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 ; Wed, 15 Nov 89 01:56:07 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Wed, 15 Nov 89 01:55:30 -0500 (EST) Subject: SPACE Digest V10 #249 SPACE Digest Volume 10 : Issue 249 Today's Topics: RE: SPACE Digest V10 #244 Re: Micro-gravity fermentation experiments Space exposed tomato seeds are coming home (Forwarded) NASA Headline News for 11/14/89 (Forwarded) Launch advisory for shuttle mission STS-33 (Forwarded) Re: Moon Colonies / Ant Tanks Re: More about a spacial lift Re: Voyager/DSN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 14 Nov 89 11:31:44 -0900 Sender: Reply-To: From: "This sentence has thre erors." Subject: RE: SPACE Digest V10 #244 I appreciate the copy of EJASA...however, I feel that the first two articles really belong on SF-Lovers, not on Space. My apologies to anyone whom I have offended. One comment on the summarization/explanation...another hobble on the contact of any ETI's is the slow rate of progression of radio signals, and distortion in the interstellar medium. I am considering cross posting this in SF-Lovers@RUTGERS...the authors do deserve feedback on their work, and they're likelier to get more appropriate feedback from all of us "fuzzy minded science fiction wanna be's who cna't handle real math...." than from sci.space. But then again, I could be wrong. Regarding the lunar colony/spacehab speculation, I assert once again that the Moon is far deadlier than Alaska. An uprotected human being can survive for up to 2 hours in a -50 winter, if he knows what he's doing. On the moon, the last guess I ever heard was about 15 minuts, and only if he had the sense to hyperventilate for a about five minutes first, then exhale all the air out of his lungs...(survive on the O2 i the bloodstream) Mind you, this is only survival in the sense that the person will still be eating, breathing and defecating afterwards. In eitehr of these cases the subject in question will be crippled for life... Yorik the Blind/Ken Burnside/FSKWB@ALASKA/FSKWB@acad3.fai.alaska.edu ------------------------------ Date: 14 Nov 89 20:45:49 GMT From: crdgw1!crdos1!davidsen@uunet.uu.net (Wm E Davidsen Jr) Subject: Re: Micro-gravity fermentation experiments I think all it takes is four buckets of the right mix. Put one at each end of a pole and start rotating about the centerpoint. Centrifugal force keeps the beer in the buckets, lets the beer yeast sink to the bottom (or the ale yeast rise to the surface). Why four buckets? Spin the others on another pole in the opposite direction to avoid putting a lot of rotation on the station itself. For mass production you could have a dedicated small satelite shaped like a wheel (or two wheels). The problem is growing the ingredients, the water could be (yecch) recycled. "Made in microgravity! The ultimate light beer!" -- bill davidsen (davidsen@crdos1.crd.GE.COM -or- uunet!crdgw1!crdos1!davidsen) "The world is filled with fools. They blindly follow their so-called 'reason' in the face of the church and common sense. Any fool can see that the world is flat!" - anon ------------------------------ Date: 14 Nov 89 23:35:36 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: Space exposed tomato seeds are coming home (Forwarded) Terri Sindelar Headquarters, Washington, D.C. November 14, 1989 RELEASE: 89-174 SPACE EXPOSED TOMATO SEEDS ARE COMING HOME NASA is offering 12.5 million tomato seeds to budding student gardeners in the first experiment ever to study the effects of long-term space exposure on living tissue. It has been more than 5-1/2 years since the Space Shuttle deployed 12.5 million tomato seeds, housed in the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), into Earth orbit. Next month during Space Shuttle mission 32, NASA plans to retrieve the 11-ton, free-flying satellite. LDEF carries 57 experiments concerned with the exposure of materials to the space environment, one of which is SEEDS. SEEDS (Space Exposed Experiment Developed for Students) is a cooperative educational partnership among NASA Headquarters Education Affairs Division, Washington, D.C., NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., and the George W. Park Seed Co., Greenwood, S.C. The project is designed as a classroom experiment for U.S. students in grades 5 through university to conduct open-ended research. NASA Administrator Richard H. Truly said, "Because this is the first opportunity for long-duration space exposure of living tissues, every classroom experiment will be significant. I hope millions of students will experience this hands-on, one-of-a-kind experiment and learn that science is fun." The SEEDS project has the potential to directly involve 4 million students and 40,000 educators, in 250,000 classrooms. After LDEF is retrieved, the flight seeds will be returned to Park Seed Co. where an equal number of control seeds from the same lot have been maintained in a ground-based facility. Following preliminary growth tests conducted by plant