Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 05:00:00 From: Space Digest maintainer Reply-To: Space-request@isu.isunet.edu Subject: Space Digest V16 #473 To: Space Digest Readers Precedence: bulk Space Digest Wed, 21 Apr 93 Volume 16 : Issue 473 Today's Topics: Ariane v.56 Mission Data Conference on Manned Lunar Exploration. May 7 Crystal City DC-X update??? (2 msgs) How many read sci.space? How to read sci.space without netnews Jemison on Star Trek Magellan Update - 04/16/93 Moon Colony Prize Race! $6 billion total? Russian Email Contacts. Solar Sail Data Space Digest V16 #469 Stereo Pix of planets?y What if the USSR had reached the Moon first? Why not give $1 billion to first year-long moon residents? (3 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: Tue, 20 Apr 93 09:30:23 GMT From: Dean Adams Subject: Ariane v.56 Mission Data Newsgroups: sci.space,rec.video.satellite ARIANESPACE FLIGHT 56 (Flight V.56 was originally intended to carry the Hughes HS-601 series Galaxy IV satellite, but the payload was withdrawn just prior to flight.) The 56th Ariane launch is now scheduled to place the ASTRA 1C and ARSENE satellites into an improved geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), with inclination reduced to 5 degrees and apogee altitude increased by 150 km. This will be the 28th launch of an Ariane 4 and the first in the 42L configuration, with 2 liquid strap-on boosters (PAL). It will be launched from the newly refurbished Ariane launch complex ELA 2, in Kourou - French Guiana. The launch vehicle performance requirement for this mission is 3,147 kg of which 2,944 kg represents the satellite mass. The total vehicle mass at liftoff is 361,778 kg. Required Orbit Characteristics: Perigee Altitude ..... 200 km Apogee Altitude ...... 36,160 km at injection Inclination .......... 5 degrees The Ariane 42L lift-off for Flight 56 is scheduled on Thursday, April 29, 1993, as soon as possible within the following launch window: Kourou Time GMT (04/30/93) Washington, DC 21:52 - 22:50 00:52 - 01:50 20:52 - 21:50 LAUNCH VEHICLE: Ariane 42L. This is a three-stage liquid fueled launcher with two liquid fueled strap-on boosters. The first stage (L220) is built by Aerospatiale, and is powered by 4 liquid fueled Viking V engines. The second stage (L33) is built by MBB Erno and is powered by a single Viking IV engine. Both the Viking IV and V engines are manufactured by SEP. The first and second stages use a biliquid UH25/N2O4 fuel. The third stage (H10) is built by Aerospatiale, and is powered by a cryogenic H2/O2 fueled HM-7B engine built by SEP. The two strap-on boosters (PAL) are each powered by a Viking VI engine, also built by SEP, which use the same biliquid fuel as the first and second stages. The fully assembled launch vehicle stands 56 meters high on the pad. It uses the Type 01 Ariane Short payload fairing. Flight Profile: +02:21 Liquid strap-on booster jettison +03:11 First stage separation +03:18 Second stage ignition +04:10 Fairing jettison +05:21 Second stage separation +05:26 Third stage ignition +17:30 Third stage shutdown / orbit injection +19:56 ASTRA 1C separation +22:36 Cyclade adapter separation +24:26 ARSENE separation +28:47 End of Ariane mission 56 PAYLOADS: ASTRA 1C is the third spacecraft in the fleet of "Societe Europeenne des Satellites" to broadcast direct TV to homes all over Europe. Built by Hughes, it will be the second HS-601 launched by Ariane. Total mass at lift-off .... 2,790 kg Mass at GEO insertion ..... 1,700 kg Dry mass .................. 1,180 kg On-board power ............ 3,300 W (end of life) Nominal lifetime .......... 15 years Span of solar panels ...... 21 m On-Orbit position ......... 19.2 degrees east, over Africa. Transmission capacity: 34 channels in Ku-band, via 18 transponders. In-flight operations: Solar array deployment ............ about 6 days after lift-off First of 3 apogee motor firings ... about 40 hours after lift-off at 4th apogee ARSENE is the first spacecraft built by the European Space Industry for the benefit of the world amateur radio community. Total mass at lift-off .... 154 kg Mass at GEO insertion ..... 98 kg Dry mass .................. 97 kg On-board power ............ 42 W (end of life) Nominal lifetime .......... 3 years Spacecraft dimensions ..... 