Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 0;andrew.cmu.edu;Network-Mail Received: from po2.andrew.cmu.edu via trymail for +dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr1/ota/space/space.dl@andrew.cmu.edu (->+dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr1/ota/space/space.dl) (->ota+space.digests) ID ; Mon, 19 Sep 88 00:08:20 -0400 (EDT) Received: from andrew.cmu.edu via qmail ID ; Mon, 19 Sep 88 00:06:12 -0400 (EDT) Received: by ANDREW.CMU.EDU (5.54/3.15) id for +dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr1/ota/space/space.dl; Mon, 19 Sep 88 00:04:57 EDT Received: by angband.s1.gov id AA02481; Sun, 18 Sep 88 01:07:05 PDT id AA02481; Sun, 18 Sep 88 01:07:05 PDT Date: Sun, 18 Sep 88 01:07:05 PDT From: Ted Anderson Message-Id: <8809180807.AA02481@angband.s1.gov> To: Space+@andrew.cmu.edu Reply-To: Space+@andrew.cmu.edu Subject: SPACE Digest V8 #366 SPACE Digest Volume 8 : Issue 366 Today's Topics: Soviet Mars probe PHOBOS 1 communications lost enroute. Re: Soviet Mars probe PHOBOS 1 communications lost enroute. Re: Soviet Mars probe PHOBOS 1 communications lost enroute. Information about Soviet Space program Starsailing Excellent book Books on the Soviet space program. Books and magazines on the Soviet space program. Re: Books and magazines on the Soviet space program. Re: plutonium Re: The sun as a trashcan (was : Plutonium) Re: Are we ready for terraforming??? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 9 Sep 88 18:20:45 GMT From: mtwain.dec.com!klaes@decwrl.dec.com (CUP/ML, MLO5-2/G1 8A, 223-3283) Subject: Soviet Mars probe PHOBOS 1 communications lost enroute. The Soviet news agency TASS today announced that communications with the Mars probe PHOBOS 1 have been lost due to human error. The wrong code was sent up to PHOBOS 1, and it appears there is no possibility of getting signals back from the probe. This is sadly reminiscent of the code error sent to the VIKING 1 lander in 1982 which accidentally shut it down permanently. A communication session with PHOBOS 1 on September 2 failed when the spacecraft was 17 million kilometers from Earth. PHOBOS 2 is functioning smoothly and it is currently 19 million kilometers from Earth along a trajectory closed to the predicted one. If anyone has more information on this unfortunate incident and what extra tasks PHOBOS 2 will now have to perform as a result, please post it here. Thank you. Larry ------------------------------ Date: 10 Sep 88 21:34:14 GMT From: oliveb!intelca!mipos3!martin@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Martin Harriman ~) Subject: Re: Soviet Mars probe PHOBOS 1 communications lost enroute. (This is probably only of interest if you don't have a newspaper, since I get all my incredibly technical understanding of this from that obscure source.) The major Phobos problem is said to be that the spacecraft pointing was screwed up, so it has lost some or all of its power (and thus will soon be dead as a doornail, just like Jacob Marley). This is distinct from the "commit messy internal suicide" option available in most probes. The probes I've heard about (through that source of all great technical knowledge, the newspaper) have a fair amount of internal redundancy, and can be reconfigured on signals from the ground (or on the absence of signals: see Voyager 2 and the radio from hell). Of course, this means that ground control can also go *oops, I didna really mean that* and cause the probe to turn into high speed modern interplanetary sculpture. Oh, well--but, on the balance, the stories I've seen would indicate that the reconfigurability is a Very Good Thing, and that we've gained much more (for instance: better data compression and transmission) than we've lost. (This seems painfully obvious and basic, but I thought it might be worth posting, since some apparently haven't figured it out.) --Martin martin@bashful.intel.com ------------------------------ Date: 14 Sep 88 20:24:08 GMT From: ftp!seven@bloom-beacon.mit.edu (Benjamin Levy) Subject: Re: Soviet Mars probe PHOBOS 1 communications lost enroute. In article <3557@s.cc.purdue.edu>, ain@s.cc.purdue.edu (Patrick White) writes: > In article martin@bashful.intel.com (Martin Harriman ~) writes: >> The major Phobos problem is said to be that the spacecraft pointing was >> screwed up, so it has lost some or all of its power (and thus will soon >> be dead as a doornail, just like