scientists, these seeds will be distributed in late February. Each seed kit will contain 50 flight seeds and 50 control seeds, instructional materials and computerized data collection and reporting booklets. Students will conduct classroom experiments, including experiment design, data gathering, sample comparison and final reporting results. Upper elementary and secondary levels could compare germination rates and times, seed embryos, phototropic responses and fruit products. Students also could consider the impact of varying environmental factors. Upper secondary and university students could perform chromosome experiments and population genetics studies. The tomato seed was chosen because students in all geographic areas are familiar with the plant; it is relatively simple to germinate and grow; it is small enough to permit a large number to be flown; and it is proven to be very hardy. Rutgers tomato seeds are open-pollinated, nonhybrids and produce plants with comparatively little variation from generation to generation. Consequently, any changes in the space tomatoes' characteristics will be easy to detect. The Rutgers tomato seed was selected because it has wide adaptation and can be grown in every state. The SEEDS project gives students the unprecedented opportunity to be involved in a national, first-of-a-kind experiment that encourages both active involvement and an interdisciplinary approach to designing their own investigations to involve decision-making, data-gathering and reporting of final results. There is still time to participate in the SEEDS project. Educators wishing further information in order to participate in the program should contact the NASA SEEDS Project, Educational Affairs Division, Code XEO, NASA, Washington, D.C. 20546, and indicate education/grade level. ------------------------------ Date: 14 Nov 89 23:29:53 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: NASA Headline News for 11/14/89 (Forwarded) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, November 14, 1989 Audio: 202/755-1788 ----------------------------------------------------------------- This is NASA Headline News for Tuesday, November 14th...... Technicians at Kennedy Space Center have discovered that wiring in two electronic assemblies in Discovery's left and right Solid Rocket Boosters may be faulty. Engineers today are preparing to remove the assemblies to verify the wiring. The launch date of mission STS-33 is being evaluated at this time...but is now no earlier than Wednesday, November 22nd. Technicians have completed the changeout of the faulty Delta/guidance computer ahead of schedule, and as a result, the launch of the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite is now scheduled for Saturday, November 18, at 9:24 A.M., Eastern time from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The Washington based publication "Space News" reports that scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have proposed that NASA build an inflatable space station, moon base and deep space probe, in an attempt to cut the cost of sending U.S. astronauts to Mars. "Space News" says the Livermore plan calls for the development of a large, inexpensive unmanned rocket...and errecting a series of inflatable space structures whose walls would be reinforced by kevlar, a strong, lightweight fiber. The publication says NASA is completing an assessment of the Livermore plan. NASA officials plan to brief Vice President Quayle this Friday on the recently completed three-month review of plans for a lunar base and a manned mission to Mars. President Bush directed the National Space Council and NASA to report to him on the technology and monetary requirements needed to support future manned exploration of the solar system. ********** ----------------------------------------------------------------- Here's the broadcast schedule for public affairs events on NASA Select television. All times are Eastern. Wednesday, Nov. 15..... 9:45 A.M. Coverage of Consort II launch from White Sands Missile Range. Thursday, Nov. 16...... 11:30 A.M. NASA Update will be transmitted. Saturday, Nov. 18...... 8:30 A.M. Coverage of the launch of the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base. All events and times are subject to change without notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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: 15 Nov 89 00:17:55 GMT From: trident.arc.nasa.gov!yee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Peter E. Yee) Subject: Launch advisory for shuttle mission STS-33 (Forwarded) Ed Campion November 14, 1989 Headquarters, Washington, DC 11:00 a.m. EST Lisa Malone Kennedy Space Center, Fla. (Phone: 407/867-2468) LAUNCH ADVISORY FOR SHUTTLE MISSION STS-33 Engineers are preparing to remove the two aft integrated electronics assemblies (IEAs) from the left and right solid rocket boosters. The IEAs act as the brain for the booster by routing power, commands and data between the orbiter and boosters. It