1.1m x .96m Orbital parameters ........ 20000/36000 km, 0 inclination, period 17:30. Transmission capacity: S-band: 1 transponder at 2.446 ghz VHF/UHF: 145/435 mhz LAUNCH COVERAGE: All Ariane missions are broadcast live via satellite from Kourou. Coverage begins at 30 minutes before launch and continues until all payloads have been deployed. This mission will likely be carried in the US on Galaxy 6, however it could be Galaxy 7 or another satellite. (What is the European satellite normally used for Ariane coverage?) -{ Dean Adams }- ------------------------------ Date: 20 Apr 93 11:19:24 -0600 From: Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey Subject: Conference on Manned Lunar Exploration. May 7 Crystal City Newsgroups: sci.space In article , jbh55289@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Josh Hopkins) writes: > I remeber reading the comment that General Dynamics was tied into this, in > connection with their proposal for an early manned landing. Sorry I don't > rember where I heard this, but I'm fairly sure it was somewhere reputable. > Anyone else know anything on this angle? The General Chairman is Paul Bialla, who is some official of General Dynamics. The emphasis seems to be on a scaled-down, fast plan to put *people* on the Moon in an impoverished spaceflight-funding climate. You'd think it would be a golden opportunity to do lots of precusor work for modest money using an agressive series of robot spacecraft, but there's not a hint of this in the brochure. > Hrumph. They didn't send _me_ anything :( You're not hanging out with the Right People, apparently. Bill Higgins, Beam Jockey | "I'm gonna keep on writing songs Fermilab | until I write the song Bitnet: HIGGINS@FNAL.BITNET | that makes the guys in Detroit Internet: HIGGINS@FNAL.FNAL.GOV | who draw the cars SPAN/Hepnet: 43011::HIGGINS | put tailfins on 'em again." --John Prine ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 12:34:16 GMT From: "Allen W. Sherzer" Subject: DC-X update??? Newsgroups: sci.space In article schumach@convex.com (Richard A. Schumacher) writes: >Would the sub-orbital version be suitable as-is (or "as-will-be") for use >as a reuseable sounding rocket? DC-X as is today isn't suitable for this. However, the followon SDIO funds will. A reusable sounding rocket was always SDIO's goal. >Thank Ghod! I had thought that Spacelifter would definitely be the >bastard Son of NLS. So did I. There is a lot going on now and some reports are due soon which should be very favorable. The insiders have been very bush briefing the right people and it is now paying off. However, public support is STILL critical. In politics you need to keep constant pressure on elected officials. Allen -- +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Lady Astor: "Sir, if you were my husband I would poison your coffee!" | | W. Churchill: "Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it." | +----------------------57 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX-----------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 12:45:39 GMT From: "Allen W. Sherzer" Subject: DC-X update??? Newsgroups: sci.space,talk.politics.space In article dragon@angus.mi.org writes: >Exactly when will the hover test be done, Early to mid June. >and will any of the TV >networks carry it. I really want to see that... If they think the public wants to see it they will carry it. Why not write them and ask? You can reach them at: F: NATIONAL NEWS MEDIA ABC "World News Tonight" "Face the Nation" 7 West 66th Street CBS News New York, NY 10023 2020 M Street, NW 212/887-4040 Washington, DC 20036 202/457-4321 Associated Press "Good Morning America" 50 Rockefeller Plaza ABC News New York, NY 10020 1965 Broadway National Desk (212/621-1600) New York, NY 10023 Foreign Desk (212/621-1663) 212/496-4800 Washington Bureau (202/828-6400) Larry King Live TV "CBS Evening News" CNN 524 W. 57th Street 111 Massachusetts Avenue, NW New York, NY 10019 Washington, DC 20001 212/975-3693 202/898-7900 "CBS This Morning" Larry King Show--Radio 524 W. 57th Street Mutual Broadcasting New York, NY 10019 1755 So. Jefferson Davis Highway 212/975-2824 Arlington, VA 22202 703/685-2175 "Christian Science Monitor" CSM Publishing Society "Los Angeles Times" One Norway Street Times-Mirror Square