Jacob Marley). > > This seems like a stupid question, but why not just tell it to point the > right way.. and if they can't because it can't hear them, then can they > "bounce" a signal off another satellite/probe in the general vicinity? > -- Pat White There was an article in the Boston Globe which described the problem. Apparently someone accidently told the probe to turn its antenna away from Earth, which prevents us from talking to it. When it turned away from the Earth, it also moved its solar panels so they no longer face the sun. Also it was using a particular star for navigating, which it lost sight of when it turned way from the Earth. In other words everything that could go wrong, without actually damaging the probe, did go wrong. The probe is currently spinning randomly with its batteries slowly fading. So the only thing that will save the probe is if it accidently turns its antenna towards the Earth, while someone is transmitting the appropriate commands to fix the situation. -- ---Ben Levy FTP Software Inc. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Member of the International Amoeba Society: "United We Stand, Divided We Multiply" ------------------------------ Date: 12 Sep 88 18:07:43 GMT From: linus!marsh@husc6.harvard.edu (Ralph Marshall) Subject: Information about Soviet Space program I have a request for the net.space.historians. I am starting a historical research project covering the history of the Soviet Union's space exploration. I am hoping to end up with an audio-visual presentation that would be interesting for high-school and college age students as well as adults who are unfamiliar with foreign space efforts. I am posting this because I am looking for any pointers to sources of material, especially places where I can get good still photographs, film clips, and audio tapes (I am willing to invest a few bucks in this, but not thousands). Any advice is welcome. I have written to the Soviet Embassy asking their public relations people to send me stuff, but I'm sort of stuck for where to look next. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Marshall (marsh@mitre-bedford.arpa, or ...att!linus!marsh) Disclaimer: Often wrong but never in doubt... All of these opinions are mine, so don't gripe to my employer if you don't like them. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: 10 Sep 88 08:52:54 GMT From: mcvax!enea!erix!howard@uunet.uu.net (Howard Gayle) Subject: Starsailing From the Books Received section of Science, 8 July 1988, p. 236: Starsailing. Solar Sails and Interstellar Travel. Louis Friedman, Wiley, New York, 1988, 146 pp., paper $9.95. Howard Gayle TN/ETX/TX/UMG Ericsson Telecom AB S-126 25 Stockholm Sweden howard@ericsson.se {mcvax, uunet}!enea!ericsson.se!howard Phone: +46 8 719 5565 FAX : +46 8 719 9598 Telex: 14910 ERIC S ------------------------------ Date: 12 Sep 88 05:18:52 GMT From: aterry@TEKNOWLEDGE-VAXC.ARPA (Stack Overflow) Subject: Excellent book There is an excellent book I have not seen mentioned in this group: Interstellar Migration and the Human Experience edited by Ben R. Finney and Eric M. Jones Univ. of California Press, 1985 I bought it about a year ago so it may still be in print. This is a collection of papers derived from a conference. The papers have been cleaned up, some new material published elsewhere has been added, and in some cases rebuttals and comments added. The book is an interdisciplinary look at what going to the stars might mean, accessable to the Scientific American type reader. There are some technical papers in the front to set the stage: e.g., what resources are there, what are the problems of interstellar travel? There is a section on demography and economics. Well, what about this genetic drift bugaboo, what IS a minimum colony size? (Smaller than you would think.) How would one plan the first few generations' economy and provide for their needs considering massive resupply will be impractical? Deciding what to pack is a non-trivial problem for a generation ship. There are sections discussing other societies (such as the Polynesians) who have culturally adapted to massive migration. There is even a section on what migration might mean to the future evolution of our species. Going to the stars is not just a matter of engineering, it will be a profound cultural enterprise. Reading this book gives some idea of the issues involved, and in doing so makes