Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 7997;andrew.cmu.edu;Ted Anderson Received: from beak.andrew.cmu.edu via trymail for +dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr11/tm2b/space/space.dl@andrew.cmu.edu (->+dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr11/tm2b/space/space.dl) (->ota+space.digests) ID ; Sun, 29 Oct 89 23:07:32 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <4ZGwXha00VcJEFf04L@andrew.cmu.edu> Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Sun, 29 Oct 89 23:07:10 -0500 (EST) Subject: SPACE Digest V10 #166 SPACE Digest Volume 10 : Issue 166 Today's Topics: NASA Headline News for 10/19/89 (Forwarded) YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE A REAL CONTRIBUTION TO SPACE! Re: Long Duration Facility Re: Amroc Helium Pressurization system Re: Flame Re: Plutonium in Earth orbit Magellan Status for week of 10/17/89 (Forwarded) Re: Try thinking before stinking ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 19 Oct 89 18:10:19 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: NASA Headline News for 10/19/89 (Forwarded) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, Oct. 19, 1989 Audio: 202/755-1788 ----------------------------------------------------------------- This is NASA Headline News for Thursday, october 19th...... "galileo is on its way to another world," radioed Atlantis Commander Don Williams to Mission Control. At 7:15 last night, about 6 1/2-hours after liftoff, the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis successfully sent the spacecraft Galileo on its 6-year journey to Jupiter. About an hour later, Galileo's Inertial Upper Stage booster fired twice...slowing the spacecraft's motion so that it would fall toward the inner solar system and the first destination...Venus, on its path to Jupiter. galileo will fly near Venus in February 1990 and swing twice past the Earth for gravity assists before going on to a December 1995 arrival at Jupiter. Atlantis...after a flawless liftoff, has developed a problem with a cooling system. Mission Control said shortly after achieving orbit, the flash evaporator system automatically switched from its normal low cooling mode using the topper subsystem to the high load subsystem. The flash evaporator system switched over normally to the payload bay radiators when the payload bay doors were opened, in preparation for deployment of Galileo. Mission controllers and the crew will continue to monitor the system. Meanwhile, during the remaining portion of the flight, the crew plans to conduct a variety of scientific experiments...and also use a high-quality Imax movie camera for a documentary for the National Air and Space Museum. Landing is currently scheduled for Monday at Edwards Air Force Base, California. *********** ----------------------------------------------------------------- STS-34 television coverage NASA Select television will provide near continuous coverage of the entire STS-34 mission, including in flight crew activities and change of shift status briefings from Mission Control in Houston. Landing is scheduled for Monday afternoon. ----------------------------------------------------------------- These reports are filed daily, Monday through Friday, at 12 noon, Eastern time. ----------------------------------------------------------------- A service of the Internal Communications Branch (LPC) NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. ------------------------------ Date: 18 Oct 89 03:27:32 GMT From: EWTILENI@pucc.princeton.edu (Eric William Tilenius) Subject: YOUR CHANCE TO MAKE A REAL CONTRIBUTION TO SPACE! AN OPEN LETTER FROM... SPACE STUDIES INSTITUTE P.O. Box 82 Princeton, New Jersey 08542 (609) 921-0377 Dear Space Enthusiast, On June 15, 1989, the Space Studies Institute released a Request for Proposals for the design of a spacecraft to orbit the Moon and geochemically map the entire surface from a polar orbit. This space probe will be the first private sector space exploration mission. SSI first recommended a lunar polar probe mission in 1985 to the President's National Commission on Space. Since that time, we have gained the support of leaders in the aerospace, political, and private sectors. We also see a shift from defense-related space activity to commercial space activity, and the Administration is urging for private sector initiatives and a permanent presence in space. The first phase of this mission consists of the review of the Design Study Proposals, the award of the contract for the Design Study, development of the mission plan, and establishment of the project management team. SSI is currently hiring a Project Manager and is reviewing the proposals. The contract will be awarded on December 15, 1989 and work will commence on January 15, 1990. The completion of the Study will be on or before July 1, 1990. The budget for the first phase of work is $250,000. It will be divided as follows: Design study, $100,000; Project Management, $75,000; and Project Funding Study and Initial Phase Fundraising, $50,000. SSI is seeking funding from the Corporate and Private sectors. SSI Members have pledged $25,000 this quarter. Corporate and Private donations will fund the remainder of this first phase. Already, there has been significant interest in the media for this mission. SSI is seeking support for this important study. In return for a donation of $25 or more, you will receive updates on the Lunar Polar Probe project. For a donation of $100 or more to this groundbreaking work, you will received a signed copy of Dr. Gerard K. O'Neill's book THE HIGH FRONTIER. The Space Studies Institute (SSI) was founded in 1977 by Dr. Gerard K. O'Neill, Professor Emeritus of Physics at Princeton University. SSI is a private, non-profit research organization whose major purpose is to open the High Frontier of space. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ____ YES! I want to help make the dream of space colonies and space manufacturing a reality! Count on me as a Sustaining Member of the Space Studies Institute. To further the Institute's critical research work here is my tax-deductible gift of: _____ $100 _____ $75 _____ $50 _____ $25 _____ $15 (student) _____ In addition, a matching gift will be made by: ________________ (company) NAME: __________________________________________________________ ADDRESS: __________________________________________________________ CITY, STATE, ZIP: _________________________________________________ PHONE: Home: _______________________ Work: ______________________ Please make checks payable to Space Studies Institute and mail to: Space Studies Institute P.O. Box 82 Princeton, NJ 08542 For your membership donation, you will receive the Institute's excellent bi-monthly newsletter UPDATE, an SSI membership decal and membership card. Help open the High Frontier of space -- Join the Space Studies Institute today! - ERIC - Eric W. Tilenius | Princeton Planetary Soc. | ewtileni@pucc.BITNET 523 Laughlin Hall | 315 West College | ewtileni@pucc.Princeton.EDU Princeton University | Princeton University | rutgers!pucc.bitnet!ewtileni Princeton, NJ 08544 | Princeton, NJ 08544 | princeton!pucc!ewtileni 609-734-7677 | 609-734-7677 | COMPUSERVE: 70346,16 ------------------------------ Date: 18 Oct 89 05:52:47 GMT From: palmer@tybalt.caltech.edu (David Palmer) Subject: Re: Long Duration Facility In article <12268@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu> I write: >I read in the news (L.A. Times, 10/16/89) that the Long Duration Exposure >Facility (LDEF) is scheduled to re-enter in late November... Sorry, sorry, sorry. The satellite that is expected to re-enter is the solar maximum mission (SMM), a very productive instrument which should have been reboosted (no money, that's why.) I read solar max, and my mind thought: reentering sat == LDEF. Especially since the paper said that three 120 lb pieces will survive reentry. (This month's weather: Continued cloudiness, some shaking in the Bay area, and chance of scattered satellite). Sorry again for the posting (which I have cancelled). David Palmer palmer@tybalt.caltech.edu ...rutgers!cit-vax!tybalt.caltech.edu!palmer "Direct quotes don't have to be exact, or even accurate. Truth is as irrelevant to a newspaper as it is to a court of law" - Judge Alarcon, 9th circuit court of appeals (paraphrased) ------------------------------ Date: 18 Oct 89 16:13:38 GMT From: mailrus!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo!henry@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: Amroc Helium Pressurization system In article <3931@cbnewsc.ATT.COM> dhp@cbnewsc.ATT.COM (douglas.h.price,45261,ih,6x203,312 979 3664) writes: >It's not exactly the same. A fully fueled liquid rocket on the pad >is a bomb, and it gets treated as such. Liquid rockets normally are fueled >up several hours before launch. It is apparently regular practice at the >AMROC test stand to work on the motor directy, even when the LOX tank for >the test (about 30 feet away) is fully loaded... I'll bet they don't work on the LOX tank when it's loaded, though. Note the difference between a rocket and a test stand. -- A bit of tolerance is worth a | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology megabyte of flaming. | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 4 Oct 89 20:07:26 PDT From: mordor!lll-tis!oodis01!riacs!rutgers!pnet01.cts.com!jim@angband.s1.gov (Jim Bowery) To: ucsd!nosc!crash!space@angband.s1.gov Subject: Re: Flame Andy Edeburn writes: >Alright, let's get a few things straight out there. >The TITAN has a much a higher risk factor than the shuttle. And The people who gave the shuttle a 1 in 33 disaster rating while NASA was giving it a 1 in 100,000 disaster rating are now giving the TITAN a LOWER risk factor than the shuttle: The Air Force. >realistically, RTG's emit _less_ radiation than the average color TV set Unless their containers are ruptured, as they were during NASA simulations of explosions. And while this isn't the first RTG, it is the largest. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Bowery PHONE: 619/295-8868 BE A SPACE ACTIVIST PO Box 1981 GET OFF THE NET AND SET UP AN APPOINTMENT WITH YOUR La Jolla, CA 92038 CONGRESSMAN! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- UUCP: {cbosgd, hplabs!hp-sdd, sdcsvax, nosc}!crash!pnet01!jim ARPA: crash!pnet01!jim@nosc.mil INET: jim@pnet01.cts.com ------------------------------ Date: 17 Oct 89 22:34:29 GMT From: aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!masticol@rutgers.edu (Steve Masticola) Subject: Re: Plutonium in Earth orbit Thouis Jones writes: ] ]My point (and I had hoped I wouldn't need to spell it out in words of ] ]<=2 syllables) is that there is a difference between a prudent risk ] ]and a stupid gamble. Launching a hazardous payload that has a small ] ]chance of returning to Earth is a prudent risk. Launching an RTG which ] ]_will_ re-enter uncontrolled is a stupid gamble. ] And my point is that your definitions of prudent risk and stupid ] gamble are neither compatible with mine nor necessarily right. "Not yours and not necessarily right?" I am blinded by the sheer force of fact and logic behind your argument. Keep working, and perhaps someday you'll find yourself capable of making a statement with a nonzero semantic content. ] Just because you have a terrible fear of radiation falling out of the sky ] on you doesn't mean that we should stop using it in RTG's. If it ] bothers you that much why don't you move to another planet :-) You're boring me, Thouis. Any sane person _is_ afraid of what can kill him and cannot be controlled. Any intelligent person will accept some risk if the potential reward is high enough. Anyone who's both sane and intelligent will know the difference, and will not accept stupid chances for low gains. Is it worth losing your legs to beat a stop light? Is it worth incinerating 800 people to save $2 per Pinto? Is it worth killing some good folks to avoid having to launch solar arrays? Apparently you think so, and don't seem inclined to factor ethics into your thinking. Stick to noncritical applications, Thouis. I'll continue to argue this with someone who is capable of arguing intelligently. That ain't you, Thouis. - Steve (masticol@athos.rutgers.edu) ------------------------------ Date: 19 Oct 89 03:39:48 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: Magellan Status for week of 10/17/89 (Forwarded) MAGELLAN WEEKLY STATUS Oct. 17, 1989 This is the weekly Magellan status report. Monday, Oct. 16, the Magellan spacecraft is 67,998,310 miles from Earth. Having passed through perihelion on Oct. 7, the spacecraft is now slowing and is traveling at 85,768 miles per hour relative to the sun. The one-way light time is 6 minutes and 5 seconds. During perihelion, its closest approach to the sun, Magellan experienced some manageable performance degradation to the power panels due to intense solar flare activity, the highest in decades. Despite this unpredicted environment, the spacecraft has experienced no permanent failures and remains healthy as it begins its climb away from the sun back to the vicinity of Earth orbit. Six of the eight star calibrations performed during the reporting period were fully successful. One had a spurious interrupt and the other was missed due to accumulated errors following the change in gyro channels. On Oct. 6, the spacecraft was maneuvered to point the High- Gain Antenna to Earth to playback star calibration data from Data Management System (DMS) B. But accumulated gyro drift error caused the antenna to point 1.8 degrees off target and the Deep Space Network could not lock on to the telemetry. Plans are being made to replay the data during the Cruise 14 load. The mission office also switched to backup gyro channels. The drift was corrected and subsequent star calibrations were successful. The problem was thought to be vibration caused by increased viscosity of motor shaft bearing lubricant resulting from lower temperatures, and the problem is believed to be unique to one motor. Remedies are being considered. The Cruise 13 command load was uplinked Oct. 14. Cruise 14 will be uplinked Nov. 3 and the stored sequence will begin on Nov. 6. SPACECRAFT Distance from Earth (mi) 67,998,310 Velocity Geocentric 59,421 mph Heliocentric 85,768 mph One-way light time 6 mins, 5 secs ------------------------------ Date: 17 Oct 89 15:29:35 GMT From: swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!ginosko!aplcen!stda.jhuapl.edu!jwm@ucsd.edu (Jim Meritt) Subject: Re: Try thinking before stinking In article <1989Oct16.164654.17664@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: }In article cr10+@andrew.cmu.edu (Christopher John Rapier) writes: }>... Okay lets say, god forbid, the shuttle explodes again... } }Unless it manages to explode in a much more violent fashion than last time, }Galileo -- like the TDRS aboard Challenger -- ends up on the sea bottom }more or less intact, and the RTGs can be fished out and re-used if anyone }wants them. (Galileo, alas, won't be worth the trouble of fishing out.) }It has been done before; there are RTGs in orbit that got there on their }second try. } }>Lets say it it smashes into the ocean and, say, 5% of }>the packing fails and 2 pounds of plutonium escape. Can any of you give }>more than a hapazard guess as to what effect that will happen to the }>environment in that area? ... } }People are warned not to eat fish from that area for a while. Period. }Nuclear weapons, and even whole nuclear submarines, have been lost at sea }without dire consequences. } }>... What if something worse happens? Like the }>shuttle explodes at around 3 miles? ... } }Many pounds of plutonium were being released into the atmosphere every year }during the heyday of nuclear testing in the late 50s. It wasn't exactly }healthy, but we're still around. Plutonium is not nice stuff, but the }dangers are exaggerated. Opinion: Absolutely no noticable effect. I believe that the things you mention are much less harmful than one coming almost straight down at 25,000 miles per hour. Which one has. Nobody noticed. Remember Apollo 13? "In these matters the only certainty is that nothing is certain" - Pliny the Elder These were the opinions of : jwm@aplvax.jhuapl.edu - or - jwm@aplvax.uucp - or - meritt%aplvm.BITNET ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V10 #166 *******************