Boston, MA 02115 Los Angeles, CA 90053 800/225-7090 800/528-4637 CNN "MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour" One CNN Center P.O. Box 2626 Box 105366 Washington, DC 20013 Atlanta, GA 30348 703/998-2870 404/827-1500 "MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour" CNN WNET-TV Washington Bureau 356 W. 58th Street 111 Massachusetts Avenue, NW New York, NY 10019 Washington, DC 20001 212/560-3113 202/898-7900 "Crossfire" NBC News CNN 4001 Nebraska Avenue, NW 111 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036 Washington, DC 20001 202/885-4200 202/898-7951 202/362-2009 (fax) "Morning Edition/All Things Considered" National Public Radio 2025 M Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 202/822-2000 United Press International 1400 Eye Street, NW Washington, DC 20006 202/898-8000 "New York Times" "U.S. News & World Report" 229 W. 43rd Street 2400 N Street, NW New York, NY 10036 Washington, DC 20037 212/556-1234 202/955-2000 212/556-7415 "New York Times" "USA Today" Washington Bureau 1000 Wilson Boulevard 1627 Eye Street, NW, 7th Floor Arlington, VA 22229 Washington, DC 20006 703/276-3400 202/862-0300 "Newsweek" "Wall Street Journal" 444 Madison Avenue 200 Liberty Street New York, NY 10022 New York, NY 10281 212/350-4000 212/416-2000 "Nightline" "Washington Post" ABC News 1150 15th Street, NW 47 W. 66th Street Washington, DC 20071 New York, NY 10023 202/344-6000 212/887-4995 "Nightline" "Washington Week In Review" Ted Koppel WETA-TV ABC News P.O. Box 2626 1717 DeSales, NW Washington, DC 20013 Washington, DC 20036 703/998-2626 202/887-7364 "This Week With David Brinkley" ABC News 1717 DeSales, NW Washington, DC 20036 202/887-7777 "Time" magazine Time Warner, Inc. Time & Life Building Rockefeller Center New York, NY 10020 212/522-1212 -- +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Lady Astor: "Sir, if you were my husband I would poison your coffee!" | | W. Churchill: "Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it." | +----------------------57 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX-----------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 13:21:03 GMT From: Mehrtens_T@msm.cdx.mot.com Subject: How many read sci.space? Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1qkmkiINNep3@mojo.eng.umd.edu> sysmgr@king.eng.umd.edu (Doug Mohney) writes: >In article <1993Apr15.204210.26022@mksol.dseg.ti.com>, pyron@skndiv.dseg.ti.com (Dillon Pyron) writes: >> >>There are actually only two of us. I do Henry, Fred, Tommy and Mary. Oh yeah, >>this isn't my real name, I'm a bald headed space baby. > >Damn! So it was YOU who was drinking beer with ROBERT McELWANE in the PARKING >LOT of the K-MART! > Software engineering? That's like military intelligence, isn't it? > -- > SYSMGR@CADLAB.ENG.UMD.EDU < -- They just tore down the Kmart near my house (putting in a new suptermarket). I heard that there is a beer drinking ghost who still haunts the place! 8-{) Tom I liked this one I read a while ago... "Data sheet: HSN-3000 Nuclear Event Detector. The [NED] senses the gamma radiation pulse [from a] nuclear weapon." As if we wouldn't notice... ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 04:43:53 GMT From: Richard Nickle Subject: How to read sci.space without netnews Newsgroups: sci.space In article mwm+@cs.cmu.edu (Mark Maimone) writes: >In article <734975852.F00001@permanet.org> Mark.Prado@p2.f349.n109.z1.permanet.org (Mark Prado) writes: >>If anyone knows anyone else who would like to get sci.space, >>but doesn't have an Internet feed (or has a cryptic Internet >>feed), I would be willing to feed it to them. > > Kudos to Mark for his generous offer, but there already exists a >large (email-based) forwarding system for sci.space posts: Space Digest. >It mirrors sci.space exactly, and provides simple two-way communication. > I think Mark was talking about making it available to people who didn't have email in the first place. If anybody in the Boston area wants a sci.space feed by honest-to-gosh UUCP (no weird offline malreaders), let me know. I'll also hand out logins to anyone who wants one, especially the Boston Chapter of NSS (which I keep forgetting to re-attend). >Questions, comments to space-request@isu.isunet.edu >-- >Mark Maimone phone: +1 (412) 268 - 7698 >Carnegie Mellon