it all that much more real. I recommend this book highly. Allan ------------------------------ Date: 14 Sep 88 16:29:31 GMT From: mtwain.dec.com!klaes@decwrl.dec.com (CUP/ML, MLO5-2/G1 8A, 223-3283) Subject: Books on the Soviet space program. Per Ralph Marshall's request for sources of information on the Soviet space program, here are some books which come to mind, and which I also own. I am writing on them from memory, since they are at home and I have no access to them at the moment. I believe they are still available to order through any good bookstore: THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SPACE TECHNOLOGY, one volume, first printed in 1980. It is an excellent source of material, photographs, and diagrams of every major space effort up to the present (the book is periodically updated). It contains quite a bit on the Soviet programs, including new material never before published outside of classified documents. RED STAR IN ORBIT by James Oberg, 1981. Oberg is an expert on the Soviet space program, and he provides a number of disclosures on Soviet space flights which have been hidden for years to the West. There is also an excellent bibliography which will lead you to numerous other works on Soviet space flights. An updated version of sorts on several space incidents can be found in Oberg's 1988 book, UNCOVERING SOVIET DISASTERS. These two books do expose the myths about a "secret" manned program in which ten cosmonauts supposedly died in space accidents before Yuri Gagarin's flight in VOSTOK 1 in 1961; in reality, there were eight or nine deaths of cosmonauts in training accidents on the ground which were only recently reported due to the reforms of glastnost. SPACE LOG, A Jane's Information Book, 1987. This book details thirty years of unmanned planetary probes, with excellent technical information and diagrams of the Soviet probes, many of which have had little disclosure before. A companion book, PLANETARY ENCOUNTERS, covers much of the same territory. A HISTORY OF ROCKETRY AND SPACE TRAVEL by Werhner Von Braun, 1985. This book has been updated three times since its first printing in 1966, the latest written by another author since Von Braun's death in 1977 (I have the 1969 version, thus my inability to mention the new author). Like the Space Encyclopedia first mentioned, it gives you an all-around view of the Soviet program in relation to the other international space programs. These books are accessible to the age and education group you desire, and will hopefully lead you to even more sources. If I think of or find any more, I will post them in this newsgroup. Good luck, and thanks for bringing space education to the general public! We need more of it to make people aware just how important space exploration is to our future. Larry ------------------------------ Date: 14 Sep 88 16:55:50 GMT From: mtwain.dec.com!klaes@decwrl.dec.com (CUP/ML, MLO5-2/G1 8A, 223-3283) Subject: Books and magazines on the Soviet space program. In regards to my list of books on the Soviet space program, I would like to make one correction and addition: The Jane's book on planetary probes which I referred to as SPACE LOG is actually entitled SOLAR SYSTEM LOG. There is also a 1985 Jane's book on manned space flights entitled MANNED SPACE LOG, which gives the technical details on Soviet and American manned space flights. While I do not know of any periodicals which deal specifically with the Soviet space program (Are there any?), I can refer you to three magazines which do carry technical information on current developments in this area: AVIATION WEEK AND SPACE TECHNOLOGY, FINAL FRONTIER, and SKY AND TELESCOPE, all of which should be available at any good library. Larry ------------------------------ Date: 14 Sep 88 22:00:39 GMT From: cfa!cfa250!mcdowell@husc6.harvard.edu (Jonathan McDowell) Subject: Re: Books and magazines on the Soviet space program. From article <8809141655.AA11300@decwrl.dec.com>, by klaes@mtwain.dec.com (CUP/ML, MLO5-2/G1 8A, 223-3283): (List of books on Sov space) For more detailed info, try Nicholas Johnson's "Soviet Space Programs 1980-85", an AAAS Science and Technology series publication at about $50, or Marcia Smith's 'Soviet Space Programs 1976-80', a US Congressional Research Service document available from US Govt Printing Office in DC. The latter is probably the 'primary' reference (short of reading Pravda and