Message-ID: <YZKI=BO00VcJEQqE5F@andrew.cmu.edu>
Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU
From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU
To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU
Date: Thu,  9 Nov 89 04:26:39 -0500 (EST)
Subject: SPACE Digest V10 #228

SPACE Digest                                     Volume 10 : Issue 228

Today's Topics:
		       Re: A "spacey" ambition?
			  Re: galileo and me
	     Re: Radiation exposure for Apollo astronauts
	       Re: Moon Colonies / Ant Tanks?' Physics
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Date: 8 Nov 89 19:50:43 GMT
From: skipper!shafer@ames.arc.nasa.gov  (Mary Shafer)
Subject: Re: A "spacey" ambition?

In article <1531@accuvax.nwu.edu> phil@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (William LeFebvre) writes:

   Remember: working directly for NASA means working for the gonvernment,
   which means taking and passing the civil servant exam (or at least, so
   I am led to believe).  Also, being a full-time astronaut means working
   for NASA, therefore....

I believe that the exam doesn't apply to technical jobs, but rather to
"general" positions--at any rate, NASA engineers and programmers don't
take it.

Actually, I think that the civil service exam is no longer used any where,
but I could be wrong.

Also, military astronauts don't work _for_ NASA, they work _at_ NASA.
--
Mary Shafer   shafer@elxsi.dfrf.nasa.gov  ames!elxsi.dfrf.nasa.gov!shafer
         NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, CA
                    Of course I don't speak for NASA

------------------------------

Date: 8 Nov 89 16:14:45 GMT
From: skipper!shafer@ames.arc.nasa.gov  (Mary Shafer)
Subject: Re: galileo and me

In article <1989Nov7.101323.12007@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu> mflawson@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (Michael F Lawson) writes:

>In article <1989Nov4.211211.13592@herbert.uucp> doug@jimi.cs.unlv.edu (Doug Phillipson 5-0134) writes:

>>It was a thrill to watch the launch and I would work for free to get into
>>space (or at least for room and board)...

>Isn't this sad.  There are so many of us who would give up most of our free
>time to work toward getting into space.  I would really not mind paying more
>taxes to fund it, either, if the job were done 'right'.  It seems to me that
>a volunteer, engineering-based organization could really make some miracles
>happen, since the major costs would be hardware, not salaries.  I suppose that
>the biggest problem with this approach would be to coordinate people all across
>the country or world.

NASA Ames Research Center has a program known as the Ames Associate
Program.  Ames will provide you with a job, but no pay.  They will,
however, pay death/disability benefits similar to those for civil
servants for job-related accidents.

This is quite popular here at Dryden for the children of NASA employees.
(Not job-related accidents, but summer "jobs"!)

I believe that you have to be at least 18 yrs old.

Call the Personnel Office of the NASA Center you're interested in
supporting.  I'm sure that all the Centers have something equivalent.

I should point out that you won't get to be an astronaut this way, but
you will be able to make a meaningful contribution.  I had an Ames
Associate working with me two summers ago.  He's an Aero E at Iowa
State and he became a key player in the F-18 High-Alpha Research
Vehicle Program.  We were able to find some funding and turn him into
a summer intern, part way through the summer, though.  He was paid the
whole time last summer.

I _know_ that we could use you here at Dryden to help support the
Shuttle landings!

--
Mary Shafer   shafer@elxsi.dfrf.nasa.gov  ames!elxsi.dfrf.nasa.gov!shafer
         NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, CA
                    Of course I don't speak for NASA

------------------------------

Date: 8 Nov 89 04:44:28 GMT
From: mailrus!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!utzoo!henry@uunet.uu.net  (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Radiation exposure for Apollo astronauts

In article <Added.EZITZKu00Ui3MR8U9J@andrew.cmu.edu> GILL@QUCDNAST.BITNET writes:
>... First, what is the exact range of the van Allen belts, and
>what shape are they?

Their shape and size vary somewhat with the shape of Earth's magnetic
field, which is influenced heavily by the solar wind.  The inner belt
is fairly small and sharp; things start to get warm beyond about 1000 km
up and are really hot between about 3000 and 5000.  This is at the
equator; the hot part only extends about 20 degrees north and south,
although things are still warm out to considerably greater latitudes.
The hot part of the outer belt starts at about 15000 km and ends at
about 20000, but again these numbers are at the equator; the shape in
cross-section is a crescent, with the high-latitude "horns" rather closer
to the Earth.  The warm parts extend much further; Clarke orbit is in
the outer fringes of them, and the whole area between inner and outer
belts is somewhat warm.  To avoid the belts, one must stay low, stay
a long way out, or operate only at the extreme poles (which is tricky
since polar orbits do cross the equator).

> How are they generated?

They are solar and cosmic high-energy particles trapped in the Earth's
magnetic field.

> Second, how much exposure did
>the Apollo astronauts receive (I assume the van Allen belts do not extend all
>the way to the moon)?

A quick passage in or out is not a serious problem.  I don't have numbers
ready to hand.

>Third, what are the chances of an astronaut on an
>interplanetary journey from getting nailed by a cosmic ray of sufficient
>energy to harm him/her?

A single cosmic ray is not likely to do anything serious.  There is reason
for concern about cumulative effects, once one starts talking about years
in space.

>Finally, how much are geosynchronous satellites
>affected by cosmic rays/van Allen belts?

Cosmic rays, not significant.  The fringes of the outer belt do have a
significant effect on electronics over time; in particular, the output
of solar arrays drops off as the cells accumulate radiation damage.
-- 
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: 8 Nov 89 05:45:37 GMT
From: crash!orbit!pnet51!schaper@nosc.mil  (S Schaper)
Subject: Re: Moon Colonies / Ant Tanks?' Physics

Umm, Dont' we normally treat gravity as coming from individual particles, of
which the earth is composed of quite a few? Math is not necessarily
co-identical with physics, as heretical as that may seem. What I mean is;
mathmatical short-cuts may have some innaccuracies when applied to certain
situations.

UUCP: {amdahl!bungia, uunet!rosevax, chinet, killer}!orbit!pnet51!schaper
ARPA: crash!orbit!pnet51!schaper@nosc.mil
INET: schaper@pnet51.cts.com

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End of SPACE Digest V10 #228
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