Computer Science email: mwm@cmu.edu -- richard nickle rick@trystro.uucp 617-625-7155 v.32/v.42bis think!trystro!rick somerville massachusetts ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 13:35:46 GMT From: Doug Loss Subject: Jemison on Star Trek Newsgroups: sci.space I saw in the newspaper last night that Dr. Mae Jemison, the first black woman in space (she's a physician and chemical engineer who flew on Endeavour last year) will appear as a transporter operator on the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode that airs the week of May 31. It's hardly space science, I know, but it's interesting. Doug Loss ------------------------------ Date: 20 Apr 1993 16:11 UT From: Ron Baalke Subject: Magellan Update - 04/16/93 Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.astro,alt.sci.planetary In article <1993Apr20.072706.19981@cs.ruu.nl>, jhwitten@cs.ruu.nl (Jurriaan Wittenberg) writes... >In <19APR199320262420@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov> baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov >(Ron Baalke) writes: > >>4. On Monday morning, April 19, the moon will occult Venus and >>interrupt the tracking of Magellan for about 68 minutes. >Will this mean a loss of data or will the Magellan transmit data later on ?? The gravity data is collected in real-time and it not recorded to the tape recorder. However, you only need to collect the gravity every 3rd or 4th orbit, so there is no real data loss if the Moon blocks transmission for a short while. >BTW: When will NASA cut off the connection with Magellan?? Not that I am >looking forward to that day but I am just curious. I believe it had something >to do with the funding from the goverment (or rather _NO_ funding :-) The aerobraking starts May 25 and is expected last about 70 days. If the funding is provided (8 million dollars) to extend the mission for the high resolution gravity data, then the mission will last through October 1994. Otherwise, the mission will end this coming July. ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| Ron Baalke | baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov | | | | __ \ /| | | | Jet Propulsion Lab | ___| | | | |__) |/ | | |__ M/S 525-3684 Telos | The aweto from New Zealand /___| | | | ___/ | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | is part caterpillar and |_____|/ |_|/ |_____|/ | part vegetable. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 10:02:59 GMT From: nsmca@acad3.alaska.edu Subject: Moon Colony Prize Race! $6 billion total? Newsgroups: sci.space I think if there is to be a prize and such.. There should be "classes" such as the following: Large Corp. Small Corp/Company (based on reported earnings?) Large Government (GNP and such) Small Governemtn (or political clout or GNP?) Large Organization (Planetary Society? and such?) Small Organization (Alot of small orgs..) The organization things would probably have to be non-profit or liek ?? Of course this means the prize might go up. Larger get more or ?? Basically make the prize (total purse) $6 billion, divided amngst the class winners.. More fair? There would have to be a seperate organization set up to monitor the events, umpire and such and watch for safety violations (or maybe not, if peopel want to risk thier own lives let them do it?). Any other ideas?? == Michael Adams, nsmca@acad3.alaska.edu -- I'm not high, just jacked ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 14:54:16 GMT From: Larry D'Addario Subject: Russian Email Contacts. Newsgroups: sci.space It is usually possible to reach people at IKI (Institute for Space Research) in Moscow by writing to IKIMAIL@esoc1.bitnet This is a machine at ESA in Darmstadt, Germany; IKI has a dedicated phone line to this machine and someone there logs in regularly to retrieve mail. In addition, there are several user accounts belonging to Russian scientific institutions on @sovam.com which is a commercial enterprise based in San Francisco that provides email services to the former USSR. For example, fian@sovam.com is the "PHysics Institute of the Academy of Sciences" (initials transliterated from Russian, of course). These connections cost the Russians real dollars, even for *received* messages, so please don't send anything voluminous or