analysing NORAD's orbital elements) and an updated version is being published. Phillip Clark in London is writing a definitive book on the Soviet program which hopefully will emerge soon. The Journal of the British Interplanetary Society and Spaceflight News, both British publications, carry regular articles; there is also a privately published 'fanzine' called Zenit, also from England, which deals exclusively with current news in the Soviet program. Jonathan McDowell ------------------------------ Resent-Message-Id: Resent-Date: Wed, 14 Sep 88 08:53:13 -0400 (EDT) Resent-From: Ted Anderson Resent-To: Space Return-Path: <@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU:U15305@UICVM.BITNET> Date: 6 September 1988 11:50:12 CDT From: U15305@uicvm (Tom Kirke 996-4961) To: Subject: Peter Nelson in V8 #350 mentioned a book "Heavens on Earth". The complete listing for this book is: Holloway, Mark 1917- Heavens on Earth: Utopian Communities in America 1680-1880 New York Dover Pub (1966) <2nd ed rev> HX653 .H66 1966 Tom Kirke ------------------------------ Date: 1 Sep 88 22:45:02 GMT From: tikal!sigma!uw-nsr!uw-warp!gtisqr!rick@beaver.cs.washington.edu (Rick Groeneveld) Subject: Re: plutonium In article <951@meccsd.MECC.MN.ORG>, mvs@meccsd.MECC.MN.ORG (Michael V. Stein) writes: > Plutonium is far too valuable of an energy source to go throw it away. > Even if we could, which as Mr. Plait later explains is probabally > impossible, it would be one of the most stupid ideas ever implemented > by anyone on this planet - or probably any other planet for that > matter. When considering the current use of plutonium, it doesn't sound so stupid after all. :-> H. Groeneveld ------------------------------ Date: 2 Sep 88 01:46:21 GMT From: bungia!meccts!meccsd!mvs@UMN-CS.ARPA (Michael V. Stein) Subject: Re: The sun as a trashcan (was : Plutonium) In article <962@esunix.UUCP> bpendlet@esunix.UUCP (Bob Pendleton) writes: >...If we do decide to dump the stuff in space (and what ever ocean we >launch over), I hope we are smart enough to dump it on the moon or in >orbits that don't go too near the sun. At least then we can retrieve >it after we realize what we've done. RIGHT!! >The US government has paid for many studies of the "proper" way to >dispose of high level nuclear waste. The same technique has been >proposed many times. Simply put, bury it deep in large blocks of >basalt, where large is roughly the size of your average mountain. You have the scale a bit high. The high level wastes for a 1000 Megawatt nuclear plant operating for one year will occupy no more than 2 cubic meters. (A volume that will fit nicely under a kitchen table.) In comparison a 1000 megawatt coal plant produces about 10 tons of waste - per _minute_. >Back >filled with ceramics and crushed basalt the decay heat of the waste >should fuse the surrounding material into an extremely hard nodule. > >To the best of my knowledge this has not been tested. Nor has it ever >been seriously considered as a waste disposal technique by the federal >government, it seems it costs too much. Nuclear waste disposal will be paid by a tax that is applied to all electricty generated from nuclear power plants. The reason that it hasn't happened already is simply that there is no urgent need for a repository right now. >I'll bet it costs less than >launching the waste into space. You are damn right it will cost less. It will also be several billion times safer. -- Michael V. Stein - Minnesota Educational Computing Corp. - Technical Services {bungia,uiucdcs,umn-cs}!meccts!mvs or mvs@mecc.MN.ORG ------------------------------ Date: 1 Sep 88 17:30:41 GMT From: hp-pcd!hpcvlx!bturner@hplabs.hp.com (Bill Turner) Subject: Re: Are we ready for terraforming??? > On the serious side though, I believe that it is incredibly sad that mankinds > first attempts at terraforming will be on the Earth just to keep it > habitable. I feel that we will have to eventually implement some type of > global scheme to clean up the earth and the longer we wait, the more > drastic it will be. If you wish to look at it this way, we HAVE been terraforming Earth for quite a while now. Whether for good or not, you must admit that the environment has been effected substantially by our activities. And what is terraforming, other than changing the environment? --Bill Turner ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V8 #366 *******************