Allen W. Sherzer" Subject: More water simulations Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1p81gs$l09@umd5.umd.edu> Dave Akin writes: >Yeah, although there are some attempts to do "basic >research", the ONLY reason this new policy has gone into >effect is the desire to increase the NUMBER of people in >the crew office with EVA experience. "There are a fair number of tools that are perceved to be reliable things, but they haven't been used in space before, we ought to do as much of that [testing in space] as we can ahead of time" - Astronaut Gregory Harbaugh quoted in Space News, March 22, 1993 This guy seems to think testing is important. I agree with him. >(NASA HQ mandated that all four crew assigned to the Hubble >refurbishment mission this December should be EVA >veterans. At the time, there were only nine active flight >crew who had already gone EVA. This raises the question again. If NASA has so much faith in the water simulations, they why bother? Allen -- +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Allen W. Sherzer | "A great man is one who does nothing but leaves | | aws@iti.org | nothing undone" | +----------------------78 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX-----------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1993 16:50:47 GMT From: James R Ebright Subject: NASA Global Television Network? Info request. Newsgroups: sci.space There are a lot of NASA gurus in this group... Here is a request from a poor guy who is stuck with BITNET list servers -- a lot of the actual education topic groups are still listservers :( (Note followup: ) In article "Ian Hart, Centre for Media Resources" writes: >I have posted this enquiry on MEDIA-L and CCUMC-L. Please excuse >the duplication. > >This is a general enquiry to the network to see whether anyone has heard >of the proposal by NASA to set up a Global Television Network - a worldwide >multi-lingual scientific joint venture incorporating a "Global University >Exchange Video Conference Network". > >The proposal, which is "classified secret by NASA of proprietary value and >subject to non-disclosure by recipient", is long on technical and financial >detail but short on educational rationale. I'm not sure whether >the "secret" classification has any status at all since it was sent to us >unsolicited, but at this point in time I'll respect it and not go into >any more details than this. > >I'd be grateful if any colleagues with more information, particularly any >institutions which have decided to participate (or _not_ to participate), >could correspond with me - best outside the list at this stage I suppose. > >Ian Hart >Director, Centre for Media Resources, >University of Hong Kong >ianhart@hkucc.hku.hk -- Information farming at... For addr&phone: finger A/~~\A THE Ohio State University jebright@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu ((0 0))____ Jim Ebright e-mail: jre+@osu.edu \ / \ (--)\ ------------------------------ Date: 30 Mar 93 17:30:53 GMT From: "Allen W. Sherzer" Subject: Pres. Clinton's E-mail Address Newsgroups: sci.space In article <29MAR199312261395@venus.tamu.edu> jrl8574@venus.tamu.edu (LINENSCHMIDT, JAMES ROBERT) writes: >I few weeks ago I caught a glimpse of a message that had Clinton's e-mail >address. I don't think it is actually a Clinton address but rather the address of somebody working the campaign. However, even it there is an official Clinton email address *DON'T USE IT*. Email is so simple to sent that it will have no impact. A letter arriving via US Mail will have 100 times more impact. Note followup line Allen -- +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Allen W. Sherzer | "A great man is one who does nothing but leaves | | aws@iti.org | nothing undone" | +----------------------78 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX-----------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: 30 Mar 1993 16:12:06 GMT From: "David M. Palmer" Subject: SUPERNOVA IN M81 Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space There is a supernova in M81 (in Ursa Major). See IAU circular 5731. more to come. -- David M. Palmer palmer@alumni.caltech.edu palmer@tgrs.gsfc.nasa.gov ------------------------------ Date: 30 Mar 1993 16:30:04 GMT From: "David M. Palmer" Subject: Supernova in M81 Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space From IAU 5731 Supernova 1993J in NGC 3031 ...F. Garcia, Lugo, Spain, discovered a possible supernova on March 28 5' southwest of nucleus of NGC 3031=M81 ... 30" NE of mag 14 foreground star. Filippenko: UC Berkeley: 45" W, 160" S. of nucleus. Davis and Schlegal spectrum: March 30.3 spectrum blue and remarkably featureless. Only clear absorption lines are Narrow Na ID and CaII H+K, of interstellar origin. Filipenko believes probable is Type II a few days after explosion. However, Type Ia SN 1991T also looked like that. Depending on type, distance, extinction, could reach Mag 8 in next two weeks, making it secod brightest (after SN 1987A) since 1972. Keep watching the skies. Hartwick et al. University of Victoria: position = 9h51m19s.27, +69d15'25".7 (epoch 1950) Garnavich and Hong, Dominion Astrophysical Observatory: Spectra March 30.25 show weak H alpha and He I features, consistent with type II. Light curve: March 26.9 14.0 28.86 12.0 29.1 11.8 29.88 11.3 29.88 11.0 30.25 10.2 For more details, see IAU circ. 5731 -- David M. Palmer palmer@alumni.caltech.edu palmer@tgrs.gsfc.nasa.gov ------------------------------ End of Space Digest Volume 16 : Issue 393 ------------------------------