frivilous. ===================================================================== Larry R. D'Addario National Radio Astronomy Observatory Addresses (INTERNET) LDADDARI@NRAO.EDU (FAX) +1/804/296-0324 Charlottesville +1/304/456-2200 Green Bank (MAIL) 2015 Ivy Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA (PHONE) +1/804/296-0245 office, 804/973-4983 home CHO +1/304/456-2226 off., -2106 lab, -2256 apt. GB ===================================================================== ------------------------------ Date: 20 Apr 93 16:11:43 GMT From: Andrew Broderick Subject: Solar Sail Data Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1993Apr15.051746.29848@news.duc.auburn.edu> snydefj@eng.auburn.edu writes: > >I am looking for any information concerning projects involving Solar > Sails I was at an interesting seminar at work (UK's R.A.L. Space Science Dept.) on this subject, specifically on a small-scale Solar Sail proposed as a student space project. The guy giving the talk was keen to generate interest in the project. I'll typein the handout he gave out at the meeting. Here goes : The Microlight Solar Sail ------------------------- 1. Introduction The solar sail is a well-established concept. Harnessing the pressure of sunlight, a spacecraft would have unlimited range. In principle, such a vehicle could explore the whole Solar System with zero fuel consumption. However it is more difficult to design a practical solar sail than most people realize. The pressure of sunlight is only about one kilogram per square kilometer. Deploying and controlling the large area of aluminized fabric which would be necessary to transport a 'conventional' type spacecraft is a daunting task. This is why, despite the potential of hte idea, no such craft has actually been launched to date. 2.Design Recent advances in microelectronics make possible a different concept: a tiny sail just a few metres in diameter which could be controlled purely be electronics, with no mechanical parts. Several attitude control methods are feasible: for example the pressure sunlight exerts on a panel of solar cells varies according to whether power is being drawn. The key components of the craft will be a minute CCD camera developed at Edinburgh University which can act as both attitude sensor and data gathering device; solar cells providing ~1 watt power for control and communication; and a directional radio antenna etched onto the surface of the sail itself. Launched as a piggyback payload, the total cost of the mission can be limited to a few tens of thousands of dollars. 3.Missions The craft would be capable of some ambitious missions. For example: a) It could rendezvous with a nearby asteroid from the Apollo or Amor groups. Closeup pictures could be transmitted back to Earth at a low bit rate. b) It could be steered into a lunar polar orbit. Previously unobserved areas around the lunar poles could be viewed. By angling the sail to reflect sunlight downwards, polar craters whose bases never receive sunlight could be imaged. Bright reflections would confirm that volatiles such as water ice have become trapped in these locations.[Immensely valuable information for setting up a manned lunar base, BTW] c) It could be sent to rendezvous with a small asteroid or comet nucleus. Impacting at low speed, a thin wire probe attached to the craft causes it to rebound while capturing a tiny sample is a sharp-edged tube, like performing a biopsy. Returning to Earth, the sail acts as an ideal re-entry parachute: load per unit area 20 gm/m2 ensures that heat is reradiated so efectively that the sail temperature cannot exceed ~300 deg C. The material sample is recovered, enclosed in a small insulating container. Contact: Colin Jack Tel. 0865-200447 Oxford Mathematical Designs, 131 High Street, Oxford OX1 4DH, England -------------------------------- This guy would love to hear from anyone interested in this project or seeking details or anything, and would be most happy to send you more information. Andy -- ----------------------------------- Andy Jonathan J. Broderick, | "I have come that they might have | Rutherford Lab., UK | life, and have it to the full" | Mail : ajjb@adam2.bnsc.rl.ac.uk | - Jesus Christ | ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 93 02:48 GMT From: THE ARTSTONE COLLECTIVE <0004651657@mcimail.com> Subject: Space Digest V16 #469 I have two questions. 