was discovered by the vendor that wiring in these two aft units could potentially have been routed such that some wires could rub against hardware which could cause a short. Once removed, these units will be transferred to the USBI facility where inspectors from Bendix will verify the wiring. Today, workers are removing closeout material, or foam, from the IEAs to gain access to these units located in the vicinity of the external tank attach ring. Later, ordnance devices on the vehicle will be disconnected and the IEAs can be removed. Closeouts of the aft compartment for flight are underway. Purges of the power reactant storage and distribution system tanks have been completed. The launch date of mission STS-33 is being evaluated at this time but is no earlier than Nov. 22, 1989. ------------------------------ Date: 14 Nov 89 22:14:47 GMT From: zephyr.ens.tek.com!wrgate!mrloog!dant@uunet.uu.net (Dan Tilque) Subject: Re: Moon Colonies / Ant Tanks yamauchi@cs.rochester.edu (Brian Yamauchi) writes: > >We're not talking about locking a kid in a damp, dingy cellar. Assume >for a moment, that space colonies will have similar population >densities to a high-rise apartment, an office building, or a shopping >mall. A large proportion of the population (including kids) spends a >large portion of their lives in these environments without considering >themselves abused or deprived. A few months ago, there was a article in National Geographic about a couple who are raising their family on a boat travelling in the sea around Antarctica. They go for months without seeing anyone except researchers at isolated stations. Often weather keeps the kids cooped up in the boat for days or even weeks. By almost any standard, this is a rather deprived environment. Yet they've been doing it for several years now and have no plans to quit. --- Dan Tilque -- dant@mrloog.WR.TEK.COM "I spent my last ten dollars on birth control and beer, Life is so much simpler when I'm sober and queer." -- Lyrics whose author I don't know ------------------------------ Date: 14 Nov 89 06:02:40 GMT From: mailrus!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!me!radio.astro!helios.physics!neufeld@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Christopher Neufeld) Subject: Re: More about a spacial lift In article UDOC140@FRORS31.BITNET writes: > >Now my point was not only an Earth lift, but also a Moon one. That >one has several advantages. First of all, no wind, no storm, and no >Ionosphere. Second, Moon's gravity being only 1/6 of Earth's, and >its diameter being in the same proportion, a steel cable is enough >in that case. (Well, I think it is.) > Just a minor point. You can't anchor a lunar skyhook (where do you have to go for selenostationary orbit?). The proposed scheme for a lunar skyhook is a sort of rolling wire. The centre of mass orbits the moon, and the cable rotates about the centre of mass, so that the effect is that the cable forms the spoke of an imaginary wheel rolling around the moon's equator. Twice every revolution a cable end comes down to the moon's surface with very little relative motion. A payload can be attached, and it is released when it reaches the opposite side of the revolution. This steals energy from the skyhook, which has to be spun up again with motors or by lowering ballast weights from orbit. This scheme can also be applied on the earth with present technology. The pickup would be about 100 km up, and the skyhook would fling things off the end with a useful velocity. This is discussed in detail in the _The Endless Frontier_ articles. > Bertrand MICHELET. > -- Christopher Neufeld....Just a graduate student | "Out of my way, cneufeld@pro-generic.cts.com | I'm a scientist!" neufeld@helios.physics.utoronto.ca | - War of the Worlds "Don't edit reality for the sake of simplicity" | ------------------------------ Date: 14 Nov 89 17:13:00 GMT From: gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!henry.jpl.nasa.gov!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jato!mars!baalke@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Ron Baalke) Subject: Re: Voyager/DSN In article <420@intelisc.nosun.UUCP> snidely@intelisc.UUCP (David Schneider) writes: >For those that were worried about the Voyager Interstellar Mission >using up the DSN when Galileo really needs it, I found the pertinent >quote in the October 9 AW&ST [p 117]: "...the space craft will >be reconfigured for a baseline lower data rate of 160 bits/sec >-- compared to 21,600 bits/sec at Neptune -- to enable the spacecraft >to use the DSN's smaller, 34 meter antenna systems. > The Deep Space Network upgrade (which goes operational in 1992) will be able to support Voyager from as low as 10 bits/second on up to 115,000 bits/second. Ron Baalke | baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov Jet Propulsion Lab M/S 301-355 | baalke@jems.jpl.nasa.gov 4800 Oak Grove Dr. | Pasadena, CA 91109 | ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V10 #249 *******************