1. Can you see stars in from the space shuttle. 2. Could the Apollo Crews see stars on the way to the moon. Thanks Peter Braniff Access News Network jukebox@mcimail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 09:49:02 GMT From: nsmca@acad3.alaska.edu Subject: Stereo Pix of planets?y Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1993Apr20.010326.8634@csus.edu>, arthurc@sfsuvax1.sfsu.edu (Arthur Chandler) writes: > Can anyone tell me where I might find stereo images of planetary and > planetary satellite surfaces? GIFs preferred, but any will do. I'm > especially interested in stereos of the surfaces of Phobos, Deimos, Mars > and the Moon (in that order). > Thanks. ames.arc.nasa.gov not sure what subdirectory thou.. == Michael Adams, nsmca@acad3.alaska.edu -- I'm not high, just jacked PS: I know it has a GIF area as well as SPACE and other info.. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 03:19:05 EDT From: Graydon Subject: What if the USSR had reached the Moon first? Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1993Apr18.091051.14496@ke4zv.uucp>, gary@ke4zv.uucp (Gary Coffman) says: >In article <93107.144339SAUNDRSG@QUCDN.QueensU.CA> Graydon > writes: >>This is turning into 'what's a moonbase good for', and I ought >>not to post when I've a hundred some odd posts to go, but I would >>think that the real reason to have a moon base is economic. >>Since someone with space industry will presumeably have a much >>larger GNP than they would _without_ space industry, eventually, >>they will simply be able to afford more stuff. > >If I read you right, you're saying in essence that, with a larger >economy, nations will have more discretionary funds to *waste* >on a lunar facility. That was certainly partially the case with Apollo, >but real Lunar colonies will probably require a continuing military, >scientific, or commercial reason for being rather than just a "we have >the money, why not?" approach. I was assuming that there won't be a moon base unless it makes a profit, actually. If it does, well, that gives a larger GNP which leads to being able to spend more money on your military, including gosh-wow space stuff. (assuming it's profitable, rather than paying for itself.) > >It's conceivable that Luna will have a military purpose, it's possible >that Luna will have a commercial purpose, but it's most likely that >Luna will only have a scientific purpose for the next several hundred >years at least. Therefore, Lunar bases should be predicated on funding >levels little different from those found for Antarctic bases. Can you >put a 200 person base on the Moon for $30 million a year? Even if you >use grad students? You might be able to _run_ one for that; put it there, hardly. Why do you think at least a couple centuries before there will be significant commerical activity on the Moon? Graydon ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 93 11:03:49 BST From: Greg Stewart-Nicholls Subject: Why not give $1 billion to first year-long moon residents? Newsgroups: sci.space In <1993Apr20.001428.724@indyvax.iupui.edu> tffreeba@indyvax.iupui.edu writes: >Let's play a game - What would be a reasonable reward? What companies would >have a reasonable shot at pulling off such a feat? Just where in the >budget would the reward come from? Should there be a time limit? Would a >straight cash money award be enough or should we throw in say . . . >exclusive mining rights for the first fifty years? You get the idea. A cash award is OK. A time limit would be nice. You can't give away mining rights (assuming there's anything to mine) because you don't own them. ----------------------------------------------------------------- .sig files are like strings ... every yo-yo's got one. Greg Nicholls ... nicho@vnet.ibm.com (business) or nicho@olympus.demon.co.uk (private) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 10:10:44 GMT From: "Allen W. Sherzer" Subject: Why not give $1 billion to first year-long moon residents? Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1qve4kINNpas@sal-sun121.usc.edu> schaefer@sal-sun121.usc.edu (Peter Schaefer) writes: >|> > Announce that a reward of $1 billion would go to the first corporation >|> > who successfully keeps at least 1 person alive on the moon for a year. >Oh gee, a billion dollars! That'd be just about enough to cover the cost of the >feasability study! Happy, Happy, JOY! JOY! Depends. If you assume the existance of a working SSTO like DC, on billion $$ would be enough to put about a quarter million pounds of stuff on the moon. If some of that mass went to send equipment to make LOX for the transfer vehicle, you could send a lot more. Either way, its a lot more than needed. This prize isn't big enough to warrent developing a SSTO, but it is enough to do it if the vehicle exists. Allen -- +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Lady Astor: "Sir, if you were my husband I would poison your coffee!" | | W. Churchill: "Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it." | +----------------------57 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX-----------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1993 16:34:36 GMT From: Henry Spencer Subject: Why not give $1 billion to first year-long moon residents? Newsgroups: sci.space In article <1993Apr20.101044.2291@iti.org> aws@iti.org (Allen W. Sherzer) writes: >This prize isn't big enough to warrent developing a SSTO, but it is >enough to do it if the vehicle exists. Actually, there are people who will tell you that it *would* be enough to do SSTO development, if done privately as a cut-rate operation. Of course, they may be over-optimistic. You can also assume that a working SSTO would have other applications that would help pay for its development costs. I'd be inclined to make the prize somewhat larger, but $1G might be enough. -- All work is one man's work. | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology - Kipling | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Apr 93 17:23:18 EST From: MAILRP%ESA.BITNET@vm.gmd.de Joint Press release ESA/UN No 18-93 Paris, 19 April 1993 UN/ESA joint training course on satellite applications to be held in Italy, 19-30 April The United Nations and the European Space Agency (ESA) are jointly organising a training course on the applications of satellite data gathered by the European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-1), to be held in Frascati, Italy, from 19 to 30 April. The training course will discuss the applications of satellite data concerning natural resources, renewable energy and the environment. The training course, organised for the benefit of francophone African experts, will be hosted by ESRIN, the European Space Agency's establishment in Frascati, which is responsible for coordination with the users of data from ESA's remote sensing satellite. Twenty-four experts in the field of remote sensing, selected from 19 francophone countries from northern, western and central Africa, and three regional African centres, will attend the two-week session. The course will focus on remote sensing techniques and data applications, particularly ERS-1 data. The ERS-1 satellite, developed by ESA and launched in 1991 with the European Ariane launcher, carries an advanced radar instrument and is the first in a series of radar remote sensing missions that will ensure availability of data beyond the year 2000. The aim of the training course is to increase the potential of experts using the practical applications of radar remote sensing systems to natural resources, renewable energy and the environment, with particular emphasis on applications to geology and mineral prospecting, oceanography and near- coastal areas, agriculture, forestry and meteorology. The education and practical training programme was developed jointly by the United Nations and ESA. The facilities and the technical support, as well as lecturers and information documents for the training course, will be provided by the Agency. Lecturers at the training course will include high-level experts from other European and African organisations active in remote sensing applications. Funds for the training course are being provided by the United Nations Trust Fund for New and Renewable Sources of Energy; the primary contributor to that Fund is the Government of Italy. A similar training course is being planned for Latin American experts.  ------------------------------ End of Space Digest Volume 16 : Issue 473 ------------------------------